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Reflect, Pivot, Grow Knowing where to go next in our careers involves constant readjustment. Sometimes we find ourselves stuck it in a slump. When we find ourselves lost we have to reflect, pivot, and that'll allow us to grow. By doing this we don't allow ourselves to hold back our own succes. Often times we tend to put our heads down and trudge through. In doing so we end up in a place of confusion and that's when we need to pick out head up and change course Reflect Reflection is one of the most important things I our careers. At point where I've felt the most lost, I reflect on everything that is going on and this bring clarity One of my biggest reflections was when I worked in Florida. I knew that I was not where I wanted to be and needed to drastically change my situation. This lead to me finding a job and moving. What would have happened if I didn't allow myself to reflect? How far would I've allowed myself to be unhappy? Do we get to a point in which we are so caught up tha we don't even know we're not in a good place? I don't want to stick around and find out. After moving here to New York my reflection hasn't stopped, I've refined the direction of my career and I'm extremely happy in where I'm at. Take some time to reflect, you'd surprise yourself with what clarity you can reach Pivot I've become very good at pivoting, mainly because I know what it's like to be going down the wrong path. I'm not scared to redefine my focus in efforts to better fulfilling my purpose. On my home page I have a couple lines of text describing what it is that I do. In the three months I've been running this blog I might of rewrote & refined 5 times. I encourage you guys to do this in one form or other. Define what you do in a few lines and watch how that gets refined throughout time Grow Sometimes we need to step back in order to see the big picture. This can't happen if we don't allow the time to reflect. When we reflect on where we're at and where we want to be, we may have to pivot in a different direction then that of which we were previously going in. Then and only then do we allow ourselves to grow

Understanding & Adapting to Cultural Differences Cultures aren't something that you can choose to not be apart of, culture happens all around. The more understanding we try to be with cultures that are 'different' than our own, the better we can all adapt and work together Growing up I was apart of speech, esol, regular, & honors classes The overlap within cultures that I associated with only grew in diversity as I got into high school and began to work Through understanding the different cultures I have been able to gain sympathy, grow my own understanding, and excel within my own career by adapting to the different situations Understanding Cultures Elementary school consisted of learning English with the kids in esol, over coming a studdering problem with other speech impaired kids, then finally just being a 'normal' kid in a regular class. Through a flawed verification system I was put in ESOL again in middle school. I was literally in ESOL as well Honors English at the same exact time However, this was all good. It taught me about the struggles of learning the language and trying to do well in school. In the honors classes, I saw how these people saw no barriers. They had high aspirations, and they were going to reach them. Where an ESOL kid would just want to make it, an honors student felt like they’d flourish. Both taught me what hard work was. Adapting to differences Adaptation was huge for me growing up. Where in honors classes it was looked highly upon to excel with grades and sort of flaunt your success, it was actually rude to do so in the ESOL classes, because the playing field is not level. When report cards came around, I just stuffed mine in my book bag and didn’t speak at all, almost feeling ashamed in a way. Embracing the opportunity that I had been given, I helped others in my class bridge the speaking through metaphors in our own language. Moving forward First we must understand, and second adapt It is okay to be different, it is not okay to allow those difference to divide you from people Through my own experiences, I’ve had deeper connections with people who had a different faith, or none at all, then others of my same faith. If we were closed minded this connection would not be possible. At the end of the day, we need to understand each other and work together. In my field it is not uncommon to have have a studio filled with different cultures. None of this matters though. We all come together to design, write cod

Know your worth, and stick to it Early on in my career I made many mistakes, and not knowing my own worth has definitely been one of them. Even when I did know my worth, I wouldn’t stick to it. We get caught up in just trying to make it that we sell ourselves short. We have to pay bills, credit cards, we want to go out. We need money. However, what we project is what we'll get back. Cheap projects will only bring more cheap projects. People will say, "do this project cheap I have a lot of work I could bring you," more often than not, these are empty promises. Figuring out your worth Things that go into worth are: Expertise, Specialization, & Location Expertise: how long you've been working in your craft Specialization: within your own field, how narrow have you tuned your craft Location: cost of living Research your field Ask other people in the same field Sticking to it and holding your ground Once you know your worth you must stick to it. We allow our financial situations to jeopardize our worth. If we aren't able to make it just on our work alone at the right prices, it may be time to look for another source of income to help kickstart this venture. Lowering the price is only hurting you If you don't respect your worth, how will other people respect it. Growing Like I mentioned above expertise, specialization, & location all effect your worth When I started I had no experience, I took on every type of project, and I lived in Central Florida. Compare that to now when I have 6+ years in my career, I'm specializing in content design & strategy, and I live in New York City As you grow your worth increases and you have to increase your rates It will be hard at times, but the payout is great. You will loose some clients, but gain different ones who are willing to meet you at what you ask. You'd be surprised how willing people would be to accept a number YOU think is a lot. I bet your under charging for you services. I challenge you to raise them. The next client that comes, tell then DOUBLE of what you normally charge. Then tell me how that goes for you.