Finance, Career, & Productivity

Question 1

What are some tips to help you develop a clearer sense of purpose and career goals?

Answer 1

1. Think about what you truly love to do. Build from there
2. Read books to help find your calling
3. Connect with people in future jobs that you might want someday, and ask them how they got there
4. Get real-world experience (e.g. volunteer, intern, even shadow)
5. Once you find what you love, work backward to set your own medium-term goals for getting there

Question 2

What are some tips to maintain a personal budget so that you’re working toward your financial goals?

Answer 2

1. Determine the max amount that you want to spend each month
2. Write down your current categories of expenses
3. Decide what is most important to you, and what’s less important
4. Regularly evaluate your adherence to your limits, and adjust spending accordingly
5. Consider using a budgeting app like Mint or PocketGuard
6. Cancel automated subscriptions you no longer need
7. Set aside a % of your paycheck to automatically and immediately go directly into a savings account each month

Question 3

What are some tips to better save money and limit frivolous expenses?

Answer 3

1. Cook or prepare meals at home
2. Buy in bulk
3. Buy generic when possible
4. Get free coffee at school or office rather than buying it
5. Walk, bike, or take transit rather than taxis
6. Eliminate cable TV in favor of individual TV apps (or none!)
7. Unplug devices & turn down heat & A/C when not home
8. Pay with credit card (so you earn points for stuff)
9. Pay off your credit card each month! (avoid interest)

Question 4

What are some tips to develop a deeper personal and professional network?

Answer 4

1. Find common interests – When you meet a new person, ask about their hobbies, goals, and passions to give a hook for ongoing conversation
2. Follow up immediately – Send an email or text within a day of meeting the person, specifically mentioning your conversation (so you’ll have a future record)
3. Schedule another meetup soon – Lunch, dinner, coffee, drinks, jog, bike ride, etc. If you wait too long after meeting a new person, it will get stale, and you’ll likely lose the relationship
4. Connect online – Typically it’s best to wait after the second time you’ve spoken to connect on LinkedIn or other platforms
5. Introduce people to each other – When you know people with common goals or interests, connect them via email, text, or in person. Become the “hub” by which many people can trace their own relationships back to you
6. Host events – Parties, dinners, discussion groups, or otherwise. This gives you even more opportunities to introduce people and further establish yourself as a “hub”

Question 5

How can you ensure that you always have productive activities ready on your phone, for those unexpected moments of “down time”?

Answer 5

1. Download podcasts to your phone
2. Download books to your phone or tablet
3. Download Brainscape decks and configure your Study Mix
4. Remember to always have these things ready, so you never find yourself getting sucked into social media to fill the vacuum

Question 6

According to Thomas Corley, author of “Rich Habits”, what is the top daily habit that distinguishes successful people from unsuccessful people?

Answer 6

Successful people hardly watch any TV

When successful people do watch TV, it tends to be more enriching or cerebral, and less “junk”. e.g. Ratings show that only 6 percent of the wealthy watch reality shows, while 78 percent of poor people do.

Learning to fill your down time with reading, socializing, sport, or other productive activity can be one of the most “compounding” habits that enhances your life over time.

Question 7

What is the top habit that successful organized people do, compared to people whose lives are more disorganized?

Answer 7

They maintain a lot of lists

Examples: To-Do lists, books to read, movies to see, restaurants to try, favorite existing restaurants, recipes, party ideas, gift ideas, home improvement wish list, friends to follow up with, etc.

Modern technology makes it easy to keep lists “in the cloud” that can be accessed on any device – e.g. Google spreadsheets, your phone’s “Notes” app, or another cloud-based notes service. Your lists build up over time and help you manage your life with increasing efficiency. List-keeping is one of the most useful productivity tactics for success.

Question 8

What are some ways that you could become more articulate in conversations, over time?

Answer 8

Expose yourself to lots of articulate writing & speech

1. Read books or long-form articles
2. Study Vocab Builder flashcards in Brainscape
3. Do crossword puzzles
4. Write in a journal
5. Listen to podcasts or audiobooks
6. Participate in debate groups
7. Practice speaking more slowly

Good articulation in speech and writing is a skill that can ONLY be improved with regular, consistent practice (through the avenues discussed above). Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Throw yourself into it and you WILL see improvement!

Question 9

What’s that quote about getting high-quality projects done cheaply and quickly?

Answer 9

Good / Fast / Cheap

You can only pick two