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The Best Tech Tools to Accelerate Learning

Written by Susan Fitzell

32+ apps to improve teaching and accelerate learning for school and career
Technology has revolutionized the way we approach learning. When I think back to my schooling and how I struggled through lectures and fell asleep on my textbooks trying to cram for my exams, I am a little jealous of the technology college kids have at their fingertips today. But mostly, I am excited for the opportunities it presents for different learning preferences and the neurodiverse to learn effectively.

Recently, I had the honor of being a guest on Shock Your Potential, hosted by Michael Sherlock. We discussed ways to learn faster to advance your career. In our conversation, I presented some ways to hack your brain to help you take in and retain information more effectively. And each of these methods has a corresponding app that you can download — often for free — to help you accelerate learning.

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What's Going on With Cannabis in the Workplace? Very Little.

Written by Stephen Trimboli

Lawful cannabis consumption in New Jersey is on a roll. There now are twenty recreational cannabis dispensaries in the state. Recreational cannabis sales in the third quarter of 2022 alone totaled $116,572,533. But measures to detect and remedy cannabis impairment in the workplace have not kept pace.

New Jersey’s “Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act” (CREAMMA) prohibits employers from taking adverse action against employees based solely on drug test results that are positive for cannabis. The positive test result must be accompanied by “a physical evaluation in order to determine {the} employee’s state of impairment,” to be conducted “by an individual with the necessary certification to opine on the employee’s state of impairment … related to the usage of a cannabis item.” The Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) was directed to create a program for the certification of such “Workplace Impairment Recognition Experts” (WIREs). But while cannabis sales explode, the CRC has yet to develop, or even propose, such a program – leaving employers in a quandary.

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Winning the Responsibility Game

Written by Machen MacDonald

To win the game of business and the business of life you must first master the Responsibility Game.

So, what is the Responsibility Game, you ask? It is simply responding with your abilities rather than falling into any of the three traps that drain you of your success and fulfillment. Simple, yet not easy. You can learn to play and win this game at the office with your team and colleagues, in the field with your clients and prospects, or even at home with your family.

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6 Reasons You Won't Hit Your Goals

Written by Michael Goldberg

How many times have you set a goal for yourself, and it fizzled? A fitness goal. Weight loss. Business. Financial. New job. That vacation destination you may never see, etc., etc.

Sometimes achieving a goal comes easy, which could mean that the goal wasn’t BIG enough. Often the goals are plenty BIG but they simply don’t get accomplished.

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How Multidisciplinary Teams Have Changed the Way We Work

Written by Joe Curcillo

The concept of multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) has revolutionized the way in which businesses operate in the modern world. By bringing together a range of skill sets and perspectives, multidisciplinary teams can provide organizations with new ways of tackling complex problems and meeting their goals. In this article, we will explore the history of multidisciplinary teams and the impact they have had on the way we work.

Healthcare
The concept of a multidisciplinary team has evolved over the past several decades and, for those of you in law enforcement and healthcare, the phrase “multidisciplinary teams” has been around for a long time. The earliest form of this approach can be traced back to the 1950s and 60s when it appeared in the healthcare industry. Medical professionals, in all disciplines, began to realize the importance of working together to provide comprehensive care for patients.

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A New Year - A New Age Has Arrived!

Written by Dorothy Martin-Neville, PhD 

Now that my birthday weekend is over and my thanksgiving for another year is ever-present, it is time to flourish as I look forward to what this year brings and to what I am inspired to create.

What I am discovering is that as time goes on, I am more determined to simplify where my company and I are going. I have the most amazing team with me and feel immensely blessed for what last year brought. However, after stepping back, my vision has been realigned yet again, and I am so excited about what is coming.

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Two Quick Ways to Reconnect with Prospects

Written by Michael Goldberg

“I totally know you!”

I’ve made that same silly comment to two of my daughter’s friends since they were little. It’s just been a running joke of sorts that made them giggle. In fact, they would say it right back to me. Now they’re 16 years old and I see them regularly as they compete on the same cheer team as my daughter.

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Apprenticeship as an Alternative Hiring Strategy for a Neurodiverse Workforce

Written by Susan Fitzell

There’s one approach to neurodiverse hiring that has not received much notice in the United States: apprenticeships. Data from the United Kingdom (UK)(HM Government, 2020), where renewed interest in apprenticeships has spurred relevant research, indicates that 89% of employers said apprenticeships helped companies develop skills pertinent to their organization. Over 74% of employers said apprenticeships helped them improve productivity and the quality of their product or service.

I remember a time when teens who weren’t into academics and preferred to work with their hands had the option of becoming an apprentice. Starting in secondary school or after graduation, they worked side-by-side with a plumber, electrician, carpenter, etc. They learned the trade hands-on. These opportunities are almost non-existent today. Now, they must (usually) go to a tech school. More school!

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Questions to Ask When You Dare to Think

Written by Machen MacDonald

Are you thinking or are you thoughting? Most people don’t really think. They spend most of their day thoughting. Most people have over 80,000 different thoughts a day. The challenge is that 90% of those thoughts are the same things we thought about yesterday, the day before that, and the day before that.

In performance coaching, we know that our thoughts, ideas, and beliefs invoke feelings and emotions. It is your emotions that cause you to take action or behave a certain way and it is your actions and behaviors that lead to your outcome or results. Based on this, it is your thoughts that ultimately lead to your outcome.

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The Importance of LinkedIn Invitations to BD

Written by Susan Catalano

LinkedIn is a tremendous resource for B2B Lead Gen programs. It is a platform filled with members that have judiciously updated their personal data. Those same members are very open to the content on LinkedIn, using that content to do their jobs better and to grow professionally. These aspects of LinkedIn, plus the platform’s ability to utilize member data for targeting, make LinkedIn a powerful tool for BD and Lead Gen.

One of the best ways to begin a relationship with a LinkedIn member is to invite them to join your network. Unlike in times past, when people were suspicious of unsolicited connection requests, members have become accepting of the opportunity to connect to another LinkedIn member who might be in a position to help them. And this is not about getting a new job, although recruiters use LinkedIn extensively. This is about Lead Gen and Business Development, making connections, educating, conversing, proposing, and ultimately getting a referral or closing a sale.

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4 Ways to @#$% Up Networking!

Written by Michael Goldberg

Yes, there are lots of ways to “mess” up your business networking. Here are some of my favorites!

Getting Caught Up with Selling

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Seven Tips to Keep Your Home Office from Being a Hamster Wheel!

Written by Joe Curcillo

Chase Your Dream

When you are working at home, the line between work, family, and play can be blurred. To keep this from happening, surround yourself with items that remind you why you are doing what you are doing. Keep your dream and focus and you will function better on a daily basis. For some new “home workers,” shaving and other regiments fall apart. Don’t let your dreams fall with them.

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Stereotypes in Neurodivergent Hiring: When Exceptional is the Expectation

Written by Susan Fitzell

For all the acceptance that neurodivergence has been receiving, including workplace initiatives to recruit and train neurodivergent talent, we still have a long way to go to attain equity and full inclusion. Stereotypes still impact hiring patterns. Hiring practices are standardized around these stereotypes.

I am guilty of espousing the idea that neurodiversity is a competitive advantage. I’ve quoted corporate studies confirming the belief that having neurodiverse teams fuels innovation.

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Create a Concise Plan for Success

Written by Machen MacDonald

Simple clear purpose in principle gives rise to complex intelligent behavior. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple and stupid behavior.” If this quote by Dee Hock contains truth, then your business plan, game plan, or even life plan must be concise. You must plan for success.

When it comes to writing business plans, many people either numb out and don’t do it, hire someone else to do it that doesn’t know them or their business, or they attempt to create a plan for success that ends up being just a multi-page document that is an exercise in futility.

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What a Life

Written by Dorothy Martin-Neville, PhD

If you have been following me, you are aware that I have recently moved. The walls are all painted, the pictures are all hung, all the plants are settling, and the new furniture is in. Now back to my life

In my meditation each evening, I review my day. In what way did I betray myself today? (Saying yes when I wanted to say no, etc.) In what way did I fall short? (Didn’t submit that form I promised.) As well, in what way did I exceed expectations or receive an unexpected blessing?

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START

Written by Juli Shulem

Starting the new year right may mean getting a solid footing on the process of ‘STARTING’ altogether. I have written about how starting helps with the finishing in a previous post on my website – so I am backing up a bit now, and addressing the ‘starting’ process itself. 

Starting is often challenging for us. No one is immune to this I have noticed.  Whether it be starting a project, a report, an employee evaluation, a research paper, or a blog post – the very idea of starting can be daunting. And it isn’t always the ‘starting’ that is the culprit – it is the emotional or mental ‘stuck-ness’ when thinking about the sheer magnitude of the project overall, right? Those thoughts of “oh wow, this is going to be a lot of work” or “I don’t have the multiple hours this will probably take to finish” or “what if I do a bad job after putting in all the time,” or the ever-famous “I don’t know what to do first.” Yeh, there are those concerns – but these are simply limiting beliefs. You probably can ascertain from previous experiences that most of those thoughts have no real foundation or legitimacy. So. Let’s Start. (Pun intended).

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Five Brain Hacks to Learn Faster

Written by Susan Fitzell

Much of my work is helping professionals see that they’re not “bad at learning”; they’re simply trying to learn in a way that doesn’t work for their brains. While my work naturally helps many neurodivergent people, it applies to neurotypical people with different learning styles.

One of the things I wish I could put on billboards everywhere is that people need to stop fighting the way their brain works and instead lean into it. If you learn in a way that works best for your brain, you can process much more information faster. When I joined Michael Sherlock on her podcast, we discussed helpful tech tools for learning and how to hack your brain to learn more quickly. Here are some of my favorite brain hacks from that conversation.

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Fixing Your Energy Crisis to Get Things Done

Written by Machen MacDonald

Do you wish you had more energy to get things done? Are you exhausted at the end of the day and not really sure why? Do you wonder how other people seem to have so much energy and vitality for their life and work?

Before I help you find more energy to get things done, here is a quick physics lesson. It’s a simple one, so hang in here with me. 

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It's An Odd World

Written by Dorothy Martin-Neville, PhD

Have you ever noticed that the most skilled, qualified folks, have a large sense of insecurity or uncertainty about so many things they are not expected to know?  Or that the folks who are just starting out have an amazing sense of all-knowingness?

A theoretical physicist I know will not feel he has accomplished anything until he equals or exceeds his idol who has long passed over. Another friend is thrilled at simply getting the laundry completed.

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How Entrepreneurs Can Be Empowered to Thrive with Less Hesitation and Fear

Written by Joe Curcillo

I hope no one told you that being an entrepreneur would be easy. Somewhere, in the definition of entrepreneur, you may not have been told about the stress, dancing on the edge of poverty, and all of the hurdles that go with the excitement of being self-employed or self-directed. Yes, the definition includes the words, “assumes the risks of a business or enterprise,” but many times, in the excitement to declare yourself an entrepreneur, you forget that fear is built into your chosen path.

It is that fear of the risks you take that makes the outcome worthwhile.

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