How To Quit A Job?

Leaving a job is often a difficult step. Sure, there is the exciting opportunity to do something different, but if have been with an employer for over a year this can become an emotional step. People leave jobs for various reasons. The old job might just plain and simple suck. The pay is lousy and the boss is behaving like a dictator of a 3rd world country. Or the job might be target of outsourcing and the employee is pro-active by looking for his/her own way out. Or the job is a dead end. No opportunity and the daily routine is boring. It could also be that the immediate co-workers and managers are just not as nice and that there is no great work relationship that makes the employee to love to go to work. A not so exciting job can still be a great place to work if you have great co-workers and managers around. Work is about money, but the socializing part is important, too.

We're not trying to get into the reasons for leaving a job here for the matter of this article. However - we want to concentrate on the actual part of resigning from a job. And again - there are several different ways of leaving a job. If you absolutely do not care about your old job you could just leave but this step can have severe impact on your career down the road. Keep in mind that employers like to check the places you worked at before they want to hire you. These sins of the past might come back and hurt your reputation. "Oh, he left that job without any notice. What if he does the same thing to me?" - This could be just one thought a new employer might have. Depending on the job a one week or two week notice should be given. In some cases 3-4 weeks can be appropriate. As higher you get up in the ranks this might be the way to go. An executive leaving a company without taking care of a proper transition might hurt himself if the company gets into problems afterwards and this becomes public knowledge. Treat the employer fair and do not burn any bridges. In the long run this will be the best decision an employee can make.

When resigning you should be prepared to avoid unnecessary stress. In most cases resigning is a stressful event. A well prepared employee can take some stress out of this big step with proper planning. Write a 2 or 3 line letter of resignation. Nothing fancy. Try not to explain why you leave. Just state that you are resigning from your position and let the company know what your last day at work will be. Sign the letter and hand it to the manager you are resigning to. Do not just turn over the letter and walk away. Say that you are resigning and then hand over the letter of resignation. Be prepared to answer questions why you are leaving. Do not make up things. Prepare a quick list of pain points if needed. You might even help your co-workers by giving constructive feedback about certain situations and problems. I personally recommend never to mention the word money as the main reason of leaving. If things come down to money if often gets dirty.

Eventually be prepared for an immediate counter-offer during your resignation. Some companies try to fix the problem of an employee leaving by throwing more money at him/her. Or they want to buy time and pretend giving you more money. They give you more money but work on your replacement at the same time. Things might also work out Ok for a while but when the going gets tough and it comes to layoffs the guy who took the counter-offer might be one of the first ones to be let go because of the cost factor. I see only one situation when it can be good or Ok to accept a counter-offer. Say you are leaving because of the work environment and you are able to point out problems and issues. Some employers are blind about these things and just don't realize how employees feel about certain things. Suddenly a good employees leaves and the issue comes to the surface. Some employers are willing to fix the issue and these are rare situations a counter-offer can be accepted. Still - the employee has to carefully evaluate the situation. It is important to know who you are dealing with from a personal side. Can you trust the employer?

Sometimes a counter-offer can come up during the last few days at a company or shortly after the last day. We have seen cases when counter-offers were made within 60-70 days after the employee left. These situations are not good. I highly recommend not to accept such a counter-offer no matter how tempting the offer is. The employee has to keep in mind that he/she already left. This mark will always stick. One day the employer might be in a different situation and has to decide who to let go first. Will it be the loyal employee who is with the company for 8 years or is it the "Gung-Ho" who left just to be lured back by money and who eventually leaves again if the next employer is willing to hand out even more cash? Make a bet ....

These are just a few things to keep in mind when thinking about resigning from a position. Be prepared. Be strong. Change can be very good for your career.

Christoph Puetz is a successful entrepreneur and international book author.

How To Keep Fit In The Workplace

You can participate in exercises at work to help yourself. Some exercises you can do while working are: Ankle rotation, back stretches, and tightening and relaxing the abdominal muscles.

1. A Foundation for Fitness

You can contribute to your fitness by using a healthy diet and exercise plan. You do not have to start a fad, crash diet or spend hours daily at the gym. To stay fit, cut fatty foods and high sugar foods from your diet, snack on greens and fruits and take long walks every few days. Many people can maintain a healthy body by eating salad for lunch and taking a refreshing jog every other day.

2. Prevent Obesity

Anybody can become obese by for example neglecting themselves. Financial concerns usually takes priority over physical fitness. If you often find yourself pressed for time because of a large project or a looming deadline, there are a few simple exercises you can do right in your cubicle to keep your muscles flexible and your joints strong.

3. What You Should Do

Rotate your ankles to help blood circulation and to loosen muscles and joints. Stretch your back often to help prevent achy back problems. Tighten and relax your abdominal muscles to give your tummy some workout. You can do this in many places because they're discreetly tightening and relaxing muscles.

4. Work Exercises

Abs: Sit on the edge of chair, arms extending in front. Keeping back straight, contract the abs and slowly lower torso towards back of chair. Hold 2-3 seconds and repeat.

Curls: Cross arms over chest and sit up straight. Contract abs and curl shoulder towards hips, pulling abs in. Hold for 2 seconds and repeat.

Standing Hip Flexion: Stand with abs in, spine straight. Lift leg up until level with hip. Hold for 2 seconds, repeat other side.

Leg Lift: In same starting position as above, lift left leg straight out to the side a few inches off the floor. Hold for 2 seconds, repeat on the other side.

Leah Gorecki

For more great fitness related articles and resources.

Stress Equals Overeating, Overworking

Which comes first the stress or the overeating and the overworking, that is the million dollars question, millions of dollars that is; in health care, prescriptions, therapist bills. The true story, all we have to do is find balance in our lives and that means in all areas; the right amount of hours of working; the right times to eat; eat the right foods; the right amount of exercise; the right amount of time for play and recreation; the right amount of time for the family and for our spiritual growth. This all balanced out will release the stress factor in our life and our overeating at work will disappear and it will reduce the pains of overworking.

When we don't find the time to grocery shop for our health, there we are at the vending machine getting a quick snack of food with no nutritional value, hitting the box of donuts or bagels that some one brought in as an incentive to get your business, or even worse, stopping at the donut shop for your breakfast because you did not have time to fix something of value at home. This kind of food is on every street corner and they make it very convenient to just "drive thru". It takes all of our will power not to fall into this trap.

The solution for this, look at ways you can reduce stress at work, take action in eliminating them to the best of your personal ability, take healthy snacks to work for when you just have to feed that stressful situation, eat breakfast, find restaurants close by that serve healthy dishes, find a health buddy at work so you can encourage each other when the down times come; have green tea at your desk for a quick pick up without caffeine and/or sugar.

Health problems, mostly stress related, cost employers $13 billion dollars a year, this is every reason your employer would appreciate your efforts in staying healthy and stress free, let them know and ask if there isn't a plan that could be developed to reduce their amount of these billions of dollars and assist in making that plan happen.

We are at work more than we are at home, we deserve to have it be a healthy, happy, functional, safe place to be.

Thought for the Day
: "We do not go into the wilderness to escape from life. We go to keep life from escaping us. -Naturalists source unknown-

My mission is to teach and encourage individuals how to find and maintain their balance in mind, body, spirit connection, which brings peace, joy and prosperity into their lives. They learn how to experience the joy of balanced living. I accomplish this thru my Wellness Coach Program which i offer to individuals and corporations.

by Darlene Siddons

Body Odor & Menopause - Three Things Women Need to Know About Hyperhidrosis and What to Do About It

Everyone knows that hot flashes are a frequent complication of menopause. But if that's not bad enough, the hyperhidrosis, excessive sweating, caused by menopause is also a major contributor to body odor. Here are four things women need to know about excessive perspiration and how to prevent the odor it can cause.

1. Hot flashes sometimes get "hotter" as a result of medication. Many medications cause excessive perspiration. Just a few of them are:
· Aspirin· Buproprion (Wellbutrin) · Citalopram (Celexa) · Chlomipramine (Anafranil) · Clozapine (Clozaril) · Duloxetine (Cymbalta) · Escitalopram (Lexapro) · Fluoxetine (Prozac) · Fluvoxamine (Effexor) · Goserelin (Zoladex) · Insulin · Niacin, nicotinamide (Niaspan) · Rituximab (Rituxin) · Ropinirole (Requip) · Sertraline (Zoloft) · and Tositumomab (Bexxar)

In the most extreme cases, sweat can literally drip from the hands to the floor. Bacteria trapped with sweat can cause a cheesy odor that offends others and distresses the person with the condition.
To remove sweat from the body or keep sweat from soaking the body, the number one element is personal hygiene, or in other words, bathing regularly.

2. Washing: Daily showers with soap and water are necessary. In some cases it may be necessary to shower twice a day or more. Be sure to use warm water. Hot water can cause flaking of the skin, which provides additional food for odor-causing bacteria. Cold water stops perspiration for a time, but then the shock of returning to a warmer environment makes sweating even worse.

Also, pat or air dry skin, but don't rub yourself dry with a towel. Rubbing can loosen dead skin and clog pores. Finally, be sure always to use clean washcloths and towels, to avoid reinfecting yourself with the bacteria you just washed off!

Taking a soak in the tub is just as effective as taking a shower, but be sure to be careful about soaking in hot water for more than 15 minutes. Long, hot soaks can dry out the skin and provide bacteria with an additional food source.

3. Antibacterial soap: There are many good soap products on the market that will kill the bacteria that is present in skin. By killing bacteria that thrives in a sweaty environment, one reduces the amount of odor caused by perspiration.

One precaution: Don't use antibacterial soap on dry skin unless you also use a moisturizer. Antibacterial soaps, like all scented soaps, can dry out the skin.

And the fourth thing women need to know about body odor and menopause.

Getting Your Boss to Listen to Your Ideas - Four Questions That Will Earn You the Right to Be Heard

Have you ever experienced a situation where your boss didn't seem interested in listening to your ideas? Have you ever been frustrated by not being able to get to first base selling a worthwhile concept to upper management? Have you ever been tempted to stop trying all together? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, maybe you need to brush up your skills in the fine art of earning the right to be heard.

I would suggest there are four questions that all decision makers need to have answered before they can comfortably and confidently approve any idea. For those of us able to both identify these four questions and formulate appropriate answers for each, the probability of our concerns being heard and acted upon increases greatly. Consider the following four.

Question 1: How much is it going to cost?
No self-respecting manager would ever approve any proposal unless armed with this answer. Therefore, take the time to do your homework up-front. Be prepared, but be honest. Never over-estimate or pad the numbers! Others may, but for those of us wishing to earn the right to be heard, the risk is too great. If decision makers believe you're playing games with them, they may let you play somewhere else.

Question 2: What are the benefits?
This may be the most important question to be answered. Benefits serve decision makers as both reason and motivation for taking action. Whenever we sell any idea we should be prepared with as many tangible benefits as possible. However, be careful. Only benefits which are legitimate and defensible should be included. Even one benefit that is not legitimate or defensible may serve to make the entire list suspect in the mind of the decision maker.

Question 3: How long will it take?
Time is money. Therefore, we need to offer decision makers a realistic expectation of the time required to get our recommendation up and running. However, contrary to my earlier advice regarding question number one, always over-estimate the length of time expected for the project to be completed. Create a specific implementation plan that will allow you to position yourself in such a way as to always be under time and under budget.

Question 4: What happens if we don't do it?
This is a favorite question of many decision makers. After listening to your well-prepared case for a certain action to be taken, many decision makers may seem compelled to consider the downside of the equation. Don't despair, prepare. Prepare yourself with a ready response for this predictable question. My suggestion? "Boss, if you decide not to approve this proposal, I will accept your decision. However, let me remind you of the benefits which will not be realized as a result of your decision here today." Then immediately refer to the earlier list of legitimate and defensible benefits.
Will leaders always be successful in getting what they want when following the approach outlined above? Of course not. However, even if we don't get what we want, we may still be successful in creating quality "face time" with the appropriate decision makers. After all, the first step to getting to "yes," is earning the right to be heard.

Phillip Van Hooser is a leadership expert and best selling author. His management training system, The Leadership Journey, have been used by companies all across the U.S. and beyond to help their people become more successful leaders. When his strategies are implemented, organizations and individuals experience lower turnover rates and higher productivity, enjoy improved management/employee relations and understand how to motivate today's "new breed" of employee. For more information, please visit http://www.vanhooser.com