talent & career development

here’s how to start turning it around.

by matt solomon

if you’re like most accountants i’ve worked with, it’s probably not in your nature to rock the boat. you much prefer the tortoise’s “slow and steady” motto to the energetic but erratic pace of the hare. you’re methodical and thorough, and those qualities make you an excellent accountant.

more: invest in the right guidance | tap into your gold mine | shift your practice: stop depending on compliance work
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but any strength can become a weakness – and for accountants, those same qualities that help them execute compliance work can also be dangerous. i’ve seen too many accountants whose firm is far from what they envisioned when they first set out to create their own company and the main culprit is simple, you’re running a business with a “worker bee” mentality.
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it’s one of the most damaging emotional obstacles you throw in front of yourself.

by bill reeb

when i talk about guilt and duty, the examples i share can sound similar. however, the distinction to me is that duty is what you feel before you make a decision or take an action, and guilt is what you feel afterward.

more: is your sense of duty misplaced? | are you paralyzed by fear? | how to change the way you think (and why) | have your beliefs stopped serving you? | don’t use only your strengths | are you your biggest obstacle? | why your to-do list isn’t getting done | appreciate the joy that comes from work
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for example, i feel a sense of duty to protect my daughter, and i would feel guilty if she were hurt badly because i would imagine everything i should have done to better protect her (even if what i imagined would be unreasonable to expect).
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once again, you may be your own biggest obstacle.

by bill reeb

in my opinion, most people are rarely driven by just their own desires. rather, they are influenced heavily by the desires and expectations of those around them as well as by the roles they fill.

more: are you paralyzed by fear? | are you right where you’re supposed to be? | letting go is not giving up | your obligation to yourself | work smarter, not harder | why we risk change
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duty is synonymous with words like responsibility and obligation – and the thesaurus offers the phrase “what you have to do.” duty has intellectual and emotional ties to your value systems, too. therefore, to defy one’s duty is to default on one’s values.
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“it is as though fear is a virus, constantly coursing through our veins and waiting for the first sign of weakness so that it can instantly activate and take over.”

by bill reeb

fear is an important topic to me. i believe fear is often one of the greatest offenders interfering with behavior, skill development, success, satisfaction with yourself, and happiness in your life.

more: are you right where you’re supposed to be? | are you sure you’re in the wrong place? | how are you programming your mind? | how to stay in the present | stop ignoring opportunities right in front of you | work ‘better,’ not ‘harder’ | what a pro knows | don’t let opportunities become detours
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i am not just talking about fear as it would manifest in feelings of terror, but rather the entire range of fear, from being afraid of dying on one extreme through a simple negative thought wafting through your brain on the other.
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being judgmental is self-destructive.

by bill reeb

a big step in the right direction to regain momentum occurs when you start cutting yourself some slack.

more: are you sure you’re in the wrong place? | how to change the way you think (and why) | have your beliefs stopped serving you? |don’t use only your strengths | are you your biggest obstacle? | why your to-do list isn’t getting done | appreciate the joy that comes from work | covid crisis requires new mindsets | 3 early warning signals for overachievers | how overachievers can get ‘unstuck’
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after you decide that you are going to make a change in your plans or objectives, it is common human behavior to beat yourself up for not arriving at that same decision earlier. on top of that, i often see people shining an intense spotlight on themselves, scrutinizing every step in their progress as they start down any new path.
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you could be further on x, but then y would have suffered.

by bill reeb

at this point in the process, you have already identified a desire (including a plan, tactics, timeline and expectations) and have been following that plan doing the work. however, for you to be at this juncture, you had to kick out of the try (work)-evaluate loop because you were feeling unsuccessful or unhappy about your progress or priorities. when this negative evaluation occurs, you are either starting to get stuck or you are already stuck.

more: how to change the way you think (and why) | letting go is not giving up | your obligation to yourself | work smarter, not harder | why we risk change | learn to embrace failure | what would make you happy? | do you have a goal or just a speed? | learn more by letting go
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as i have observed in my experience with clients, martial arts students and my own life, identifying a solution to get you back on track occurs by working through one of two paths. the first path is for you to consider “what you are thinking,” with the second path reflecting on “what you are doing.” as you consider the variety of techniques focused on what to let go of so that you can start regaining momentum, your action choices will come down to replanning, reprioritizing or reaffirming your desire, or some combination of these. with this in mind, let’s consider some techniques to help you reassess what you are thinking.
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the 4th of 4 steps.

by bill reeb

the realization that all we have to do to be different is to allow ourselves to think differently is very powerful. the great news is … it’s often not that hard, and sometimes it is downright easy, once you focus your attention on the right places.

more: letting go is not giving up | how are you programming your mind? | have your beliefs stopped serving you? | how to stay in the present | stop ignoring opportunities right in front of you | work ‘better,’ not ‘harder’ | what a pro knows | don’t let opportunities become detours | what are you giving priority? | don’t let others block your path
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before i went through the cathartic steps of working with my mentor john to come up with this process and refining my thoughts on this topic, i would occasionally go through some multiday bouts with gloom. i don’t want to say that i would get depressed because that would be too harsh of a descriptor.
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dreaming and planning are tough even in years without a pandemic.

by ty hendrickson

as we begin to wrap up 2020 and look toward the next year, now is the perfect time to decide what you want in 2021 for yourself. whether that is personally or professionally or a combination of both, goal setting is a critical factor in whether or not you actually get where you want to be.

more: why choose you? | the abcs of exceptional cpa leaders | three w’s for networking the right way | the one big reason your hiring sucks | 5 crucial areas of firm culture not to ignore | the cpa firm partner’s role is changing | are you botching your first impression? | maybe the pandemic isn’t all bad | the no. 1 reason accountants fail to build advisory practices | the real problems created in a remote workforce | can you really grow without adding clients? | 4 reasons to welcome rejectionexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

personally, i love goal setting. but i also love to-do lists, checklists and about any other type of list. as a type a accountant, goal setting is right up my alley, but i know this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
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3 actions to help you get unstuck.

by bill reeb

while i’ve discussed “letting go” actions before, it is time to get a little better understanding of how to leverage them.

more: how are you programming your mind? | have your beliefs stopped serving you? | don’t use only your strengths | are you your biggest obstacle? | why your to-do list isn’t getting done | appreciate the joy that comes from work | covid crisis requires new mindsets | 3 early warning signals for overachievers | how overachievers can get ‘unstuck’
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at any point in time, when you realize you are dissatisfied with your level of success or happiness, once you have decided what to let go of that was the source of the negative emotions you are feeling, you will end up making at least one – if not two or all three – of these choices.
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worried about retention? look within.

by ty hendrickson

have you ever heard the quote, “people don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad bosses?” this quote was proven in gallup’s comprehensive survey which found that 50 percent of americans have left a job to “get away from their manager at some point in their career.”

more: three w’s for networking the right way | the one big reason your hiring sucks | are you botching your first impression? | the real problems created in a remote workforce
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today, retaining top employees ranks as one of the top three issues cpa firms have. no one wants to be known as a “bad” boss, but what are some things you can do to help you become a leader in your firm?

here is a quick abc strategy.
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it’s the best way to create a sense of trust.

by steven e. sacks
the new fundamentals

you have probably heard the aphorism, “god gave you two ears and one mouth, so you should be listening twice as much as speaking.”

more: make news, not noise | have a real-life conversation | is your message open to interpretation? | why proper communication is critical | how to create effective internal communications | trust is a key organizational ingredient | real influence vs. immediate gratification | 4 ways to boost job satisfaction
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it, therefore, stands to reason that if you intend to listen, you should know how to manage a conversation. one of the quickest ways to create an obstacle to a two-way conversation is beginning a sentence with words that will elicit only a “yes,” “no” or “i don’t know.”
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meditation is one way, but there are others.

by bill reeb

your mind is the most powerful resource available to you. it is easy to think of it as a supercomputer, running your physical being: constantly compiling data, processing complex transactions, creating internally revealed reports and so on.

more: have your beliefs stopped serving you? | your obligation to yourself | work smarter, not harder | why we risk change | learn to embrace failure | what would make you happy? | do you have a goal or just a speed?
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we know through research that most of us barely tap into our brain’s full capability, so it is also not hard to get complacent and deem the brain to be some magical organ that we just hope keeps running properly. as well, it is easy for us to get comfortable interacting with our minds as if we were only data entry operators rather than the brain’s lead programmer.
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