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When we care a lot about our career and what we are working towards, it can be easy to fall into the pattern of never saying no. We want to be useful and active; we want to make connections and earn respect; we want to do it all and be it all. Saying yes to anything seems to be the path to achieving everything. 

But when we say yes to something we need to acknowledge we are also saying no to other things. A choice to stay the extra hour at work to take on an extra project for your boss is one less hour you would be spending at home or maybe it’s an added half hour you’ll spend on the road because now you’ll be leaving at rush hour. 

As tempting as it is to give services to others all the time, sometimes the biggest act of service we can extend – to ourselves and to others – is saying no.  

Yep – saying no! Not doing it, leaving the building, taking the break.  

When we say yes to something we don’t want to do it can lead to negative feelings such as resentment towards the person asking or yourself, when you get home and realize your past-self made you sacrifice the work out or the time to cook a meal that would’ve made you feel good. 

This doesn’t mean there won’t be times when we will choose to forgo the home-cooked meal for an opportunity. We get to decide what’s okay and not okay with us.  

Knowing when to say no.

In deciding how to spend your time, ask yourself: will it bring me happiness? Orienting your choices towards what will make you happy will help you make the ‘right decision.’ This will also make your actions about giving yourself something rather than denying or withholding something. As written in “The Art of Happiness” by the 14th Dalai Lama and psychiatrist Howard C. Cutler, with this decision-making approach you will cultivate “an attitude of embracing life rather than rejecting it,” and the effect can help us be more receptive to what will bring us joy in all aspects of life. 

*Tip: For my people pleasing friends, consider how you would choose if you did not have to risk disappointing the person asking. 

These decisions might not be obvious. When you hear a request, you can always ask for more time to consider, or for more information – an approach that will both buy you some time and grant you access to more details that could inform your choice. 

Knowing how to say no.

Once you realize the outcome you desire for the interaction, it’s time to communicate it. For me, as a person inclined to be a people pleaser, expressing my desire and risking disappointment or hurting feelings is the hardest part. Knowing this next bit of information has set me up for success by helping me communicate my true intentions and appreciation to the person requesting something. 

How a person feels about your ‘no’ has a lot to do with how you say it. When people hear the word ‘but’ after a positive statement, they are likely to only remember the negative part that follows. Consider the following statements given by someone wanting to say no to staying on the phone/wanting to hang up: 

• I’ve really enjoyed our conversation, but I need to go now and pick the kids up from school. 
• I’ve really enjoyed our conversation and I need to go now and pick up the kids from school. 

In the first statement, the receiver will only retain that the person wants to hang up, not that they enjoyed the conversation. In the second, the receiver is set up to acknowledge both truths – the conversation was enjoyed, and the speaker needs to leave now for an obligation. Consider this difference again and see the similar effect of simply removing the ‘but’ without giving a replacement: 

• I really appreciate you trusting me with such an assignment, but I’ll have to decline for the time being. 
• I really appreciate you trusting me with such an assignment, and I’ll have to decline for the time being. 
• I really appreciate you trusting me with such an assignment. I’ll have to decline for the time being. 

This all might seem pedantic, BUT it is a good reminder of the impact of this conjunction. The word functions to negate everything that goes before it and signal to the listener that the important part of the sentence is approaching. When we hear the word ‘but,’ we do exactly what it asks of us – reduce the importance of what came before and ramp up our focus on what’s coming next. So, as silly as this may seem, it does matter and can help you more effectively convey a ‘no.’ 

No worries with a good no.

Effectively delivering our messages declining opportunities will help us feel more satisfied in the interaction and offer the receiver understanding. Considering the effect of the most recent example, the person who was trying to give an assignment can take away that there was an appreciation of the meaning of the assignment and that the assignment will not be done by this person, as opposed to wondering if the assignment will get done or knowing that it will get done by an uninterested person. This clarity is spectacular and allows both parties to effectively and efficiently path their next courses of action. 

Practicing these tools for identifying your own desires and the language for conveying them will allow you to step into your integrity and show up better for yourself and the people in your life.

With all there is to do, sometimes we find it easier to just… not.  

When having a long list of chores or a large goal, it can be hard to imagine yourself when it will finally be complete. We may choose to procrastinate to avoid negative emotions such as insecurity, confusion or boredom. Sometimes schedules are too full and busy, or feelings of being overwhelmed and burnt out cloud your vision of the path forward.  

When faced with these feelings of worry, anticipation of what’s to come, or stress, of what is right in front of us, we often struggle knowing where to start. 

By breaking down goals, identifying resources, structuring rewards, gamifying routines and equipping ourselves with the tools to make completing tasks more manageable, we can be prepared to conquer any tasks, large and exciting or small and mundane. Check our tips for how to do it, whatever it may be!

For large or long-term projects, break them down into actionable steps. By making smaller goals, you’ll be able to appropriately plan and allocate your time, use checkpoints to gauge your progress and create momentum as you accomplish each goal small goal after small goal (Google “the importance of small steps” for a great visual).  

Identify your actions with resources. Nobody does it alone! Look for points of collaboration and camaraderie throughout your experience. Decided a day for coffee with a friend too discuss your business idea, select a networking event to connect and share your ideas and struggles, find educational tools to continue your learning and identify accountability buddies (account-a-bili-buddies, if you will). Plus, you may find that you are more willing to hold yourself to a deadline from someone else and, while you can work to value your self-set deadlines as much as you value others, you can use this inclination to keep progressing. 

Chunk the time you spend working, with the Pomodoro Technique. The Pomodoro Technique addresses many of the mishaps that sometimes throw us off track: deadlines too far away to incentivize our dedication to the assignment; working past the point of optimal productivity and not being efficient with our time; feeling overly optimistic about how much work you can do and getting defeated when it doesn’t happen.  

The Pomodoro Technique was developed in the late 1980s by Francesco Cirillo who was struggling to complete his assignments. Feeling overwhelmed, he committed to studying with full focus for just 10 minutes. He found a kitchen timer shaped like a tomato (Pomodoro in Italian) to keep track, and so, the Pomodoro technique was created. Here’s how you can do it, too. 

1. Create a to-do list or identify a single task. 

1. Set a timer for 25 minutes (or use this neat website equipped with work sprints and breaks) and focus on the work at hand until the timer rings. 

1. When the session is over, record what you completed. 

1. Then, enjoy a five-minute break. 

1. After three or four Pomodoros take a restorative 15–30-minute break.  

Once you have started the Pomodoro, the timer must ring. Do not break the session to check emails, chats, or texts. If distractions crop up, take note of them and consider how to prevent them in future sessions. If you have a thought not relevant to the task at hand, jot it down and just come back to it later.  

One way to further optimize your Pomodoro breakdowns is grouping together small tasks that will take less than 25 minutes to complete, such as quick emails and maintenance tasks, and do them in one session instead of letting them interrupt ones dedicated to specific projects. You might not get the time breakdown right the first time you create your Pomodoro to-do list, but by reflecting and keeping note of how much it took you, you will soon learn to be able to masterfully plan your time.  

If you’re feeling detached from what you’re doing, remember why you want it done. When we lose sight of why we are doing something, it becomes a reason we give ourselves to blow it off or delay it another day. Try to connect your actions to your values. Consider how you would reframe completing a task into the person you want to become… work with me here.  

For example, I will fold my laundry because I am the type of person who …values taking care of my things has a way to honor those who made them …values a clean space …acknowledges my partner’s preference for an organized room. By remembering the values we care about we can care more deeply about the work we are doing. Here’s a couple more examples: 

• I will finish my school assignment because I am the type of person who …knows that while this course isn’t for my major, it is for my overall thinking and approach to the world …take pride in trying my best. 
• I will attend this networking event because I am the type of person who …values connecting with my community …puts myself out there …believes in my ideas and their potential to inspire others.  

If all else fails, do the thing you dislike like you love it, that’s how you’ll cultivate the drive and discipline to get done what you want to finish.  

After all, (if you are using the Pomodoro method) it’s just 25 minutes, and you’ll be done working when the timer rings! 

What in the virtual-world is going on here?  

Ever wonder how Virtual Reality (VR) mimics your perception of the world? Do you wonder how designers create a believable, immersive experience? Your crash course is here! In this blog, learn about how designers are working to bridge the separation of the viewer and the virtual with visual and audio engineering.

As real as the eye can see.  

Fully immersive virtual realities work to mimic our field of view; however, human’s visual field, the degrees of visual angle they can see when their eyes are stable, is not yet fully accommodated by current virtual reality technologies. Popular headsets like VRgineers’ 180 degrees FoV headset can cover about 85.7% of the horizontal arc of the human visual field, which is around 210 degrees according to the work of Hansh Strasburger and Ernst Pöppel in the Encyclopedia of Neuroscience.   

The content presented in the field of view changes in response to a user navigating it. As a user moves their head, the display must refresh and respond with a visual the viewer expects of the simulated environment. The time it takes to change the frame, to render the next image and put it on the display, is the refresh rate, which is measured in hertz (Hz). A device set to 60 Hz presents a new frame on the display up to 60 times every second.   

The speed of the refresh rate is connected to the frame rate, the speed graphics are transferred to the screen, measured in frames per second. For example, a monitor with a refresh rate of 60 Hz can optimally display 60 frames per second (FPS). A monitor with a refresh rate of 60 Hz and an FPS of 144 FPS will lose the extra frames offered because it is not capable of displaying them. A monitor with a refresh rate of 144 Hz can display more than 60 FPS, but if those frames are not present, they will not display. When both of these rates are high together, the displayed images are quite smooth.   

Motion of the ocean… and the virtual reality user.  

High performing visual rates are important for making virtual reality like the real world. In simulations, reducing latency, the time between the viewer’s action and the device’s reaction, improves the navigation experience and perceived responsiveness of the reality. The image should present at the same speed as the viewer turning their head to navigate. If the image lags behind the viewer’s head movement, it can make them feel sick.  

Head and body movement allow the user to navigate and interact with virtual worlds. Environment responses aligned with our natural real-world gestures make for a more immersive experience and reduce the controls a user will need to learn to participate. The gesture tools a user can employ are both semantics and responsive. Semantic gestures are common movements in real reality such as walking to a point or nodding one’s head in agreement. Responsive gestures are how the user interacts with the environment such as picking objects up or pushing a button. Environments are designed to replicate cues from the real world, such as replacing a button with a doorknob.  

Ongoing innovations may further improve realism by acknowledging how a world responds to the viewer’s visual experience. For example, eye tracking can be used to gain information on where people are looking and how they may be processing data. This understanding can be used to trigger VR responses such as the user looking at someone and them walking over in response. Identifying functional controls and recognizable cues common in the real world can be incorporated as design features in the virtual world to optimize the visual experience.  

Not just a pretty face (covered by a VR headset).  

To be about more than just looks, VR technology uses elements of 3D audio to emulate the expected audio experience of the real world. An assembly of sounds guide VR juggernauts through the virtual landscape, orienting them with clues of how they relate to their environment.   

By adjusting the frequency, timing and amplitudes of sound, designers can build 3D spatial images like ones in the real world. Without sound design, audio reaches ears at the same time, diminishing the sense of depth. With it, listeners gain information and make assumptions on where and what sound is in an environment.  

Feedback in the environment can supplement interactions to confirm user actions, such as a sound effect marking a door opening or, in this example from 99designs blog, a ding being triggered from the cash register in an e-commerce setting. This generates feedback that is less disruptive to the user experience, than say a pop-up screen dictating the order is being processed.  

These world-building techniques are being engaged by gadgets such as the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift or Google Cardboard to transport users into worlds and situations, some real and others unimaginable. The result of all these design features is truly out of this world.   

If you are interested in seeing VR in action, come on out to Carroll Community College for an informal, networking hour and VR demo experience. Enjoy conversation with folks from other businesses over local beer, wine and hors d’eurves and experience what VR can do for you and workforce training.  

Then, join us for a small group discussion on how to leverage VR in training scenarios and, later on, at the County Workforce Development offices to hear a panel discuss and debate how workforce training is changing. We will explore the capabilities and possibilities of VR, consider how people might respond and connect to the goal of ensuring our workforce has the skills they need to succeed.  

Videos to go down a virtually simulated rabbit hole on VR:   

RealSpace 3D Audio Demo – this is incredible and will blow your mind (wear headphones for a better experience).  

Immersive Soundscape – demonstrates how sound sources can be designed to mimic where a user would expect to find them in the real world (wear headphones).  

The Tucker Zone (A 3D Sound Experience) – I’ve been listening to this for ages; it’s super weird (keep those headphones on). 

Be great. 

Or don’t be… I can’t make you. But I do know some podcasts that will put you in the mindset to be! 

Podcasts are proving to be an accessible option to learn from the people great and growing. With the opening of one of many phone application they are offered on, anyone, anywhere can incorporate a bit of insight and humor into their day.

In 2022, 62% of consumers older than 12 in the United States listen to podcasts, according to Statista, integrating this easily consumable media into their morning commutes, work around the house and movement regiments. Part of what makes podcasts so popular is the ability add them to an already established routine or habit, instead of having to carve out time like you would for other content mediums. I like to listen to podcasts while doing chores I sometimes avoid like folding laundry. Listening to something interesting enhances the whole experience, getting me a little smarter and my clothes a lot less wrinkly. 

With dozens of platforms to listen on and millions of podcasts to choose from, you’re not short on choices for your laundry listen. It can be tough to know where to start, especially in a content area as large and growing as self development. So check out our podcast picks and recommended starter episodes, here and with more on this Spotify playlist, chosen specifically with entrepreneurs and businesses in mind and anyone in the pursuit of a healthy mindset. 

After listening, you can also easily share an episode with all your friends on Facebook and Twitter, even if they didn’t ask. They will love it and so will you – and hopefully everyone will learn something along the way. You can get some practice sharing this blog post to let everyone know about your new, exclusive identity as a podcast listener. Let’s get great! 

Get schooled by The School of Greatness 

New York Times best-selling author, two-time All-American athlete and entrepreneur Lewis Howes seeks to inspire listeners to unlock their inner greatness and live their best life. Interviews with world-renowned leaders in all sectors of life offer insight on how to overcome self-doubt, heal trauma, achieve goals, guide reflection and more. This podcast provides a roadmap to various definitions of success, producing a holistic collection of advice from the minds in business, literature, sports, health and beyond. Additionally, bite size and actionable guidance in the sub-15-minute episodes, called Five-Minute Fridays, is a great feature of this podcast. They are often based on longer episodes that you can dive into for more. 

Our picks to get you started: 

• Take Time to Reflect 
• Tony Robbins: Own Your Future in Business, Life & Love 
• Work It Out, Write It Out 

Feel the impact of this podcast: Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu  

This business and mindset-focused weekly interview show will leave you in awe and inspired to take action in your life and impact the lives of others. Learn the secrets to success listening to serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Quest Nutrition, Tom Bilyeu, as he divulges his own journey with greatness and smartly interviews the amazing minds in business, innovation, spirituality, creativity and beyond. His preparation and appreciation of his guests make the interviews entertaining and rich to listen to; his well thought out questions will leave you saying, “I wish I would’ve thought to ask that!” Bilyeu ensures his listeners walk away from each episode with the tools and knowledge to unlock their potential, applying teachings to his own life experience live during the interview and distilling key points for listeners throughout each episode.   

Our picks to get you started: 

• Dr. Joe Dispenza on How to Unlock the Full Potential of Your Mind 

• Conversations with Tom | Todd Herman on How to Have Infinite Energy (Yes, It’s Possible) 
• How to Uncover What’s Actually Holding You Back | Gary John Bishop on Impact Theory 

If it’s got to be kwik, listen to Kwik Brain with Jim Kwik 

After a childhood brain injury resulting in learning challenges, Jim Kwik resiliently created strategies to improve his mental performance and has since “dedicated his life to helping others unleash their true genius” with brain tips and thinking hacks. He founded KwikLearning.com to improve speed-reading, memory and brain performance. He coaches podcast listeners to those same objectives, offering short cuts and pathways for working more efficiently. The show is designed to “help busy people learn and achieve anything in a fraction of the time,” well exhibited by the show’s short episodes jampacked with advice from Kwik and the occasional guest.  

Our picks to get you started: 

• Mindset of Champions with Dr. Jeff Spencer 
• Learn ANYTHING Faster 
• How to Love Learning 

Wows and woes of  WorkLife with Adam Grant 

In this popular TED production, listeners explore the science of how to enjoy work with organizational psychologist, Adam Grant. Each episode, he explores the minds of unusual professionals and the nuances of the workplace, transforming how listeners view their jobs. Listeners learn how to love criticism, harness frustration and uncover joy in these 40-minute episodes, showing people to enjoy their time at work and create a better work life.  

Our picks to get you started: 

• It’s Time To Stop Ignoring Disability 
• Taken for Granted: Satya Nadella is building the future 

• How to Pitch Your Best Ideas 

BONUS recommendation: TED Talks Daily 

It’s the thought-provoking talks you love in audio format. Every weekday, TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design – you needed to know, this is such a good acronym to be able to unpack) brings you a new talk that is sure to intrigue and inspire. Many of these are 15 minutes and are easy to add to commutes or to the skin care routine you have been avoiding. What makes these a great alternative to YouTube clips is being able to skim the episode descriptions quickly and find the one I want to hear most in that moment. Give them a listen! 

And, as Kwik says at the end of every podcast: “Act on what you learned today. Remember, knowledge is not power; it’s potential power. It only becomes power when you use it”. So, get out there, listen to a podcast on your drive and take those steps towards a greater, happier you. But please do keep your eyes on the road! 

If you hear a great idea you would like to discuss more, come out to a monthly Business Breakfast for a chat and chew! This is a great forum for building relationships and sharing conversation on business and current events. Members are welcome to bring along business friend to this casual and conducive event. Register to get your seat at the table and suggest a topic you are interested in discussing with the group.

Let us know what you think and if there are podcasts you would like to add to this list! 

Absolutely nothing.  

That’s the end of the blog. 

Just kidding! 

Virtual reality (VR) is the newest and coolest extension for workforce learning and development. Simulations transport users to a digital location and immerse them in an interactive experience. In virtually crafted realities, workers are being trained with the push of a button and the fitting of some supped-up sunglasses.

Various types of workplaces are employing VR, from manufacturing to marketing, battlefront to business brunch. Workers encounter VR experiences similar to what they may encounter in the field, facing real-world scenarios at a low virtual-world risk. In these realities they can practice technical and hands-on skills or hone their abilities to respond to stressful situations.  

Often in a worker’s learning process, VR training will follow classroom or virtual instruction, allowing the education to extend beyond the confines of coursework. It also presents a capability of bridging remote and in-person teams with shared experiences.

How is VR experienced?

Currently, there are two types of virtual reality settings: Three Degrees of Freedom (3DoF) and Six Degrees of Freedom (6DoF).  

They differ in how the user’s point of view moves, how they can interact with the simulated environment, what content it is best suited to teach and the environment it can be used in. 

 3DoF, sometimes referred to as 360* VR, is often used in corporate training such as diversity and inclusion, soft skills, and onboarding. In Roundtable Learning’s 360* VR training for recognizing unconscious bias, a learner hears a discriminatory comment made toward a minority employee. In the scenario, the learner is prompted with options for responding to the micro-aggression. The training recreates human interactions while allowing the learner to make mistakes and learn without directly affecting others.

What is the VR experience?

In one of Roundtable Learning’s training courses designed for organization leaders, they simulate an opportunity for stress coaching. During the activity, the user learns soft skills for managing teams and practices applying them in a manner they would in non-virtual reality.

Watching Roundtable Learning’s video of the virtual leadership training, I thought that what the user was selecting felt accurate to what someone would say in the real world and was effective at modeling real-world interactions. The stimulated dialogue and the presence of an actual person filmed and rendered into the training removed the feeling of “ew, who would actually say that” I get when simply reading stuff in a textbook or handbook for the first time.

In addition to me lacking my “feeling of ew,” VR training benefits workers and workplaces. One of them being, VR is just plain cool. Roundtable Learning has observed workers being excited about getting to play with virtual reality and are often more engaged in the instruction. Additionally, the reality-removed aspect creates a risk-reduced learning environment that removes reputation and potential dangers inherent to the interaction of real-world practice. VR experiences are also adaptable to workers’ needs, bodies and circumstances. In this format, workers have an opportunity to gain experience that would have otherwise had to have time in the field to be exposed to and happenstantial circumstances curtailed to workplace learning goals. Instead, they develop skills they can readily bring into the workplace, having already practiced and received feedback. 

So, what is VR good for?

Empirically, VR training and lessons are proving to be an effective means of teaching information. In a test measuring retention of information, the average score of students who learned with VR was 32.4% more than those who learned through traditional teachings in a case study of VR on academic performance by Beijing Bluefocus E-Commerce Co., Ltd. This observation suggests “VR-based teaching could help students get a deeper impression and maintain a long-term memory,” according to the study. 

In a PwC study of VR designed for soft skills training, employees from a group of new managers across the United States took an inclusive leadership training in one of three modalities: classroom, electronically and VR. Of the results they highlighted: 

• VR learners completed the training (29 minutes) 3 times faster than classroom learners (120 minutes) and faster than electronic learners (45 minutes); 
• VR learners were up to 275% more confident to act on what they learned – 40% more than classroom and 35% more than electronic learners; 
• VR learners felt 3.75 and 2.3 times more of an emotional connection to the content than classroom and electronic learners, respectively; 
• VR learners were 1.5 and 4 times more focused during training than classroom and electronic learners, respectively. 

Observations of blending VR into educational curriculums supports it is effective addition to workplace learning and development. Besides, who doesn’t want to play video games at work? 

If you are interested in seeing VR in action, come on out to Carroll Community College for an informal, networking hour and VR demo experience on July 25, 2022. Enjoy conversation with folks from other businesses over local beer, wine and hors d’eurves and experience what VR can do for you and workforce training.

Then, join us for a small group discussion on how to leverage VR in training scenarios and at the County Workforce Development offices to hear a panel discuss and debate how workforce training is changing. We will explore the capabilities and possibilities of VR, consider how people might respond and connect to the goal of ensuring our workforce has the skills they need to succeed.

Videos to go down a virtually simulated rabbit hole on VR: 

How Hilton Uses Virtual Reality for Training | Oculus for Business 

Why Microsoft Uses Virtual Reality Headsets To Train Workers 

Hey! Yeah, you! Did you enjoy this blog about using virtual reality for workplace training? Would you like to learn more about VR in other industries, its cost effectiveness or about how VR works? Let us know! We want to explore topics you are interested in and give you fun facts to deliver at a dinner and look like you are super smart.