Intentional Remote

Two kids asked me if I worked for Super Mario. I said yes. Obviously. Work from anywhere means work from weird places sometimes. I promise I usually work in ways that are better for my back. Not getting younger huh 😅

The average career is 42 years. It's not realistic to stick to one company. Or one profession. Or one location. 42 years. That's a long time. I don't know about you but I'm not planning to spend 42 years miserable. Put yourself first and plan sustainably and long term 💚

We spend more time at work than we spend with our families and friends. So it's fair to say the decision where we work has a huge impact on our lives. Career decisions have never been easy for me. I would have sleepless nights and "overthink" things over and over again. I would love to say I found a solution. I didn't. But this little exercise helps 🙃 Hoping it might help you, too! ➡️ Simply align the dimensions with your goals and values, give them a factor depending on how important they are to you and then rate them. Let me know if you'd like the file, happy to share! 💚

This lights up my day 💚 I don't know about the 1%, it's probably more of a marketing thing from topmate. But I do know about the wonderful people I worked with in the last couple of months. 💚 They moved jobs. 💚 They built businesses. 💚 They diversified their income streams. 💚 And they follow small daily habits to make a sustainable remote career a reality for them. If you're waiting for a sign to put yourself out there and do your own thing: go for it! Do it for the learnings. For the growth. For the impact. For the fun. If you do, reach out and I'll be the first one cheering you on 💚

As global teams and companies, our colleagues and friends all over the world are impacted by (geo)political conflicts, extreme weather conditions, and catastrophes like the war in Ukraine, the Middle East conflicts, Typhoon(s) in the Philippines, Hurricane Helene flooding in the US, ... ... and now the severe weather and flooding in Valencia and the Spanish coast area. It's not always easy to have the right words, but besides checking in on people, offering support, and giving them time off w/o any questions asked, I believe every little contribution helps. Here are some options for Spain: - International Donations via GlobalGiving: https://lnkd.in/efUb5vve - International Donations via Cruz Roja Española (Spanish Red Cross): IBAN SANTANDER BANK: ES44 0049 0001 5321 1002 2225 33512 SMS: send HELP to 28092 (1,20 €), 38088 (3 €) or 38092 (6 €) - Local: Donations, volunteering, and aid drop-off points: https://lnkd.in/eqSbqRjv - Local: via The Olive Press Newspaper https://lnkd.in/emZD6AWa

⬇️ Me looking at all the Halloween posts today but not being able to come up with a good idea myself 😑👻😅 So I'll share what was a trivia question in my teams Halloween call: Why is Halloween called Halloween? The tradition of Halloween originated with the Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the 8th century November 1 became All Saints Day to honor all Saints. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve and later Halloween.

For the longest time, I thought I was optimizing my career for "success." But I wasn't even clear what that meant to me. Next, I thought I was optimizing for money. But that doesn't mean much if you're so burned out you can barely get out of bed. Then I thought remote work was the answer because I loved the freedom. But I recently realized what I'm really prioritizing is a deeper sense of freedom. Location freedom. Financial freedom. Career freedom. I now align my actions with the goal of creating more freedom for myself and my family. What about you? What are you prioritizing in your own life and career?

I'll never stop advocating for remote work. I'll never stop enabling people to work remotely. I'll never stop helping companies build remote businesses. Because it's a win win win win. 💚 For people - because it gives everyone access to work, increases flexibility, improves work-life balance, reduces commuting stress, and allows individuals to live in locations of their choice, enhancing overall quality of life. 💚 For businesses - because of more engaged, flexible, healthy, and committed people, having a wider talent pool, increased retention, and more diversity, productivity, and innovation. 💚 For the environment - because it reduces commuting and office energy use, lowering carbon emissions and decreasing the overall environmental impact of business operations. 💚 For our economy - because it increases productivity, reduces unemployment in rural areas, and decreases infrastructure strain in cities.

Did you know that Dolphins alternate which half of the brain is sleeping periodically so that they can get the rest they need without ever losing consciousness? The bad news: if you're not a dolphin - this won't work for you 😅 I've learned so much from this little book and it confirmed what I knew before: good sleep is probably the single most impactful thing we can do for our health. And through that for our productivity and wellbeing. So before you research the latest productivity hack: have a proper look at your sleep. Do you give sleep the attention it deserves? 🙌😴

Negotiation SUCKS. And I'm not just saying that because I'm not good at it. I've been reading a couple of posts about negotiation again lately with tips and resources for women. And don't get me wrong, I think it's an important and useful skill in many areas of life. Where I think it sucks is when it comes to compensation. Not only does research show a better economic outcome for male negotiators on average, but it also shows a significant "Ask Gap" (e.g. Nina Rousille: The Central Role Of The Ask Gap in Gender Pay Inequality) Your takeaway might be: Women have to get better at asking and negotiating. I don't think that's the (only) solution. I don't think someone should have to take courses, read books, and attend training to be compensated fairly. I think looking at it as a structural problem rather than a "skills" problem would help. And there is so much more to it than just negotiation: - It's women tending to choose careers that are considered "suitable" for them and - surprise - paid worse than what's considered "suitable" for men. - It's women of color facing gender plus racial biases. - It's women becoming the caretaker of the family by default with a huge impact on their careers. - It's the pay gap widening with age. I can recommend following Michelle Gyimah and Rachel Gibbs for great insights into pay gap and pay transparency. And I'll add the Payscale Gender Pay Gap Report 2024 in the comments. What's your take?