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How to achieve your goals more efficiently?

14.11.2014 by Admin

Goals: Many of us have objectives and goals we are trying to reach in life. Those can vary from passing a degree to getting employment, setting up your own entrepreneurial venture or even health & fitness goals. To achieve goals, you must know what the actual goal is, which actions and resources it takes, how to implement those, what may hinder you and how to keep your motivation going. We’d like to share with you some tips on how to achieve your goals more efficiently.

1. Goals – SMART

In project management the SMART approach is a very common way of setting goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bond. Unless you can clearly define each of those, you may have troubles throughout the following steps and specifically when you will try to identify when you have achieved your goal at the end. A SMART goal for our online student for example may be studying one learning objective for each subject (Measurable) during one-week for 5 hours daily (Time-bond) by creating mind-maps (Specific) of the materials during the first 3 days and then implementing the contents of the mind maps over the following 3 days by taking quizzes or sample test questions on those learning objectives. Taking one day a week “off” makes it realistic since we all need the occasional break. Splitting the big task into smaller objectives of taking one learning unit at a time makes it more achievable as well.

2. Action plan and Resources

To achieve any goal, commitment and dedication is key. Seeing the big picture and being able to break it down into smaller components, will show the relevant actions it takes to turn the goal into reality. Breaking it down into minor milestones, the resources in terms of timing, maybe facilities, financial, human capital and other becomes evident. In the example of our online student, he will need a study room that is available to him during the hours he is most productive in the day (or night) and the support he gets from the faculty through our online platform.

3. Possible obstacles

No project or goal will ever be achieved without unexpected challenges that may make the road to success a bit bumpy. The first step is to be aware in advance that setbacks are normal and may come rather then letting them take you by surprise. Many possible obstacles can be foreseen in advance, have a plan B how to decrease their impact on your success of achieving the goal. In the example of our student, he may get a cold in autumn and not be able to study for several days onwards. As long as he has calculated extra weeks for his exam preparation in advance, such an obstacle will not hinder him achieving the final goal.

In our next blog post, we will share with you two remaining tips on how to achieve your goals more efficiently. In the meantime, let us know which you are trying to tackle; we’d love to hear from you.

Work-Life Balance and further education

30.10.2014 by Admin

Work-Life Balance: We have recently posted an interesting article on Work-Life Balance and better ways to thing about it. Inspired by Shana Lebowitz, the writer of that article, we have some more aspects to share on the work-life balance topic, especially in relation to education.

Many of our students happen to be very busy people, they may either be pursuing several degrees at a time, they be working whilst pursuing their degree or they may have a family or a spouse who also require their attention. We all have multiple roles to fulfill in our life and work-life balance seems often too unattainable. We are very clear that many of our students fall in the so-called millennial category where flexibility, family and friends are often prioritized to career. Quality of life is a major factor and therefore we aim at making further education as relevant and flexible as possible.

With the popularity of MOOC’s and a latest trend of competency-based education, there is no surprise that millennial are using those sources to a vast extend. They’re both flexible in terms of timing and location as well as accessible from multiple devices.

Nobel International Fraternity Academy is a leading institution offering undergraduate and postgraduate education. Because it is important to us that our students perform well across all areas of their life, our online platform incorporates both the flexibility and accessibility factor. You can choose to view your course lecture whilst at home on the sofa, during your lunch break at the office or whilst waiting for you dinner to cook. In addition, the courses are run under QCF (Qualifications Credit Framework), a new way of recognising skills and qualifications. It does this by awarding credit for units (small steps of learning) and enables learners to gain qualifications at their own pace along flexible routes.This ties in with the competency-based education where the employer and the student are clear on the competencies that the student can perform. So, what has all this to do with work-life balance?

To insure work-life balance you have to make the right choices in the first place. What do you put on your plate and where do you say no? When choosing further education, make sure it is aligned with your needs and your goals. You want to be sure you can tackle the study program in the time spam provided whilst living your professional and personal life.

Productivity – Are you always being productive?

27.10.2014 by Admin

Productivity: In today’s every day life we are constantly bombarded with information. Our smartphones, tablets, laptops, blogs, news feeds and many others are ways of keeping us constantly busy and engaged. But does being active and busy mean being productive? Probably not…..

Productivity is the way of doing things in a smart manner in an optimized time manner; many tools and apps can support us in that. Productivity is also about choosing what’s important and has to be done and what is rather a distraction. I was recently at a conference where someone approached me and said “I really like what you said about getting things done”. In my little speech I was indeed talking about doing things and getting things done as two different pairs of shoes. I am sure many of you have met people who are so seemingly busy but don’t seem to get a lot done. You have also probably met people who seem at ease but are very productive. Those see the core of productivity as getting things done and delivering results.

Let me give you a concrete example. You have signed up for an online course and as part of your graduation you have to pass an assignment. Now, to pass that successfully you need the technical knowledge, some research and critical thinking in that area to be able to produce your assignment. A productive person has a clear study plan in which he identifies the study schedule, the individual topics, the relevant readings leading to mind-maps of each study session. He will then schedule a review of the past mind-map during the next session to utilize the memory curve and memorize the contents of the previous sessions. He will then review the previous week’s mind maps, ideally from his memory since he will have memorized them by now. Now, let’s look at someone with low productivity. The person will sit down at random time, do some readings and maybe take some notes and repeat that over the course of a couple of weeks. The unproductive person will go back to the notes from the first session at some point and find that he doesn’t remember much. There we have it….productivity and getting results don’t come without one another.

Spending time on things is just spending time whereas structuring your approach, finding the most productive way around will safe your time and boost your productivity. How do you boost your productivity?

Christopher A. Hartwell endorsing Nobel Academy

22.10.2014 by Admin

“I believe the ideals and, more importantly, the implementation of the Nobel Academy are critically important. Indeed, in any age, the Nobel Academy would be an important educational undertaking, but the problems the world faces today makes its emergence all the more crucial. In an environment where powers-that-be wish to obscure rather than illuminate, there is a greater need for truth-seekers and serious scholars. The Academy’s goal of reaching as many students as possible via e-learning platforms makes access to scholarship easier. It also allows the Academy to equip more youths with the critical-thinking tools needed to begin their journey as scholars. I especially am enthused to know that they are offering a bachelor of arts in economics, a subject whose knowledge appears to be in short supply as of late. Combining a global reach with vital subject matter, I wish the Academy well in reaching out and educating as many as possible.” ( Christopher A. Hartwell)

Dr. Hartwell has vast experience in macroeconomic research and applied economic analysis, private sector development, and strategic planning, having worked with both the public and private sector for over 18 years. He is an experienced international development manager, and has contributed to growth-promoting economic and financial reforms in approximately 15 countries, focusing on transition economies. He holds a PhD from SGH, as well as a master’s in public policy from Harvard and a bachelor’s from the University of Pennsylvania. He worked as Head of Global Markets and Institutional Research with the Institute for Emerging Market Studies (IEMS) at the Moscow School of Management – SKOLKOVO, where he led the Institute’s work in the area of international finance and macroeconomics, focused on financial sector and institutional development. He also advised the government of Kazakhstan on financial sector liberalization in the context of greater Eurasian integration. Before living in Russia, he led a private sector development project from the IFC (World Bank Group) in Tonga, and has served as Deputy Chief of Party of USAID projects in Armenia and in tax policy around the world.

Public speaking tips – keep it short

12.10.2014 by Admin

Keep it short: Blaise Pascal once famously commented, “I have only made this letter rather long because I have not had time to make it shorter.” While it seems like the challenge of speaking with limited preparation would be finding enough to say, the opposite is often true. When at a loss for words, many of us underestimate the time we need — cramming in so many stories and points that we run well over our time and dilute our message. No one will appreciate your economy of words more than your listeners, so when in doubt, say less.

There’s no substitute for practice in offering impromptu remarks, and there are many things to consider when preparing for a great talk. But mastering a few basics, like those above, can make these public comments less stressful to prepare and easier for audiences to hear.

To succeed in keeping it short, we close the circle and go back to what we shared at the very beginning of our public speaking tips series, namely defining a structure. Know your intro, you main points and the supporting points for them and your conclusion. Don’t overdo it with detail, ideally have a clock in your eyesight to keep track of time or ask someone you know well from the audience to give you a sign at certain intervals.

We hope that our public speaking tips ranging from defining your structure, keeping your audience in mind, putting the punchline first, memorizing what to say not how to say it and keeping it short will equip you with some basic tools to prepare yourself for successful public speaking performances.

We’d love to here about your experience implementing any of those tips and how it went for you. Please share below.

Public speaking tips – memorize what to say, not how to say it

08.10.2014 by Admin

To continue on our public speaking tips series, we have another helpful advise to you. So far, we invited you to apply various tools such as defining your structure, putting the punchline first and remembering your audience as some of the most useful public speaking tips.

Memorize what to say, not how to say it: How many times have you practiced exactly how to say something in your head then frozen up or completely forgotten in the moment? In complex speeches, you might have to remember 5-10 citations, 4-5 examples with names and places as well as supporting statistics. That’s a lot to research and remember in 30 minutes or less. The trick here is to focus on memorizing key stories and statistics, rather than practicing the delivery. If you spend your time on how to say something perfectly, you’ll stumble through those phrasings and you’ll forget all the details that can make them come alive. Or worse, you’ll slavishly read from a PowerPoint or document rather than hitting the high points fluidly with your audience. If you know your topic, the words will come.

So, in order for you to score on memorizing what to say, not how to say it, make sure you are confident with your topic and know what you are talking about. Most people have a high anxiety and low confidence before a presentation because they are scared of being asked a question to which they might not have an answer. In case you really get into such a situation, stay calm and professional. None of us is a walking encyclopedia and rather than making something up on the go that might not be true, you can say “Thank you for your questions, it is an excellent one. I would be delighted to look into that more in depth and revert to you with an detailed answer.” That even encourages you to connect with the audience and sets a great base for further communication.

Jean Jouzel, co –Peace Nobel Prize Winner in 2009 with Al Gore, endorsing Nobel Academy

30.09.2014 by Admin

Jean Jouzel, co-Peace Nobel Prize winner in 2009 with Al Gore, is a French glaciologist and climatologist. He is an authority on major climatic shifts based on his analysis of Antarctic and Greenland ice. He received with Claude Lorius the CNRS gold medal, the highest French scientific award. Jean Jouzel believes In the power of education and the opportunities which are opened to people who get access to education., impacting each individual’s fate, like his own.

“Being a descendent of a family of farmers since generations, I thoroughly enjoyed the education that was given to me from primary school to university and later on towards a PhD, who in turn opened up upon an exciting research career. My life is filled by these years of hard studies but they were also very happy. I wish that all young people could benefit from the same huge opportunities that I got, however, I know that many will not get it without a boost and adaptive aids. The actions conducted by the Nobel Academy in the field of higher education are likely to motivate young people and allow them to move forward”. (Jean Jouzel, co –Peace Nobel Prize Winner in 2009 with Al Gore)

Make sure to take your first action today towards the future you aspire and contact our programme advisors to support you choosing the right education for this journey.

Public Speaking tips – remember your audience

23.09.2014 by Admin

So far, we have covered some critical public speaking tips, namely how defining your structure and the power of a punchline will make you succeed at every public speaking occasion. The next public speaking tip is about your audience.

Remember your audience: All it takes is a few lines to make an audience feel acknowledged and a speech feel fresh. Tie the city in which you are speaking into your introduction. Draw parallels between the organization you’re addressing and one of the stories you tell. Mention someone by name, connecting them to the comments you’re offering. These are small gestures, but they make your remarks more tailored and relevant.

There is a significant difference on how you will present and the terminology you use based on who is in the audience. Scientists might want to hear one perspective, business people another and younger vs. more experienced listeners will also have a different set of expectations.

You can have the most competent presentation but if your audience is not educated enough on that topic, they will not get your message.

So make sure to put yourself in the shoes of your audience at all times and imagine what you would want to hear, if you were listening to someone giving a speech on that particular topic.

Public speaking tips – power of the punchline

17.09.2014 by Admin

In our series about public speaking tips, we are sharing with you today the next useful advice.

Put the punchline first: What is a punchline, you might want to ask? It is a profound statement, usually the word, sentence or exchange of sentences which is intended to provoke a thought in the listeners. It is a powerful sentence that reveals the point of the speech, what it is you are really going to focus on.

Any presentation should have a clear thesis stated up front so that listeners can easily follow and interpret the comments that follow. We have seen many times presenters ramble through a speech with the audience wondering to the very end about the point of the comments. Giving a good business speech is not like telling a good joke. Don’t save the punch line for the end.

How do you prepare your punchline? There are several aspects to consider. Firstly, make sure it is straight to the point, clear and focused. You don’t want to have an explanation to follow your punchline but rather for your audience to grasp it immediately. Secondly, make it provocative. You want to trigger the audience’s interest and curiosity so that they want to listen more of what you are going to say. Lastly, make sure to include some humor where possible. Not every talk may allow and the circumstances for humor might not be appropriate, but if it fits, a humorous punchline is what will guarantee your the success performance.

Have a presentation coming up? What’s your punchline? We’d love to hear.

Public Speaking tips – you will never be scared again

10.09.2014 by Admin

Most of us, when invited to stand in the spotlight and give a speech or presentation which we may or may not have had the time to prepare or rehearse, would have the fear running down our backs. Guess what, this is actually a physiological process of our body to prepare it to run from a lion, at least in evolutionary perspective. The same happens during public speaking. That slightly anxious feeling when standing at the front surrounded by people who expect to hear something from us, is normal and can be controlled. There are several mechanisms and prep tips on how you can calm yourself down, focus and deliver your speech or presentation in a professional manner. This series will provide you with some public speaking tips.

Define a structure: Bring it to the essentials – what are you going to include and what is to be left out. You want to make sure that you cover the important points and have quality content. “Empty sentences” will bore your audience and underline your credibility. The worst speech is the one without purpose or structure, just a random selection of sentences. This way you can be assured that the audience won’t be able to follow you, thereby decreasing the impact of your speech. So, draft a structure – an introduction, two or three supporting points and a conclusion. For the supporting points make sure to state them, explain them and prove them. Put that structure down on a piece of paper or whatever is handy to make a note on and fill in the gaps with around 20 words or less underneath each of the three main sections. Even if someone asks you a few minutes before to come up and say a few words, you should still use that structure, scribble the main points and thereby avoid any ambiguity or tendency to ramble.

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