Change is hard. Really hard.

How many resolutions have you set that never made it past February? If the number is big, you’re not alone. Research has suggested that while 40% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions, only 8% of those resolutions are actually achieved.

Why?

Because resolutions rely on motivation.

Motivation doesn’t work.

Motivation is based on emotion and emotion is unreliable. Not that motivation is bad. In fact, it’s great when you can get it. It’s just not something that serves as a good foundation for lasting change.

Unfortunately, we often can’t control things that impact our motivation. What happens when you lose a client, have relationship issues, get a new and unreasonably demanding boss, or need to care for a parent in failing health? These, and thousands of other things, affect your feelings. They tend to bring down your levels of enthusiasm and energy. And when we feel down, motivation goes down. When motivation goes down, ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ becomes all too easy.

This is when resolutions and commitments waiver and often fail. What’s worse is that repeated unsuccessful attempts to change work against us by lowering our self-confidence and our belief in our self-control. We blame ourselves for our lack of progress and we go out looking for things that will motivate us. But it’s the strategy of relying on motivation that got us into trouble in the first place.

If you’ve tried to change and have consistently failed, the issue isn’t you… it’s your strategy.

Forming new habits is the key.

As actions (resolutions) start to become habit, the emotion and our focus on them naturally wanes. This is actually a good thing because habits don’t rely on motivation or thinking things through. It’s why we can drive while our mind is elsewhere. Habits are automatic.

And forming habits is the key to long-lasting change.

How do we form habits?

Stephen Guise (Mini-Habits) suggests that the key is to set your objectives ‘stupidly small’ – so small that resistance to doing it is minimal and your chance of success is high. They should be so small that it takes no more than 5-10 minutes (or 3-5 minutes if needed) to accomplish. Take that new habit you want to form and break it down to super small mini-habits to get you started.

  • A resolution to eat healthier becomes a commitment to eat one vegetable a day.
  • A need to live within a budget can start with stopping all Starbucks (‘insert your regular money-wasting purchase here’) visits.
  • The desire to exercise daily for 30 minutes becomes a commitment do one push up a day.
  • A goal to be more collaborative with colleagues can start with a commitment to compliment one person’s idea or work every other day.

This approach was backed by a classic Stanford University study that focused on kids who had trouble with math. One group was instructed to set small math goals, while a second group set long-term goals. The first group accurately solved 80% of the problems. The second group correctly solved only 40%.

The Benefits of Taking This Small Mini-Habits Approach

  1. Starting small reduces internal resistance which means only an infinitesimally small (laughably small) amount of willpower is needed. If it takes more than this, you’ve not set them small enough.
  2. Doing something small is infinitely better than doing nothing. And setting big goals typically leads to doing nothing.
  3. Success at doing small things builds a positive feedback loop which increases self-efficacy. From this positive foundation it’s easier to do a bit more than the minimum as time goes on. From here, it’s easier to ‘scale up’ over time.
  4. And even if you don’t scale up, doing something small every day builds a routine. This is enough to grow into a lifelong foundational habit.

Other Habit-Formation Tips

  • Develop a plan – Select your mini-habit. Pick a trigger (e.g. time of day) which will prompt you to implement it. Select a reward. Write these down.
  • Track your progress – Keep a log on how you’re doing. Note occasions when you’ve scaled up in duration, difficulty, overcoming obstacles, etc.
  • Develop a reward system – Give yourself a reward (e.g. a hot bath or a phone call with a friend) only after you’re finished with your mini-habit for the day.
  • Surround yourself with a support network – The people you spend time with do impact your habits, both good and bad. Surround yourself with people who are good at what you want to achieve.
  • Build in accountability – Your log tracking your progress holds you accountable to yourself. Telling your support network what you’re doing so they can encourage you will help you to be accountable to them.
  • Focus on avoiding loss – Focusing on avoiding loss leads to change more often than focusing on gaining something (Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success). For example, envisioning a life plagued with heart disease has a greater chance of leading to a healthy lifestyle than imagining yourself looking good in a swimsuit.
  • Use a vacation to break a habit – Behavior associated with habits often start with a trigger which tells your brain to perform its habitual learned behavior. Vacations change those triggers which breaks up our normal behavior patterns. For this reason, Charles Duhigg (The Power of Habit) says that vacations can be one of the best times to break yourself of an unwanted habit.

The good news is that habits are malleable throughout our life so it’s never too late to improve something for the better.

Robin Elledge is the founder of Janus, a coaching and consulting firm in Los Angeles. Robin’s greatest passion is working with people to improve their ability to effect change within their company, team, and themselves. She has over 30 years of experience supporting and coaching leaders at all levels, from CEOs to those who are just beginning their management journey.

Almost one year ago to the day I left my job. I worked as a recruiter at Creative Circle. I absolutely loved the role, my coworkers, my routine, and the fulfillment I felt as an independent young woman working in downtown Chicago with nothing holding me back. My husband and I were advancing in our careers and we had our first child on the way. Everything was going as planned, life was good! And then my water broke at 30 weeks pregnant (10 weeks early)… My life as I knew it came to a screeching halt.

Fast forward…my husband and I have a remarkable son who is healthy, happy and ready to take on the world. So much so, he got a 7 week head start! But having a premature baby (or a baby in general!) was hard and forced me to make an incredibly difficult decision, and that was to put my career on hold to focus on our baby and our family.

This is life, right? Beautifully unpredictable. Things happen that derail our plans, good and bad, and we adapt in remarkable ways.

I know I am not alone here. As a recruiter, I met with numerous candidates who were looking to get back into the workforce after taking a career “break”. Reasons were endless: pursuing personal interests, sabbatical, elder care, raising small children, unforeseen personal or family health issues, spousal job transfers, to name only a few.

To the candidates I interviewed, mentored, listened, and learned from, I get it. I’m not going to lie, these career “breaks” weren’t always an easy hurdle to overcome to our clients but I understand that searching for a job is never easy, especially after taking an unplanned “break.” Therefore, I want to share with you some of my job hunt ammo as I start looking for my next job!

1. Do your research. Be prepared.

The more you know about your potential new employer, the better off you will be. Hands down! Read the company’s website in full, learn more about the interviewer in any way you can. Follow their social media accounts, get up to speed on the company’s latest news, etc. This information will lead to talking points during your interview and will also exemplify your passion and excitement for the job you are going for.

In addition, think through how your previous experience applies to the job at hand. What would be most relevant to highlight to the hiring manager during your interview about yourself and experience? How do your skills and past experiences support the company’s short and long term goals?

2. Network and build relationships.

Don’t be shy, put yourself out there – people want to help! Attend industry events, join an association, schedule meetings or informational interviews, treat people to coffee or lunch, find a mentor or reconnect with previous employers and connections in your industry. You can also reach out to your local Creative Circle office to schedule an interview with a recruiter. Whatever you do, let it be known that you are on the job hunt.

3. Spruce up your presentation.

Resumes and portfolios are key in getting you to the next step. If you are getting back into the workforce after a career “break” and are worried about that gap in your resume, don’t fret, there a few different things you can do. First of all, don’t forget to include any sort of freelance work, consulting gigs, internships, or volunteer programs you did during your “break.” These activities are 100% viable, so make sure to list them under your professional experience. Include date of activity, location, brands worked on, responsibilities held, and accomplishments, just as you would a full time gig.

You can also experiment with the layout of your resume. There are functional resumes and chronological resumes. Although most employers and recruiters appreciate chronological resumes, depending on your experience and professional history, a functional resume might be the right choice for you. If the gap on your resume is large, you can include a very brief explanation (1-2 sentences) in a cover letter, application, or intro email explaining why you stepped away from your career for a period of time. It is also important to consult with your recruiter so they can help position and market you to various clients. Above all, be honest and own your career history, both on paper and in an interview. And, always be sure to express your excitement and enthusiasm about re-entering the workforce!

4. Be flexible. Keep an open mind.

You simply never know where life is going to take you. As a recruiter, it was not uncommon to see a two-day freelance job turn into a full-time position. So keeping an open mind and thinking “yes” instead of “I’m not sure about that” might lead you to places you might have never imagined.

5. Be honest with yourself and others.

Do some soul searching on what you are looking for at this point in your life – it could be the specific work, or the environment you seek to work in. Once you have a good idea as to what you want, do your best to communicate that to potential employers and recruiters so they can help you find it. Honesty is the best policy. Don’t hide or talk around the break in your career – be honest and prepared to share reasons as to why you stepped away from your work and how that particular time helped improve you as a person. It is likely that you have gained solid experience in non-traditional ways such as volunteering, running a household and family, traveling, etc. Be sure to mention these attributes you have gained to reinforce your worth.

6. It’s okay to be vulnerable.

Be transparent and genuine – real people appreciate real people. This can feel scary, but the truth is, when you’re vulnerable, people are more likely to trust you and engage more openly in return. Brene Brown says it best, “Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.” Talk about your job history, resume gaps, things you loved about jobs, challenges that taught you lessons and how to adapt. With confidence, use this outlet to share how you have grown as an individual and professional.

7. Get gritty. You are your own advocate.

Interviewing is hard work. You have to endure struggle, sometimes you fail and most of us have to try repeatedly until that ideal job comes around. This is grit. It’s not always the smartest, brightest, most intelligent people who succeed but more commonly the people with passion and perseverance. Remember to showcase discipline, maintain focus, and remain optimistic during your search. You’ve got to want it!

8. Embrace the conversation.

Dalai Lama once said, “When you talk, you are repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.” It is important to remember that a job interview or networking event is simply a conversation. Therefore, be present and positive at all times. Listen, don’t interrupt, and most importantly, be yourself. It is critical to sell yourself and your skills, but make sure you are truly paying attention at the same time.

9. Say thank you.

Whether you are re-entering the workforce after a career “break” or not, don’t forget to say thank you. It is so easy to do! A quick email, or even better, a hand-written thank you note goes a long way. You never know who you will run into in the future, so always be kind, and never burn your bridges.

Learning from my own career “break,” I now know for certain that life is the greatest teacher and allows for a more mature perspective which I can only use to my advantage and in looking for my next job. It is precisely by the experience of the last year and a half that I am convinced my value as an employee will be all the greater. I truly believe that the right employer understands this dynamic and that some of the best candidates out there are the ones recharged and sharpened by life, ready to jump back into the work force with renewed vision, energy, and understanding.

Caitlin’s education and background is in Graphic Design. She connected with Creative Circle in 2010 as a candidate. After a couple of years freelancing through Creative Circle and with her own clients, she accepted a full-time job as a Creative Circle Recruiter. Caitlin currently works part-time for the company to help improve the overall candidate experience. Outside of work, Caitlin can be found chasing her toddler around, spending time with family, horseback riding, working on her fixer-upper home and enjoying the outdoors.

After I graduated from college in 1993, I got an internship at an annual report firm. We were designing and producing spreads, by hand, onto boards. Our process included thumbnails, sketching, drawing a grid onto the board, ordering type over the phone, trimming out type galleys, hand-kerning type, waxing it down, and so on. You could say it was a lot of work and it took a long time.

our-notebook-mechanicalThis process was great, because you became intimate with the projects because you had your hands on them. You had to know your tools and type really well. Our office was not yet using computer software for design and production, so the task ended up on me to make the transition.

My boss taught me the fundamentals of the grid and typography well, but it was really up to me to figure out how to translate those skills to the computer. (I talk about my experience in this video.)

Remember, there was no YouTube at the time. There was no Google. If you wanted to learn software, you had to take classes in-person. So I learned Quark XPress 3.1 and Illustrator 88 in the Art Center at Night program.

There was a lot to figure out because I was trying to connect the abilities of the software to solving the actual problems I was facing during the day. I was taking what I learned in class and trying to figure out how to translate those tools for application at work.

And through this process I learned two lessons, which eventually influenced my teaching style today:

  1. It’s important to understand the fundamentals and how to apply them in the software. Tool training is, and should be, integrated into the learning process. I’ve taken classes where I was presented a problem with a goal in mind, but expected to figure out how to do it with little guidance. To often, educators don’t want to teach software, only theory. But teachers need to help with application and tool training. Sure, software tutorials can be found online and students need to be resourceful; but applying and handling type is a craft, much like playing music. For example, music teachers do not just hand over a sheet of music, share a recording of the song, and then expect a student to recreate it. Once the tool is learned, constant practice is needed. It takes finesse and feeling to make type sing.
  2. The mindset of design is very important. In my perpetual learning of design (and yes, to this day I’m still learning), it’s crucial to know the WHY, as well as the HOW. If one doesn’t understand why parts of the process is essential to the whole, then one won’t understand how to prioritize when things change. The mindset helps to apply, add new and change processes while maintaining integrity when there shifts in the field.

In my 22-year design career, I’ve seen typesetting houses come and go, photographers struggle in the popularity of stock photos, and print shops shift from to digital just to stay in the game. Be assured that there will be more shifts coming in the field of design. This is why I think we need to keep adjusting and updating our skills so we can handle whatever design challenge comes along.

What won’t change is how people naturally read and the psychology of how design communicates. Humans are visual. And that’s why the fundamentals are important.

How have you shifted your process over time? Please let me know by tweeting us @TypeEd. I’d like to hear where you came from and where you’re going. And if you know anyone who might be inspired by this, feel free to share!

Michael Stinson is a co-founder and lead instructor at TypeEd, where he helps designers implement better typography, efficiently. Learn more about how to design for readers by signing up for TypeEd courses.

SXSW was a whirlwind adventure filled with some amazing times and entertainment. While I had some crazy great times, it wasn’t all perfect. There were several high moments, but a few low ones as well. Below, I share the “Pit and the Peak” or the best and worst moments of my time at SXSW.

BEST MOMENT

Winning an Olympus OM–D Digital Camera at the Drink & Click Event

You never know what you could win at SXSW. Many companies have giveaways at their booths in the streets, at the convention center and at the parties they sponsor. About a week ago, while researching parties to attend, I saw that an event series called Drink & Click was coming to town for SXSW. This is a traveling event intended for photography enthusiasts to get together for a drink to share best practices and take awesome photos.

Olympus was sponsoring the event and giving away a pretty sweet camera, called the Olympus OM-D. I’ve wanted a decent camera for some time now, so I was determined to go to this party for a chance at winning it. Brooklyn Brewery was also sponsoring the event, so free beer was appealing as well.

When the time came to do the drawing for the camera, there were several hundred people with the same hopes as me. I knew my raffle ticket number by heart, #614.

They called the first number, and no one called out. Someone must have gotten their ticket and left before the drawing. Everyone was excited for another opportunity to win the camera. Then they shouted the next number: “614!” Instantly, I said to myself “That’s me!”, but I must have been in shock because I didn’t say it out loud. Everyone started thinking again that maybe they had another shot at it. Oh heck no. I looked down at my ticket one time for confirmation, and yelled, “That’s me!!” Someone next to me asked, “Seriously?”  I replied, “Yep!” and started jumping for joy.

WORST MOMENT

Heat Exhaustion, Crazy Lines & No Entrance at The Spotify House

As SXSW Interactive was coming to a close, and the SXSW Music Festival was starting to rev up, I decided to end my coverage of the event by checking out one of the most notable places to rock-out, The Spotify House. My goal was to catch Day 1 headliner and R&B singer, Miguel, at 6:15 pm. I knew the lines would be ridiculous so I RSVP’d in advance and arrived two hours early.

When I arrived, the line was already wrapped around the building.  I decided to wait since two hours seemed like enough time before the show to get in, and I didn’t plan anything else for the rest of the day. An hour went by and I hadn’t moved up at all. I started to get worried that I may not get in. Just then, a Spotify rep came down the line, telling us we most likely would get in, so I continued to stick it out.

After waiting for an hour and forty-five minutes in the sun, on the record-breaking hottest day of the year, with the heat index reaching well into the mid 90’s, I finally made it to the actual line near the entrance gates. There was light at the end of the tunnel!

Miguel started performing as I approached my turn to get into the concert. Exactly as was making my way to enter, The Spotify House reached capacity, and the gates were shut in our faces. Disappointment and frustration set in as well as heat exhaustion. Two people near me passed out as there was no water available. And I was starting to feel faint from standing in the heat without water for the past two hours.

Goes to show that even when you plan, you still need to be prepared for waiting in lines…and not getting in!

Tips for next year:

  • Arrive several hours in advance for headliners.
  • Bring water, hand-held fans and other cooling mechanisms.
  • Wear sunscreen, hats and sunglasses.

Bad Moments in Austin are (Fast) Fleeting

I didn’t want to leave Austin on a bad note, so I stopped in a local cantina, called Licha’s Cantina on my way back from what would have been the Miguel concert. I immediately ordered a huge Tecate and water to re-hydrate and chill me out from what just happened.

This spot was amazing and had a great ambiance. They offer delicious “Interior Mexican” cuisine and an enormous amount of different Mezcal drinks, which are my favorite type of drinks. I had the Alambre Tacos (Wagyu skirt steak, bacon, queso asadero, onions & peppers) paired with a Mezcal Negroni (Union Mezcal, Carpano Antica, Campari). After eating this delicious food, having a few great drinks and assessing all my winnings and experiences from this weekend, you can bet I no longer cared about not getting into the Miguel concert. All I could think of was SXSW 2017! We’ll see you there!

Licha's Cantina at SXSW

Denise is a Creative Circle Houston candidate and YOUR guide to the unofficial SXSW.