Making the most of summer, a networking reframe, and how to live long and prosper

What are your summer plans?

The Summer Solstice is this week! When I think of summer, I think of vacations, pools, hiking in nature, and spending extra time with my family.

So today, we want to encourage you to look at the summer and make it a great one!

Sure, invest deeply in your career and take care of your responsibilities there, but also invest in your personal life!

And if you’re traveling somewhere, we added a little travel metaphor you can even bring back into your professional life!

In today’s newsletter:

• Always take your PTO

• Simplify your networking

• Living longer and better

• Hot jobs

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Tips on improving your performance and productivity in the workplace bites and provides

MUST-READ

Hot Summer Tip - Take Your PTO

Every company has a different policy regarding paid time off. But at this point, pretty much all students are out of school, and it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere!

What will you do with that time?

Will you find time to travel, be with family, and recharge? Or will you just keep your head down and work the entire summer?

My advice? Take your Paid Time Off (PTO). Use it intentionally.

Go somewhere new, do something fun, and connect deeply with those you love.

And if you can, unplug completely from work while you’re away. Sure, some emails will pile up, but the world will keep turning while you’re away.

In fact, especially for team leaders, taking time away can be one of the BEST things you can do to help your team become more self-sufficient and less reliant on you.

Work is important, but there are plenty of things that are even more important. So take your PTO, and invest in the things that are important to you!

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CAREER TIPS

What Parenting Has Taught Me About Career Success

"Networking is more about farming than it is about hunting." - Ivan Misner

Have you ever been traveling to a new place and found yourself unsure of how to get to your destination?

This is one of my pet peeves, especially if I'm driving.

Somehow, some way, you need to get some help.

In modern times, we often turn to our phone's GPS (which, in my experience, isn't always 100% accurate).

But if that doesn't work, or we are in a place with no service, we might—cue gasp—actually have to ask another human for help!

This willingness to "ask for directions" can be analogous to networking! You're simply asking for help from others as you navigate the uncharted territory of career decisions, getting insights from others who know the territory better than you!

How often do people respond negatively when you ask for directions? Virtually never!

Using this idea to help expand and deepen your network need not be complicated and formal.

Your drive to interact with others will also draw people to you because they will see your earnestness, curiosity, and passion. This will increase your confidence and improve your opportunities and insights.

So, the lesson for today is: Simplify your networking and create connections by simply "asking for directions." This will open opportunities in your pursuit of success in the field you desire, whether in engineering or beyond.

You can reach out to me or find a mentor or someone else who has done or is doing things you’re interested in. Ask them how they did it, and see what insights you can gain!

 HOT JOBS OF THE WEEK

> Applications Engineer at Aviva Links (Apply)

> Senior Backend Engineer at Spotify (Apply)

> Enterprise Engineer - DocuSign at The Trade Desk (Apply)

> Electrical Engineer at CarShield (Apply)

Nikola Tesla, born on July 10, 1856, in Smiljan, Croatia (then part of the Austrian Empire), was a brilliant and enigmatic inventor, engineer, and futurist. He immigrated to the United States in the late 19th century and quickly gained recognition for his innovative work in electrical engineering. Tesla's contributions include the development of alternating current (AC) electrical systems, numerous inventions related to electricity and magnetism, and pioneering work in wireless communication. Despite his incredible accomplishments, he faced financial challenges and spent his later years in relative obscurity, but his legacy as one of history's greatest inventors endures, with his name associated with countless technological advancements and the Tesla electric car company bearing his name in the 21st century.

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📚 BOOK RECOMMENDATION

Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia

Admittedly, this book has almost nothing to do directly with engineering unless you consider your body something that has been beautifully designed and needs to be cared for.

Dr. Attia is perhaps the foremost expert on longevity and healthy living, and while this book is detailed and dense, it’s applicable and impactful.

It will open your eyes to different ways of looking at health, our relationships with the medical system, and how a bit of extra prevention can go a long way to helping us live healthy, meaningful lives for a long time.

It’s not just about living longer, but also “better.”

And what I like about it most is that he’s not giving us a prescribed set of actions to take. It’s more of a recipe for thinking differently about it all, thus changing our mindsets and approach to our health in a sustainable way.