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Everything you need to know about Instagram Business Accounts

 

For those that don’t know: Instagram announced a series of updates that would be rolling out over the next year. You probably hear about the changes in your feed (no longer solely based on chronology, but also on how you engage with people, making it more similar to your Facebook feed), they also announced they would be rolling out Business Accounts! Why are business accounts on Instagram so important? - The Confused Millennial
For those that don’t know: Instagram announced a series of updates that would be rolling out over the next year. You probably hear about the changes in your feed (no longer solely based on chronology, but also on how you engage with people, making it more similar to your Facebook feed), they also announced they would be rolling out Business Accounts! Why are business accounts on Instagram so important? – The Confused Millennial

 



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mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}OMG I finally got the Instagram business account update!

For those that don’t know: Instagram announced a series of updates that would be rolling out over the next year. You probably hear about the changes in your feed (no longer solely based on chronology, but also on how you engage with people, making it more similar to your Facebook feed), they also announced they would be rolling out Business Accounts!

How do you snag a business account?

when you login one day it will look like this photo to the left, you will need to link your Instagram account to your Facebook account, which you can do in the options section of IG, scroll down to settings, and click “linked accounts”. You can also do it through your Facebook business page, but eventually you will have to do it here on Instagram so just start there.

From there it’s just a waiting game, they seem to be rapidly expanding the people who can switch over everyday! All we know is it’s available to the US, Australia, and New Zealand first.

 

I only have my email
I only have my email

Why is this so exciting?

Three big changes come with the business account: contact button, easy promotion, and analytics.

You can now take your contact info out of your precious bio space (you only get 240 character for your bio on Instagram, non of which is clickable) so it’s really annoying to waste it on your email. Business accounts have a contact button next to their follow button which allows people to call, text, email, or get directions to you. As a business account you can add all of that info or just some of it or none of it.

*There seem to be some glitches with the contact button, as reported it takes a little bit of time for some people to see it on your profile. But those that do see it, it works smoothly for.

 

Promotion: I’ve never “boosted” a post on Facebook or run an Instagram ad, mostly because I would get halfway through the process and get frustrated and give up. Now Instagram has made it really easy to do everything in the app rather than having to go to the Facebook ad center like it was before to create an Instagram ad. 

*Currently it was reported to me that one person tried to “promote” their post and there are some glitches.

 

 

Basically you can go to the photo click the promote button (picture 1), then you are prompted to picture two to select all the details of your promotion. The last picture is where you can see all of your past promotions, this is located always at the top of the “heart” screen. 

 

Analytics! These things are powerful! Seriously, I am obsessed with them!  Finally we can see what time of day your followers engage with you, plus which days of the week are better for engagement. You can also see the impressions, reach, and engagement per post. Impressions are how many times your post was seen, reach is how many people saw it (for instance you could have a reach of 100 people, who saw it 3 times each making your impressions 300), and engagement is the number of times people engaged with you. So the average engagement on an Instagram photo is 4%, but now you can probably increase that number when trying to pitch brands because you can actually tell them how many people saw your photo and what the percent engagement is like based on those people (Instagram reports that on average people miss 70% of their feeds!) For example, if you have average 40-50% engagement based on the number of people who saw your photo compared to maybe a 1% engagement based on followers, that could make you more enticing to work with if you have a really large following that just isn’t seeing your photos.

 

 

The next part of analytics is it shows you your demographics!  Male vs. female, age ranges, and locations, and pictured below is days of the week your followers are typically most active.

 

*Analytics are also lagging a little. I clearly had engagement from 20+ people on a photo when I first posted it and it reported only 13. It balanced out after an hour, but overall it seems there are still some glitches with the new accounts. Nothing major, and they seem to be sorting themselves out after a few days. 

I always wondered how many people actually saw my photo so I have found this particularly exciting.

There is a lot of chatter lately about the power of the mid-level influencer and Instagram takes a lot of work, so as crowded of a space IG is, it’s really important to crack the code sooner rather than later and start branding yourself as a mid level influencer if you are trying to work with brands or monetize your Instagram. I would definitely recommend linking your Instagram to a Facebook business page (this will make you eligible a little quicker supposedly for the update, but IG is historically very quiet about changes and how they do things).


Grab my checklist of tools that helped me grow my Instagram following by 2500% in less than four months! 

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Inspiring Millennials with Kayla Hollatz

 

Kayla Hollatz is a community and branch coach to creative entrepreneurs as well as the founder of Create Lounge, a community whose hub is a weekly Twitter chat. I first discovered Kayla during Maya Elious's Master Your Market Summit. Kayla's personality will absolutely draw you in! Seriously, just try to not want to be friends with her during this vlog, it's impossible! No wonder she became an expert community coach! 
Kayla Hollatz is a community and branch coach to creative entrepreneurs as well as the founder of Create Lounge, a community whose hub is a weekly Twitter chat. I first discovered Kayla during Maya Elious’s Master Your Market Summit. Kayla’s personality will absolutely draw you in! Seriously, just try to not want to be friends with her during this vlog, it’s impossible! No wonder she became an expert community coach! 

 


Kayla Hollatz is a community and branch coach to who helps creative business owners build sustainable, organically grown communities through content that connects. She is also the host of #createlounge, the first Twitter chat community for creative bloggers and entrepreneurs, and the author of Brave Little Bones*. She can frequently be found fighting Minnesota winters with a cup of hot chocolate in hand.

I first discovered Kayla during Maya Elious‘s Master Your Market Summit. Kayla’s personality will absolutely draw you in! Seriously, just try to not want to be friends with her during this vlog, it’s impossible! No wonder she became an expert community coach! 

During the vlog we talk all about:

  • Creating your own pathway and doors to make your passion a career
  • The power of social media when building a community
  • Getting started with Twitter Chats. Here is the link to the course she mentions. 
  • Advice for the multi-passionate millennial
  • How to prioritize and “Love the beautiful mess” you’re in! 

 

I hope you love the interview as much as I do! Make sure to join Kayla during Create Lounge‘s weekly twitter chats!


Want to join TCM’s community of confused millennial’s cracking the code on social media? 


5 Tips for transitioning into the work force after college

 

“Any tips for the workforce transition and how to find balance between work, school and finding your own passion outside of it all?” If you’re anything like I was… I was itching by the end of my last year in college to get to “the real world” – I think it was more of the unknown of what laid ahead that had me itching, than actually wanting to be out of college. I wanted to “just know” what was going to happen post-college life. I learned five big lessons and want to share these 5 tips for transitioning into the real world post college – The Confused Millennial

 


ASK RACHEL…

Reader Question:     Currently trudging through my senior year of college. Any tips for the workforce transition and how to find balance between work, school and finding your own passion outside of it all? 

If you’re anything like I was… I was itching by the end of my last year in college to get to “the real world” – I think it was more of the unknown of what laid ahead that had me itching, than actually wanting to be out of college. I wanted to “just know” what was going to happen post-college life. 

 

 

So first of all, enjoy this time!!! Your life will never be the same after college. My fiance and I constantly talk about how easy life was back in school. There are many other perks to post-college life, but it’s very different. 

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5 Tips for Finding Your Passion While Transitioning Into the Workforce / Real World

 

1. Internships. If you haven’t already, get an internship, like YESTERDAY! Seriously, I hated working for free, but because of my undergraduate internships, it led to me making some serious coin during my graduate degree (like double than what my classmates were making). 

Always be strategic about your internships though. I had two really defining internships: one was at a law office, the other as a counselor in a mental health and substance abuse treatment center. I was deciding between the two vastly different career paths, and without going through that experience and my internships, I probably wouldn’t realize bigger passions of mine (like being an entrepreneur) as quickly as I did. I constantly am contacted by people who are older than me, still in the 9-5 grind, wishing they could quit and follow their passion. I whole heartedly believe that internships are a major key in discovering your passion and boosting your earning potential.  

Internship PRO tip: Make it clear from the start that you are seeking employment. This can go at the end of your elevator pitch when they ask you to tell them about yourself and sound something like: 

“I discovered my passion for X while doing Y. I realized it was an innate gift of mine when teachers kept putting me in leadership positions surrounding this skill. Currently I am seeking an internship with (insert something specific/unique about the company) that will lead to employment opportunities at it’s conclusion.” 

 

2. Say “YES”. Even if you have no idea what your doing, say yes during this time in your life. Say yes to work, friends, whatever.

Two big points here: work and friends.

At work, say “yes” – for a lot of us, myself included, when we are afraid our knee jerk reaction is to say “no” because we don’t want to look dumb or mess something up. Get in the habit of saying yes and figuring it out later at work. You’re young and expected to make mistakes at this point so learn with a vengeance and always fail forward!

With friends: People forget that your friends and acquaintances in college and post-college are going to be a big part of your career in ways that you could never guess.

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Seriously this guy will probably come back around and help you network your way into that killer big city job!

… Okay maybe it won’t be Zac Efron, but I’ll leave this here…

Friends can use their network to help you get that promotion, refer you business, or even become a business partner! There is something magical about relationships formed in college and during your first job(s)… a lot of times these are the friendships that are going to carry you through your third decade, if not further. 

So next time you are tempted to say “no” because you have too much work to do or something, remember that balance and friendships are still investing in your future and should be prioritized and scheduled, just like revamping your resume and Linkedin. 

 

3. Resume. I am sure if you are reading this, you have a resume. However, I can’t stress this enough, it probably sucks. Maybe it’s because of poor grammar and spelling, or you lack work experience, who knows.  The reality is your resume is probably ish right now.

How do I know?   Two reasons:  1) Mine was crap when I was 20  and 2) I receive countless resumes from college students wanting internships, and I would say out of 10 only 1 is good. I have hired interns with crap resumes, but usually regretted it. So get with a career coach (shameless plug here —> that’s me! www.rachelritlop.com) or start studying the craft of a resume and cold email. 

 

4. Step up your e-mail etiquette. One of the toughest things for most twenty somethings to get right when transitioning into the workforce is e-mail etiquette. Check out this article for some helpful tips and if you have a question, don’t hesitate to ask.

 

5. Be prepared to be a little depressed. After college, you are probably either going to be really excited or a little depressed. Whether it’s because of change, leaving your friends behind, having to move back in with your parents, or you just experienced rejection for the first time from that job you had really high hopes for… most of us drop into a bit of a funk after college… Especially as the Instagram posts and Snaps start coming in from friends that seem to have magically mastered the transition. 

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Give yourself permission to work through those feelings, but then set a deadline for yourself to get back to life and things you enjoyed. For instance, think about what gets you really excited and energized now? Write those down. Don’t forget those. the real world is going to want to rip those things away from you and fog your head with what you “should” be doing. 

ALSO: My friend Kayla, also wrote a fantastic resource for transitioning twenty somethings, called the Corporate Survival Guide for Your Twenties: A Guide to Help You Navigate the Business World* (Amazon Affiliate link, but I really love this book and can’t sing it’s praise enough!).


Before you go grab your FREE guide to perfecting the 30 second elevator pitch!

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Inspiring Millennial Series: Sami Kattan of Nomad’s Land

 

In this vlog Sami Kattan of Nomad’s Land shares how he makes a living as a digital nomad. Sami share’s how he launched his business, the struggles of early entrepreneurship, and his advice to the multi-passionate millennial. Check out this week’s episode of The Confused Millennial’s vlog series, “Inspiring Millennials”. 

 


(ARCHIVE POST): In honor of July 4th, TCM TV is taking a holiday today, so no new episode of the “Inspiring Millennials” Series. I decided to bring back one of our first episodes for you guys to enjoy! Happy Independence Day!


I am beyond excited for this interview! I met Sami while at the University of Florida. We used to bond over our love of cooking and community while hosting little dinner parties at my apartment. 

After college we lost touch and then I stumbled upon him on Instagram and knew I needed to interview him! Since college, Sami has been traveling all over the world and building multiple businesses. He is a talented and skilled videographer and has worked to blend his creative self with his business mind (for any creativepreneurs out there you know that struggle is real!).

SPOILER ALERT: he got his start with videography after hitch hiking a ride on Craigslist to Mexico, where he lived in a hammock on the beach! 

Seriously you have got to hear his story! He also gives a lot of great and relatable advice to budding entrepreneurs! 

 

 

Make sure to connect with Sami on:
Instagram
– Facebook
– Sami’s website
– Nomad’s Land website

Want to make your dreams a reality? Get out goal setting guide to making things happen! 

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10 Tips to E-mail Etiquette

 

Quick PSA about e-mail etiquette. It’s one of those things that I really struggled to learn as an early twenty something, and often found myself crying and screaming at my inbox “come back, come back!” Whether its because I sounded dumb, for got something, or wrote something full of typos and emoji’s, I’ve probably made every e-mail mistake in the book! So here are 10 tips to perfect email etiquette for your twenties. 

 


E-mail etiquette is something that has been on my mind a lot lately…

…oh the things we think about when #adulting… 

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I decided I needed to do a quick PSA about e-mail etiquette. It’s one of those things that I really struggled to learn as an early twenty something, and often found myself crying and screaming:

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I’ve totally thought about sleuthy plans to break into my bosses office and delete the e-mail’s too… whether its because I sounded dumb, forgot something, or wrote something full of typos and emoji’s, I’ve probably made every e-mail mistake in the book! 

 

So a Quick E-mail etiquette PSA:

1. Proof read your e-mail, please for the love of whatever is holy on this earth! Make sure you’re words are spelled correctly (at least mostly: DAMN YOU AUTOCORRECT!), grammar is on point, and that you included whatever you said you would include (always double check those attachments!).

2. Be clear, concise, and thorough. Nothing drives me crazier when I get a really generic e-mail that is super vague and results in us having to go back and forth multiple times to get to the damn point! Whether you are e-mailing a boss, friends, or trying to pitch someone, please think to yourself “Is this the quickest and clearest way I can get my point across and convey all the relevant and necessary information?” IF you can’t quickly give me a “HELL YES!” then don’t hit send! 

3. Make sure you have a signature. Nothing bothers me more when I can’t easily stalk you on your social media platforms or find your phone number for a quick question. Include your full name, website, relevant social media platforms, phone number, etc. I don’t want to waste my precious time stalking this information out, I will do it… but I will be cursing you the whole time.

4. If you are emailing a bunch of people, use BCC. Who here loves getting an e-mail with 50 people CC’ed and getting every single one of them replying with “cool!”, “got it!”, “thanks”? Not sure who? I’ll tell you: IT’S NO ONE. No one likes their emails clogged with useless or irrelevant emails. So if you are sending a blast out to everyone and they only need to respond to you then please us BCC and leave me and my inbox out of everybody’s replies.

5. Don’t send stupid chain emails. This isn’t AOL in the 90s or early 00’s. Read the previous statement in #4: Don’t clog people’s emails with useless or irrelevant crap. I don’t care that your first born will be taken by the cursed angel demon Damian if you don’t send this to five friends, because guess what, if you send me that, we aren’t really friends so you already F*’ed yourself! 

6. DO Reply with a courteous “received” or “got it”. Just to double back to #4 where I talk about people responding “cool”, “got it”, or “thanks”…. I actually LOVE receiving these e-mails if I am the one sending the e-mail (In point #4, I hate it when I get those and I’m CC’ed). – But people have a lot of issues with e-mail being marked as spam (I’ve been one of them countless times because I use an masked dummy gmail), so PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOU RECEIVED MY EMAIL! Even if you aren’t responding in full at the time, just say “Great, thanks!” and I won’t keep pestering you. 

7. Check your emotions. This is one of the toughest for me. I get really passionate when I write sometimes, and will actually have entire written arguments… who’s with me? I need to pause, take a breath, and check my emotions before sending most e-mails. When I was in the corporate world especially. I would even send them to my fiancee (screen shotted or copy and pasted into a text, never via company email!) to read it before sending to ensure I am being as diplomatic, professional, and polished as possible. This practice of proof reading one another’s emails has actually been really insightful and helpful. It’s taught us both about how people read tones and how to even clean up the email to be clearer and more concise (See #2). Maybe enlist an e-mail buddy or two? Just remember…

8. Don’t send stuff you don’t want seen or read via company e-mail! They own that ish! Seriously, your company is probably not reading every e-mail you send, but for safety sake, get into the mindset that they have an elf in the basement reading every e-mail waiting to tattle to master if you mess up (Yeah, I really just combined DJ Khaled and Harry Potter references in the same point… #WINNING!)

9. Choose an accurate subject life. If you are pitching someone, make it intriguing so they want to open it, if you are working with someone make sure it’s specific to the conversation. It should be memorable, as in “what key words would I search if I was trying to find this email?”

Examples:

Good subject line: “NYU Graduate, published author seeking content writer position”

Bad subject line: “Content writer position” (Where’s the intrigue? Why should I open this compared to all the others? How can I easily search this compared to all the others?)

Good subject line: “Summary notes from 6/15 Summit discussion”

Bad subject line: “Notes” 

10. Set up a vacation auto-responder. If you are going away for more than 2 days, please use a vacation notification. Let me know that you won’t be responding to my emails, rather than me wondering if they are in spam or you’re ignoring me. 

 

What are your email pet peeves or e-mail tips? Let me know in the comments!


Now that you’ve nailed e-mail etiquette, grab the guide to crafting your perfect 30 second elevator pitch!

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Inspiring Millennials with Stefanie O’Connell

 

Stefanie O’Connell is a millennial finance expert and published author of “The Broke and Beautiful Life”. Stefanie shares her advice for twenty somethings on finances and life. Before becoming a financial expert, Stefanie was an actress, and during the height of the recession circa 2009, Stefanie had a wake up call and decided her life had a new mission: #BreakingBroke. Since then she has been seen on countless publications and uses her experience and wisdom to inspire and educate others. – The Confused Millennial, Inspiring Millennials Series

 


Stefanie O’Connell is a financial expert, Gen Y advocate, speaker and author of the book, “The Broke and Beautiful Life.”

 

Stefanie started out as an actress turned blogger and now is dedicated to helping young adults achieve financial greatness, Stefanie has been nicknamed the Mindy Kaling of personal finance by The Greenwich Time. Her work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, SUCCESS magazine, MONEY.com, The Dr. Oz Show, Fox News and ABC World News. She also works with universities, leading financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies, sharing her fresh and timely advice with their audiences.

 

… and if you can’t tell from that short bio of hers, she’s a beast! Plus an absolutely relatable and genuine person! Seriously, I dare you to not fall in love with her during this vlog! 

 

This interview is PACKED with extremely valuable and actionable tips and advice for job seekers, entrepreneurs, and bloggers. If you are struggling with under earning and networking you must watch this! 

During this episode we discuss:

  • Working for free (is it really worth it?)
  • The importance of having taboo money conversations with peers
  • How to build your brand equity and strategically network
  • How to overcome the “imposter syndrome”
  • Setting up multiple revenue streams as an entrepreneur, here is the link to the post she references during the interview. 
  • Like last week’s interview, Kayla Buell, Stefanie also was approached by a publisher to turn her blog into a book and what that experience was like. 

Make sure to grab her book “The Broke and Beautiful Life.” 

Connect with Stefanie on her website, twitter, and Instagram or Snapchat:

 

 

Download #TCMillennial’s checklist for saving on a tight budget:

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How Important Is Your Personal Brand Really?

 

How important is your personal brand to your professional goals? Should you develop a personal brand if you are a traditional employee? Will it really help with promotions? Or should you have a personal brand if you are starting a side hustle or self employed? What are the benefits of a personal brand and how do you create one? - The Confused Millennial
How important is your personal brand to your professional goals? Should you develop a personal brand if you are a traditional employee? Will it really help with promotions? Or should you have a personal brand if you are starting a side hustle or self employed? What are the benefits of a personal brand and how do you create one? – The Confused Millennial

 


Over the last two weeks, the topic of personal branding has come up a lot for my audience. Whether you are seeking traditional employment, launching a side hustle, or taking the full leap into self employment a strong personal brand can be a major asset to reaching whatever your career goals are (whether it’s a promotion, your next client, or sale).

Some things to consider whether you are a traditional employee, side hustler, or self employed:

For the traditional career path: It’s not enough to have a twitter account that you only tweet about the Bachelorette (Seriously, is anyone else #TeamDerek this season? *UPDATE: I wrote this post before this weeks episode! He’s definitely going home next week)… but rather leverage social media platforms to brand yourself as an expert in a specific skill that your company craves. Are they looking for someone to unlock social media strategies? Are they looking for someone that can network like it’s nobodies business? Show them that you are that person! By developing a strong personal brand and becoming well known for that it can lead to promotions for you (because if that’s how you spending your free time, imagine what you could do if you were getting paid!), or it can lead to recruiters or other companies that take notice of your skills and want you! As millennials, we have way more potential than actual results in the workforce, so by showing employers that you have an innate skill that you are genuinely passionate about, they will take notice and have a deeper belief, trust, and respect in you and your ability to be that ideal employee. 

For the side hustler: Okay, maybe you already have a career and don’t want to put it on blast that you are trying to break free from your 9-5… in that case, I would set up entirely new and branded social media platforms. You could set these up using either your name, maiden name, middle name, some sort of moniker or the name of your side hustle. Really take a moment to consider, if an employer Googled you, would they be able to find that this is connected to you? And if so, would you care? Keep in mind that you don’t want to do something so out of left field that if it grows you won’t be able to grow the brand with that name too. Then get to networking with your newly branded social media profiles! Build relationships, be present, and start building that “like, know, and trust” factor with your audience!

 

For the self employed: You are your brand when you’re self employed! You should have a strong personal brand (especially if your company or blog is under a different name), for added credibility down the road, increased visibility, and an overall safety net. So if I ever decide to shut down TCM, I always have Rachel Ritlop to fall back on. Rachel Ritlop is way more polished and professional than TCM, and if I ever decide to go work for a company again, it’ll be a lot easier for Gen X to understand than TCM. This “personal” brand showcases me as a career and business expert that gets written up in Forbes, Monster, and Fast Company…. that looks pretty serious to a potential employer! If I can get that kind of press for myself, imagine what I could do for a company? Plus, when I am working with larger company for independent contract work, they are more drawn to my polished personal brand, and most don’t know about my lifestyle blog, but my blog readers always find out about my professional self and coaching over on Rachel Ritlop

How to brand yourself on social media: It’s actually really easy! Share relevant articles and up to date research, create your own weekly or bi-monthly Twitter chat, partake in Twitter chats, Periscopes, Facebook Lives, or Instagram Chats to showcase your expertise, join Facebook or Linkedin Groups and connect with others to build your social credibility and social proof (testimonials, references, praise, etc.), share people’s content that you want to build a relationship with and then cold e-mail them, oh many the list goes on and on! You can build a personal brand by spending 10 minutes a day on it or 10 hours a day on it! It solely depends on what you’re goals are, so make sure to get really clear on those before you start wasting time without a strategy!

Lastly, don’t forget about your other social media profiles just because you have a polished personal brand! What do I mean by that? I have a polished personal Twitter, but my Facebook is pretty private (it’s not even my real name!), people constantly find and friend me on that Facebook profile (even though I have a dummy account with my real name, they quickly realize that it’s not really my true Facebook). I can’t stress this enough: Facebook and other social media platforms are constantly updating their privacy settings. Privacy settings on social media are not something you “Set and forget” because they change and we ignore the little notice they send out! So ever 3-6 months check your privacy settings, make sure they are as private as possible. Consider unlisting your “real” personal pages from search engines, make sure only friends can see (not friends of friends), and even with good privacy settings, thing before you post! Once it’s out there, even after you delete it, it’s never really gone. So be smart! 

 

Want to learn how to brand yourself on Instagram as an Influencer in your Industry? Join my 3 day e-mail course!

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5 Lessons I Learned this year

 

Twenty something struggling with this whole adult thing, trying to make sense of the world on this birthday, I share life lessons learned from this past year and hope to help other millennials adult a little easier today. The Confused Millennial, Gen Y advice. 
Twenty something struggling with this whole adult thing, trying to make sense of the world on this birthday, I share life lessons learned from this past year and hope to help other millennials adult a little easier today. The Confused Millennial, Gen Y advice. 

 


Today is my birthday…

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and for some reason I am not at all excited.

Maybe because I realize that more adulting (by numbers) = more responsibility… ugh.

OR

Maybe because the last few birthdays have been kind of anti-climactic…

OR

because I love being in my twenties so much that I really hate that they keep passing by (I am turning 27 and accidentally forget and tell people I am still 25… Whoops, my bad! )

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Seriously, my twenties have been a complete roller coaster of unforeseen changes and lessons, but I have absolutely loved it. I have graduated with both my Bachelors and Master’s degrees, I have excelled in a career only to blow it up and start my own business, I met my fiancee and am getting married in a few months, and I have really learned just so much about myself as a person.

 

But today I reflect on this past year and the lessons I learned… while there are way more than 5 these are the most prominent and dominant 5: 

1) Self care is top priority. This year has been beyond stressful in every area of my life, family, housing, business, friends… and my body and health have definitely experienced some negative consequences as a result of the stress. I am so grateful that Drops of Joy Jewelry sent me their oil diffuser necklace to try.

 

 

I get chronic headaches as some of you know, and with this necklace I can add a few drops of essential oil on the disc, put it in the locket, and let it diffuse into the air and clear up my tension headaches. How cool is that? Plus they have some adorable designs! I also got super nervous that I may eventually develop Fibromyalgia because my body is constantly tense (is that even how it works? Because that’s how I think it works and I keep freaking myself out), so I started getting regular massages and will get back into yoga this year. 

2) The Facebook effect is much broader than just Facebook.  I remember reading this article a couple of years ago about why Gen Y is unhappy and the American Psychology Association released their Annual Stress In America Survey for this year, which dubbed millennials as the most stressed generation. When I read the original article referenced in this point, I realized I was one of those entitle Gen Y “Yuppies” it talks about… I actually started teaching this article having groups read it while working as a counselor I found it to be so true…. But then I forgot about it.

While I’ve definitely lowered my expectations of life, I seem to have forgotten that the carefully crafted Facebook life, spans to a much broader reach than just Facebook…. It spreads to on-line personalities newsletters, website, webinars, testimonials, and their real life. This year I’ve had the pleasure to interact with high level coaches and realized they are living in fear that this carefully crafted persona will come crashing down… and that although they’ve built their businesses on hard work… they are now settling on entitlement to carry them through. I realize I don’t ever want to rest on my entitlement or “Facebook Effect” persona. I want people to know the struggle and hiccups, so they can connect and learn too… even if it means it takes a little longer to build my business and be seen as an expert. #Integrity4theWIN!

 

3) You can choose your family. Okay well I already knew this one and learned this lesson a long time ago, but to me, family is the person or people who show up, without strings attached, no matter what. They are the people that can respect where you are at and don’t punish you for taking care of yourself or being your own person. I am so grateful for the friends who have become family and my soon to be family (what?!? Am I really getting married in less than 4 months? This is starting to feel real!)

 

4) Just because someone writes about helping and supporting others doesn’t mean its true. My mind was blown when I learned that most testimonials on sites are people’s friends or family… Better yet… apparently it’s industry standards to blur the lines of those “praise” sections… Who knew?!? Maybe I am naive, but I really believed them when they had their picture, city, and name on there! Only after I learned this, I noticed if I read closely enough they are really a testimonial about the persons character, not services, seriously go read them.  Even some of mine on rachelritlop.com fall into this… I really should update those.

 

5) Netflix isn’t the most important thing in my day.  Last year, I think if you asked me how I spent my day, at least 8 hours of it was spent watching TV, literally, I am not exaggerating.  This year, I buckled down and got way more serious about my business and nurturing relationships… proudly I can say Netflix is still my BFF, but we are only seeing each other 3-4 hours a day now. 

 

Let’s get social! Join the Instagram Photo A Day Challenge

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How do you guys celebrate birthdays? What lessons are you learning?

 

Inspiring Millennials with Lost Gen Y Girl, Kayla Buell

 

Are you a twenty something trying to navigate the corporate world? Don't want to piss off your boss at work? Check out this vlog with Lost Gen Y Girl, Kayla Buell, as she shares about her book on surviving the corporate world in your twenties, plus how she started a blog, maintained her integrity with it, and how she practices acceptance and defines success for herself! - The Confused Millennial Vlog
Are you a twenty something trying to navigate the corporate world? Don’t want to piss off your boss at work? Check out this vlog with Lost Gen Y Girl, Kayla Buell, as she shares about her book on surviving the corporate world in your twenties, plus how she started a blog, maintained her integrity with it, and how she practices acceptance and defines success for herself! – The Confused Millennial Vlog

 


Kayla Buell is the Lost Gen Y Girl, maybe you’ve read her blog? Or better yet, her book, Corporate Survival Guide for Your Twenties: A Guide to Help You Navigate the Business World* (Amazon Affiliate link, but I really love this book!)? Seriously it is laugh out loud funny, completely relatable, and packed with actionable advice. I wish I had this book when I was starting in the corporate world. It’s full of the unspoken language they should’ve taught us in school.

 

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In this Vlog series Kayla and I chat about:

  • Surviving the corporate world in your twenties
  • Juggling blogging and life
  • How to maintain blog integrity
  • How to cope with blogger burnout
  • How to transition your blog to a new audience
  • The importance of acceptance as your grow and change in your twenties

 

Connect with Kayla on her blog or Twitter or Instagram

 

Ready to land your dream job or launch your blog?

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