As you plan for the next phase of your Career, it is important to equip yourself with great tools. I will be sharing some tools that have helped me grow professionally, motivated me to try new strategies and make bold Career moves.
 
In this blog post, we will explore different tools that can support you on your career journey. Check out previous Her Toolkit posts to help you build your personal and professional development toolkit.
 
What does Career Development mean?

• Career development is the series of activities or the on-going/lifelong process of developing one’s career. It involves training in new skills, moving to higher job responsibilities, making a career change within the same organization, moving to a different organization or starting one’s own business. (Source: Career Development)
  
• The process of learning and improving your skills so that you can do your job better and progress to better positions. (Source: Cambridge Business English Dictionary)
  
• Career development is the ongoing acquisition or refinement of skills and knowledge, including job mastery and professional development, coupled with career planning activities. (Source: Berkeley Human resources - Concepts & Definitions )

 
What has been my experience with Career development?
On my Career journey so far, I have learned the value of taking an active approach to developing my career and learning from my experiences. Some people have a clear vision of what their careers will look like very early. On my career journey, my path got clearer the more I learned about myself and explored different things. Being intentional and investing in my Career development has helped me gain knowledge that opened new doors in the work I do. To ensure that career development is a priority, I include my professional learning goals in my yearly plan.
 
What tools can we use?
Sharing some of my previous blog posts where I shared very useful tools that have helped me

• Own your career development - you are responsible for growing and developing your Career. It is time to take ownership
• Building your Professional Brand - you need to invest in your professional reputation to take your career to the next level
• Find professional Sponsors - cultivate relationships with people who can provide you with career opportunities and exposure
• Find your Mentors - connect with people who can provide guidance and be companions on your career development journey
• Leverage Continuous Learning as a Tool to Build your Career - there is so much you can learn on your journey

 
Great Resources
Check out my videos on My career journey and Unconventional career advice to discover practical career development tips.
 
Call to Action
What is the most unconventional Career advice that you would like to share?

As we embark on the next moths, I will be sharing some principles and tools that have helped me thrive. Building a toolkit is one of the principles that has helped me. Equipping myself with tools that will help simplify my life, continuously improve, learn new skills, grow personally, and provide new perspective has been a lot of fun. Especially at times when we feel like there is a lot that we cannot do, I want to encourage you to take charge and do what you can.
 
This post kicks off the Her Toolkit series. In this blog post, we will explore the definition of Imposter Syndrome and learn practical tools to overcome it. 
 
What is Imposter Syndrome?

• Imposter syndrome can be defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success. (Source: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome)
• is commonly understood as a false and sometimes crippling belief that one's successes are the product of luck or fraud rather than skill (Source: Merriam Webster)
• is a pervasive feeling of self-doubt, insecurity, or fraudulence despite often overwhelming evidence to the contrary. ( Source: Scientific American)
• a feeling of "phoniness in people who believe they are not intelligent, capable or creative despite evidence of high achievement." (Source: Pauline R. Clance)

 
What has been my experience with Imposter Syndrome?
There are feelings in life that come up in different situations and phases. For me, the feeling that I may not deserve to be where I am or that I am not as smart as everyone around me is one that comes up sometimes. Although I know that I deserve to be here and that I have worked extremely hard to get this far, this is still an ongoing challenge for me. Some of the situations when the feelings come up include when I experience huge success, make a major transition in my life or achieve something I have been working on for long.
 
What tools can we use?
Sharing some of my previous blog posts where I shared extremely useful tools that helped me overcome Imposter Syndrome.

• Accomplishments log: Track what you have accomplished. Documenting what you have achieved gives you something to go back to when you start questioning yourself.
  
• Finding your Voice: Speak up for yourself and others around you. The more you push yourself to share your story the more you get comfortable with it.
  
• Know your worth: Remind yourself of what you are worth a lot and deserve the best. 

 
Great Resources
Check out my blog post on Six Tips to Overcome Imposter syndrome and video titled "How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome".
 
Call To Action
Do you feel like you do not deserve to be where you are today? Tell yourself that you do and remember all the work that you have put in.

On August 9th 2001, I boarded a flight with destination Frankfurt Germany to start a new life. At that time, I could never have imagined that I would be where I am today. It's been 19 years of many experiences - some good, bad and ugly. Living in Germany for 14 years and now in the US for 5 years, I have experienced and learned many life-changing lessons.
 
In this blog post, I will answer five of the most common questions that people ask about my relocation journey. Check out my other "Her Relocation" posts for more of my story.
 
Were you scared to move to Germany so young?
I moved to Germany when I was 15 years old. Interestingly, I felt very prepared for the Journey ahead. Although I could never have imagined what life would bring, I was very hopeful and confident that I could face anything. Looking back, my attitude was one reason I was able to survive in the early part of my journey . This set the tone for how I approached challenges throughout my journey. 
 
What were some of the challenges you faced?
In my first year in Germany, the loneliness from being away from my family was something I was not prepared for. My first Christmas, which was also my first winter was one of the saddest ever. I had been very used to celebrating the holidays with my family in  Nigeria. The next set of challenges that I faced living in Germany was feeling that I did not belong. It took me about seven years to start feeling at home. And then another three years until I confidently felt that Germany was my home.
After 14 years in Germany, I was thriving and then I decided to make a huge jump by moving to the US. I left my sister, niece and close friends behind. It is still hard sometimes to be far away from them. 
 
What lessons have you learned so far on your Journey?
I have learned many valuable lessons from my experiences on my journey. My top three lessons are the following:

• Change is good and necessary to make progress in life: the most significant successes that I have experienced have come from the big transitions in my life.
• Having empathy for people is crucial: Through my own experiences being a minority in Germany and the US, I learned to care more about people who are underrepresented.
• The sum of my experiences have made me who I am today: I have learned that every good and bad thing that I went through was necessary to get me to the life I have now.

 
What has been your favorite part of living abroad?
There have been many highlights on my journey so far. Some of which include the following:

• Meeting great people: I have met and built amazing relationships with people from different countries and backgrounds. This has expanded my perspective and helped me value diverse perspectives.
• Having exciting times and experiences: for some reason the Football World cup games were one of the most exciting times I had. Seeing people from different parts of the world coming together and celebrate was very beautiful.
• Sharing my story: Over the past few years, I have had the opportunity to share my experiences with others. Learning that my story is unique has empowered me and helped me see what I have accomplished in the 19 years.

 
Would you move to another country?
My answer is simple - absolutely. When the right time comes to move to a new country, I will embrace it fully. The great thing is that this time, I will be moving with my family. I am very grateful for all that I have learned on my journey so far. Moving to new countries has expanded my perspective on life.
 
Final Thoughts
The past 19 years have been a very formative phase of my life and I would not trade any of my experiences for anything. Sharing my story will definitely be a part of my journey. Watch this space for more on my journey. I am very excited for my future. 

Welcome to a new month! It is time to get excited for everything that we will experience this month. At the start of every month I enjoy thinking about all the amazing things that will happen, the people I will interact with and the amazing milestones that I get to celebrate.
 
In this blog post, we will explore three tips to help us transition to the next phase and make the best of the upcoming months. Check out part 1, part 2,  part 3 , part 4,  part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8 and part 9 of the transition preparation guide.
 
#1: Think positively and be happy
Watching the news and observing things happening around us can easily make us worried and have negative thoughts. Choosing to be happy and positive is one of the very important ways to survive these uncertain times. To maintain your joy, you might also need to cut off people and things that fill you with anxiety and worry. We are responsible for our own happiness and positive state of mind. Being happy makes life more enjoyable.
 
Strategies to consider

• Make time to celebrate the good things in your life
• Do the little things that make you happy

 
#2: Enjoy human interactions
Meeting up with family and friends physically might not be possible at the moment depending on where you are. The distance and changes in our social connections definitely affects a lot of us. It takes more effort these days to seek out and enjoy human interactions. This past weekend we had a virtual dinner with friends, something I would never have thought about doing before. Laughing and sharing stories with people you like is always incredibly special.
 
Strategies to consider

• Schedule time to connect with the amazing people in your life
• Tell people you love how important they are to you

 
#3: Don't compare yourself to others
One lesson that would change your life is realizing that we are all on vastly different life journeys. Comparing yourself to others will keep you in a constant state of dissatisfaction. When we look at others’ lives, we tend to see the things we are missing in our lives and then we think they are better than us. Personally, I have learned to appreciate where I am in life and keep working on being better on my journey irrespective of what others around me are doing.
 
Strategies to consider

• Celebrate where you are at on your journey
• Be aware of areas where you are comparing yourself to others

 
Final Thoughts
Let's wrap up this post with one lesson that I have learned:
One thing that has kept me going over the past months is, finding joy in the small good things that I experience. I have been very intentional about enjoying the simple things that make me happy. At the end of each day, I think about the things that happened over the day that I am grateful for. Sometimes my list includes going grocery shopping, talking to my family, getting my work done or eating a great meal. This helps me acknowledge that life is good even with everything happening in the world around me.
 
Call to Action
How are you going to celebrate the small wins in your life? Find joy in the little things.