Nurturing the right mindset is crucial to long-term success in any occupation or industry. The Tampa Bay Times advises adopting attitudes like these:

Learning from mentors. The right mentor can share invaluable experience and advice to guide you in your career. Analyze his or her approach to people, challenges, and opportunities. Ask lots of questions, and listen to your mentor’s advice.

Being a good team member. You don’t get ahead all by yourself. You’ll advance in your career by committing yourself to the goals of your team and organization. You’ll be offered opportunities to do more if you show you’re willing to support the big picture.

Finding a healthy balance. Don’t devote yourself single-mindedly to work, or you’ll burn yourself out. Make time for family and friends. Exercise and eat healthy. Give yourself regular down time.

Examining your beliefs. From time to time, look at the values and rules that guide your life. Are they still working for you? Don’t be reluctant to make changes that fit your circumstances better as you progress in your life and career.

Giving Back. Wherever you are in your career, be ready to help people. Volunteer, share your expertise, mentor others, and demonstrate that you're willing to help others.

Generation Z is starting to look at home buying, and they have their own way of doing it, according to the AZ Big Media website:

Buying Online: Sixty-seven percent would consider buying a home through an online service or app, compared to 39% of millennials.

Spending Less: The median price of an existing home is $360K (USD), but Gen Z say they are only willing to spend $150K-$250K (USD).

Changing Lifestyles: The number one reason Gen Z would choose to buy a home is a lifestyle change, with 46% citing a new job, a growing family, or relocation.

The pandemic made clear the importance of a new approach to networking: email. It can be a useful tool when used correctly. The Business 2 Community website offers these tips:

Do your homework. Before reaching out to a potential networking contact, find out as much as you can about them. Where do they work? What’s their job title? Where else have they worked? Where did they go to school? Look for anything you have in common that you can use as a connection.

Write a good subject line. This is the first thing your contact will see, and it determines whether he or she will even open your email. Make it concise and engaging. Catch the reader’s eye in a few words with something like, “A friend of Jack Smith” or “I enjoyed your article.”

Establish a common ground. Highlight something you share early on. It could be your industry, your college or grad school, a mutual acquaintance—anything that makes the other person see you’re not just targeting him or her at random.

Build trust. People are suspicious. A good way to build trust is to spotlight your professional credentials—your employer, projects you've worked on, awards you've won, or degrees you've earned. Don't brag. Your goal is to give the person an idea of who you are so he or she can decide whether to listen to you.

Make things simple. If you're looking for a meeting, give them a choice of time and plenty of opportunity to respond. Start out small - ask for a few minutes of time or one piece of advice, not a commitment to mentor or a graduate-level seminar on the person's expertise.

Follow up. If they don't respond, follow up once, but don't be a pest. If they do answer, be sure to thank them and accommodate their needs. Courtesy is the key to establishing a warm, long-lasting relationship.

You can be on a two-week vacation or just out for the day, but your home is always a potential target for burglars. The C|Net website recommends taking these precautions:

1. Keep doors and windows locked. This may seem obvious, but it's easy to forget. Lock up every time you go to work or to the store. Double-check locks when leaving on a long-term trip. 

2. Secure your doors. Make sure all doors have a deadbolt. Consider smart locks, which you can activate remotely. Check the frames and hinges on your doors to ensure they are strong enough to resist a break-in attempt. 

3. Install a home security system. Door and window sensors can alert you to suspicious movements on or near your house; some will call the police automatically.

4. Hide your valuable items. Don't position computers, large TVs, or other electronics where they can be easily seen through your windows. Keep jewelry, cash, and other tempting loot out of sight and locked up securely. 

5. Invest in outdoor lighting. Floodlights can keep intruders away. Motion- detecting sensors that activate when someone comes near your house saves you energy and amps up security. Caught off-guard, most potential intruders will leave once the lights come on. 

6. Be careful when hiding keys. Most burglars know to look for keys hidden under the doormat, in your mailbox, or in a flower pot. Store them in a combination lockbox, far from your doorway instead.

Rosie bought a build-it-yourself cabinet from her local hardware store. At home, she read the instructions carefully and assembled it in the bedroom. However, Rosie and her husband lived near a railway line, and when the train passed by, the cabinet collapsed.

She reassembled the cabinet. Another train passed and the cabinet collapsed again. Rosie phoned the hardware store, and the manager sent out a handyman. He reassembled the cabinet while Rosie went out to the grocery store. When the next train went by, it fell apart again.

Baffled, the handyman rebuilt the cabinet yet again and decided to sit inside it to see what was making it fall apart. He was sitting there when Rosie’s husband came home early, went upstairs to his bedroom, and saw the cabinet. Puzzled, the husband opened it up and found the handyman.

"Hey! What are you doing in here?" he demanded.

The handyman replied, "Would you believe I'm waiting for a train?"

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