To get ahead, you can’t keep doing the same things you’ve always done. You have to adapt in order to grow. Here’s how to develop a growth mindset (from the Very Well Mind website):

Believe your efforts matter. Take a look at your job and career. Look at how you help people. If you understand that your work makes a difference, you’ll be motivated to stick with it and do more.

Keep learning new skills. Look for training to expand your job skills, but also look outside the narrow scope of your occupation to pick up life skills. Take a painting class, volunteer at an animal shelter, or learn a new sport—anything that will get you out of your rut.

Learn from your failures. Everyone makes mistakes. The only shame is repeating them because you didn’t find out why they happened. Investigate the causes of your failures to ensure you don’t make them again.

Canada Day, July 1. Often informally referred to as "Canada's birthday," Canada Day celebrates the anniversary of Canadian confederation on July 1, 1867.

National Stay Out of The Sun Day, July 3. Grab your visors, sunscreen, umbrellas, and long sleeves and give your skin a much needed break from the sun!

Independence Day, July 4. U.S. holiday commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

World Snake Day, July 18. There are about 3,458 known species of snakes living in almost every climatological region in the world - from the humid rainforests of South/Central America and southern Asia to the icy tundra.

Space Exploration Day, July 20. The day in 1969 when Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin first set foot on the moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission.

It’s a happy day when a lost dog finds its way home, but how does it get back? A New York Times article offers two explanations. One is that a dogs’ hypersensitive sense of smell allows them to create a map of scents around their neighborhood, using gardens or grocery stores and human aroma as markers.

In addition, they may be sensitive to magnetic orientation. One study of dozens of canines observed that dogs tend to adopt a north-south orientation when they 'go potty', but that preference vanished when the magnetic field around them was disturbed.

Once you’re on the road to success, you may need to protect some of your trade secrets, but when you’re just starting out, you need all the help and advice you can get. Here’s why:

Your idea isn’t really unique. No matter how brilliant you are, chances are that someone else has had the same idea. And if you haven’t heard about it, the reason could be that it didn’t work. You need to find out why so you can avoid the same mistakes, and that means opening up about what you’re trying to do.

The real key is execution. Ideas don’t succeed because they’re creative or different. What’s important is how well they work and the experience your end user has. The more input and feedback you gather, the better you can meet the needs and expectations of your customers (whoever they are).

You can’t do everything yourself. Businesses rarely fail because a competitor stole an idea. They’re far more likely to crash and burn because their founders didn’t know how to manage growth. Once you’ve got the basic concept down, you’ll need talented people to help you get off the ground, and you won’t find them unless you’re willing to share the details of your plan.

A king decided to find and honor the greatest person among his subjects. Before him was a man of wealth and proper, one who possessed incredible healing powers, one for his knowledge of the law, and another for his business instincts.

Many successful people were brought to the palace, and it became evident that the task of choosing the greatest would be difficult. Finally, the last candidate stood before the king. It was a woman with white hair, and her eyes shone with the light of knowledge, understanding, and love. 

"Who is this?" asked the king. "What has she done?"

"You have seen and heard all the others," said the king’s aide. "This is their teacher." The people applauded as the king came down from his throne to honor her.

Balancing work and your home life has never been easy, and the pandemic made it more complicated. Whether you’re back in the office or still working from home, remember this advice from the Military.com website for staying healthy and even- keeled:

Goals. Make sure you’re focused on realistic, manageable job goals. Talk to your boss about their priorities, and discuss options so that your workload doesn’t become too much of a burden.

Breaks. Take regular breaks throughout the day. Get away from your desk and computer for a quick walk—outside, if possible. Remember to stretch.

Downtime. You may be tempted to put in longer hours if you’re working from home, finishing up tasks after dinner and continuing late into the night. Resist the urge. Spend time away from your workspace with your family, partner, pet, or just outdoors and away from whatever reminds you of work. It’ll still be there tomorrow.

Self-care. Remember to eat a healthy diet with lots of water. Visit your doctor regularly. Get enough sleep. You’ll perform better at work and at home if you’re healthy.

Perfection. Don’t be a perfectionist. Do the best you can, but learn to let go when a project is finished, even if you could do a little more on it. Most of the time what’s important is completing a task and moving on, not polishing every last detail.

Technology. Don’t stare at screens all day. Get away from social media. Turn off your devices at a specific time every night and get back into the real world for a while. You’ll sleep better.

Help. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Communicate with your boss and your team when you have a problem or hit a roadblock. Get the assistance and support you need to do a good job. Be honest to avoid surprises.

Setting goals is vital to a long and thriving career. You can’t just discover them at random. Inc. magazine suggests asking these key questions about new goals.

When do you want to achieve the goal? Have a timeline and a deadline, although you can adapt it as circumstances change.

What resources and skills do you have? Take a look at your skill set to determine whether you have what you need to get started.

What resources and skills will you have to learn? Be prepared to take the time to master what
you don’t already know along the way.

The man replied, “That  woman hardly eats. This way I get her to eat one orange a day for her health.”

A merchant in a vegetable stall saw the exchange happen every day, too. One day she asked the woman, “Why do you let him get away with that? He always complains about your oranges, and you always give him extra. Why do you put up with it?”

The woman smiled. “He always pays me a little extra when I weigh his bag. That way he can feed me and pretend I don’t know what he’s doing. His love pays for the extra orange.”