Adrian Furiato

Vest, Andrew. “How to Network the Right Way: Eight Tips.” *Forbes.* July 28, 2014.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2014/07/28/how-to-network-the-right-way-eight-tips/

Author Andrew Vest and contributor at forbes.com, offers some useful advice for people looking to network and gain connections. Vest has personally organized more than 50 networking events in the last decade. His main message in the article is to keep a positive attitude when attending networking events and to remain open to meeting many different kinds of people. Regardless of your field or particular interest, Vest insists that one shouldn’t dismiss people who may not seem as important due to different interests. That person may have connections or friends that you are trying to reach.

      I believe I can relate to this article greatly because I enjoy meeting new people regardless of who they are, or what they do. Sociable environments are intriguing because of the relationships that you could form. This article gave some great extra tips that could help me in the future, especially when attempting to network with people in a specific field, or perhaps simply to build contacts for future.

     Cohen, David. “Three Steps to Finding a Business Mentor.”  *Starting a Business.* November 14, 2011.

  http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220694

     David Cohen is a technology advisor and startup advocate who writes about useful ideas when trying to find a business mentor. Cohen’s article describes the most important aspects of finding a compatible mentor is to find someone who will challenge you and consistently push you to surpass your goals. Your mentor should help you gain experience while letting you run or pave the path to your own desires. Cohen mentions that a mentor should be someone who you can speak to easily and communicate with consistently.

      These tips are very beneficial to any young entrepreneur, or even someone who is exploring a particular field. I know that if I were to seek a mentor for anything, I would want someone who will challenge me and demand optimism and goal setting. At the same time it would be ideal if that person was easily relatable and friendly.

The Mind Tools Editorial Team. “How to Develop Long-Term Focus.” *Time Management.*

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/long-term-focus.htm

 Mind Tools is a website that dedicates it’s content to providing beneficial career skills and strategies that are very important to achieving success. The team at Mind Tools is comprised of experienced mentors and coaches who post weekly newsletters on new management and career techniques.  Mind tools breaks down some of the common issues that people have with creating and staying on course with their long term goals.

   I have found this article and website, to be quite useful for me. I myself sometimes have difficulty planning out a structured long term goal. I can sometimes commit to things in a spontaneous manner. This article definitely gives me tips that I can apply to my own goal setting in the near future.

   Corriea, Alexa. “How to achieve long term goals by changing how we think about short ones.” *Polygon.* http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/23/5644206/games-4-change-changing-long-term-goals April 23, 2014.

Alexa Corriea writes about the teachings of professor Dan Ariely. Ariely a professor of psychology and behavioural economics, believes that most people focus on short term goals and this can hinder their long term goal setting. Ariely suggests multiple methods including maintaining accountability to your goal, perhaps by sharing it with others.

     This article offered an informative take from an expert and some of the methods and ideologies Dr. Ariely shares are relatable to me. For example Ariely mentions that short term rewards can help someone motivate themselves to continue on to their long term goals. I immediately thought back to a moment when I felt rewarded and more motivated after the fact, especially when my goal was a difficult and futuristic one.

2. Berkley Student Learning Center. “Study and Success Strategies.” *Berkley University.*

http://slc.berkeley.edu/study-and-success-strategies 2015.

   The University of Berkeley created a detailed webpage that contained tools and tips to maximize your effectiveness while studying. Some of the information included on the page even suggests where to set your work down and the best times of the day to complete homework.

These tips can be especially useful to new college students like myself who had to adjust greatly to the heightened workload and responsibilities in university. Students can get a confident head start on their study habits by using some of these helpful tips.

Carey, Benedict. “Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits.” *the New York Times.*

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?scp=1&sq=Study%20Skills&st=cse&\_r=0  September 6, 2010.

Author Benedict Carey writes about the difficult transition that students may face when changing from a summer filled, relaxed state of mind, to a mind more academically prepared and engaged. Common myths and misconceptions about studying are also mentioned by Carey, and empirical evidence is compiled about actual methods that have been proven to improve memory retention.     Much of these methods are unknown to many, and I feel like this article is extremely beneficial to me as I will most certainly attempt to fit in some of these techniques with my day-to-day study schedule.

Canadian Mental Health Association. “Work/Life Balance.” *Your Mental Health.* http://www.cmha.ca/mental-health/your-mental-health/worklife-balance/ 2015.

  The Canadian Mental Health Association is a voluntary Canadian organization that provides information that can help people struggling with mental illness, or stress from work or school.  There are whole sections on this webpage that discuss how to deal with stress, and how to balance your work life efficiently so you can maintain optimum mental health and happiness.

Although personal issues may not be to the same degree as what the organization specializes in, I find many of their stress and life balance tips to be extremely useful to not only myself, but to anyone who needs to organize their schedules.

Oglivie, Megan. “U of T professor studies work-life balance.” *The Toronto Star.* September 16, 2014. http://www.thestar.com/life/2014/09/16/u\_of\_t\_professor\_studies\_worklife\_balance.html

Megan Oglivie writes about one of U of T’s very own professors who is currently researching the connection between ones work life and their stress and health. Dr. Scott Schieman states that the biggest preventative factor for balancing work and your life is feeling rushed. The remainder of the article includes more data about school and work-related stress, as well as several professionals, who share some of their day-to-day experiences with stress and work. This article is valuable because of the credibility of a well versed professor and the experiences that were shared from professionals. Many of the tips can apply to school as well, and these are great to begin forming into habits so they will be second nature in the near future.