Stuck in a rut at work? Frustrated with the company you work for? Feeling like you’re not moving up?

The path to establishing a career isn’t always as smooth for some as it is for others.Often times we are mislead into believing finding your dream job will happen sooner rather than later. At some point, most of us will find ourselves feeling trapped in a job that isn’t exactly what we expected. It can be stifling to creativity and can reduce overall productivity. The most critical thing to remember is not to remain stuck in that type of situation for too long.  In his article 10 career limiting mistakes to avoid, Steve Tobak explains the key reasons for lack of workplace satisfaction and provides great tips on how to make positive changes in your career path with smart choices.  With a little effort, you just might find yourself with the career you have been longing for.

Read an excerpt from this article.

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Sticking with a loser company. Companies are like airplanes; you’re not the pilot and you didn’t design or build the plane. You just go where it goes. All too often, that’s nowhere. You get complacent and, next thing you know, your career has flatlined and your time has run out. You need to think of employers as business opportunities; you want as many as possible to be winners.

Not asking tough questions. When I was a young engineer, I got a mediocre review. I was upset, so I asked my boss and then his boss why. Finally, I was told that nobody knew what I was working on. So I made it my mission to work on high visibility programs that were of great importance to management. That was the key that unlocked all sorts of opportunities. Who knew?

Not putting yourself out there. The vast majority of people find a comfort zone and settle in there. They don’t aggressively manage their careers. That’s fine, as long as you don’t mind waking up 10 years later in the same job. If you want to get ahead, you need to network,schmooze and open yourself up to opportunities.

Trusting that your employer will take care of you. There are so many things wrong with that sentence. Don’t trust your career to anyone but you. Your employer most likely sees you as an expendable, replaceable, at-will worker. You know, trust is built on two things in corporate America: a pattern of behavior and legal agreements. And I wouldn’t trust the former without the latter.

Thinking you’re entitled to more. You’re entitled to what you earn. No more, no less. If you expect more than you work for and deserve, you’ll get nowhere and end up blaming everyone but the one person who could have done something about it: you. That’s just how it is, like it or not.

Not taking enough risks. No risk, no reward. The only real risk is not taking any. The poet Robert Browning said, “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp.” Pick your phrase and own it. You need to take risks. And if you take more when you’re younger, you won’t have to take so many when you’re older.

Making work about you. Business is about business; it’s not about you. It’s not about what you want, what you like, what you think of your boss or your coworkers, or even your principles. If you don’t like where you are and what you’re doing, quit and go somewhere else. It’s a free country. Or start your own business. Then you can do whatever you want.

Thinking it’s not about the money. It’s absolutely true that you should do what you’re passionate about; that is the best way to achieve success. Just don’t make believe money doesn’t count. In Facebook’s IPO filing, CEO Mark Zuckerberg talks a lot about the company’s social mission, but he didn’t end up with 28 percent of the stock after all those rounds of funding by ignoring the money.

Getting stuck behind a “going-nowhere” boss. Maybe your boss doesn’t like you. Maybe he’s a loser, his boss is a loser, or the whole division is going nowhere. Whatever the reason, don’t waste years trapped in a cubicle cage by a loser boss. Find another job where you’ve got a chance of going somewhere.

Being too impatient. When you’re reasonably certain the writing’s on the wall and it’s time for a change, do it. Otherwise, don’t get impatient and expect everything to happen all at once. Success is like a stock market chart. It goes up and down but, over time, the trajectory is hopefully up and to the right. Life is long and so is your career. It’s a long distance run, not a sprint. Mixed metaphors, I know, but they’re true, nonetheless.

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How would you like to get rid of those heavy coins in your pockets? Well, thanks to new mobile payment options, our purses and pockets will become noticeably lighter with no cumbersome coins to keep track of. Starbucks Coffee now even has an iPhone app that allows you to scan the barcode from your phone without ever having to reach into your pocket for cash.

More recently, Google has introduced a new technology to their Android based smart phones, called near field communication (NFC). Unlike the Starbucks app, NFC does not require barcode scanning. Instead the only action required is hovering the smart phone over a receiver and payment is transmitted automatically. Although, not all Google smart phones are equipped with the NFC chip, Google is doing their best to make this technology available to more consumers as quickly as possible. According to Mike Freeman’s article Bringing Mobile Wallets into the Mainstream, “Nearly 34 million mobile devices were shipped last year with NFC capability.” Apple has yet to introduce NFC technology into the iPhone. Once that happens, experts believe  Apple will completely transform the idea of mobile money.

Read an excerpt from this article.

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Near field communication is a short-range wireless technology that transmits secure data between devices at about 1.5 inches or less. Various types of NFC technology have been around for years. There is a solid base of NFC phones in Japan, where they’re used for things such as buying fares on commuter trains. In the U.S. and Europe, mass transit “smart cards” — including ones made by San Diego’s Cubic Corp. — use a form of NFC technology in the chip embedded in the plastic cards and scanned at the gate.

Perhaps the best-known NFC champion right now is Google Wallet. Introduced last fall, it is essentially a piece of software that can tap into NFC technology on a mobile phone. For now, Google Wallet is available on Nexus S and a few other smartphones in the United States. Sprint is the only wireless carrier supporting it. Retailers must have MasterCard’s PayPass readers to allow Google Wallet to work via NFC. There are more than 300,000 such readers deployed, but they’re not everywhere.

Several software-based mobile wallet apps in the market today — including mobile gift cards services — compete with NFC technology. But NFC supporters think the chip inside the phone will beat out apps by being fast, easy and everywhere, essentially mimicking credit cards without the plastic.

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Read the full article

If I work harder, then I’ll be successful. If I’m successful, then I’ll be happy, right?

In this recent Tedx Bloomington talk, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that this approach leads to an opposite outcome: a fixation on competition, workload, hassles, stresses and complaints. In the midst of an economic downturn, the stresses can compound themselves into a burnout abyss, unless we can change the lens through which we view the world and raise positivity in the present.

Small changes create ripples outward – and a little extra dopamine in the brain, which in turn creates improved energy, intelligence, productivity and even sales outcomes. In fact, Achor says, in a study that reversed the work-for-happiness formula with employees, every single business outcome improved.

Here are some recommended methods to train your brain to work more optimistically and successfully:

• 3 Gratitudes: For 21 days, write down or take snap shots of three new things for which you are grateful and see how the habit actually attracts more of those positive connections. Check out http://365grateful.com/ for some creative inspiration.

• Journaling: Every day, write in your journal or create a flickr photo journal about one positive thing that happened to you, allowing your brain to relive the moments in writing or imagery. For more journaling ideas, go to http://www.writingthroughlife.com/.

• Exercise: Daily exercise teaches your brain that your behavior matters, releases endorphins. Yoga is one of the most portable and uplifting forms of exercise out there. Yoga Journal has a great library of videos and home practice guides from beginner to advanced levels.

• Meditation: Finding time in each day to unplug and get over our attention deficit in a multi-tasking world allows better focus on the task at hand. Got a moment? Perfect timing. Try this one-moment meditation video for a quick intro.

• Random Acts of Kindness: Every day, write one positive email or post praising someone in your work, personal or online social network… or here’s a list of 29 more ways to carry out random acts of kindness everyday.

What do you do to reverse the formula of happiness and success? The path you choose can create a revolution in the way we approach life, work and what we receive in return.

Everybody loves Starbucks and Facebook! Check out how Starbucks‘ is leveraging Facebook to create a fun one-to-one social media campaign for their rewards card. A shout out and a free eGift card is a great way to boost your Facebook presence…

View Starbucks Facebook page

It’s Super Bowl Sunday and time for some great football! We really don’t care who wins (Not… Go Patriots!) but we sure do care about those great commercials.

Take a trip down memory lane and watch the best commercials from the 2011 Super Bowl.

View the 2011 Super Bowl Commercials