Highlight Your Accomplishments, Not Your Ego

Is your hard work going unnoticed? Then it’s time to highlight your accomplishments, but stay clear of sounding like an self-absorbed jerk.

Learn how to talk yourself up tastefully, and more, in today’s Lunchtime Links:

Track your success: Before you can highlight your accomplishments, you have to know what you’ve done. Starting a career journal is one of the best ways to keep a record of what you do at work, how you’re building your skills, and how you’re helping your employer. “Capture your day-to-day successes  (opens in a new tab), while also keeping your progress in the context of larger projects and how you’re helping your organization move forward,” writes Allison Jones for Lifehacker. A written record of your achievements can help boost your confidence. The next time you approach your boss to discuss your career, you won’t have to brag vaguely about your contributions; you’ll instead have solid evidence of what you’ve achieved.

Me, myself, and I: Are a majority of your Facebook and Twitter updates about yourself? Well, according to a recent piece from Health.com  (opens in a new tab), “all those ‘status updates’ and ‘tweets’ that people post as they clamor to be part of the online social network may reflect a troubling trend toward self-absorbed behavior in the United States.” A new study conducted by the University of Michigan suggests that narcissistic college students frequently talk about themselves on Twitter, whereas narcissistic adults prefer sharing self-absorbed Facebook statuses. Why? The study, recently published in Computers in Human Behavior  (opens in a new tab), notes that social media is a way for people to boost their ego and their peers’ opinions of them. Is social media becoming less of a community and more about self-promotion?

Event innovators: Gone are the days of brands simply rolling out catchy slogans and commercials. Some, such as Nike, Dos Equis, and Red Bull, are hosting innovative events to create brand appeal. In BizBash‘s “Event Innovators 2013”  (opens in a new tab) series, Target ranks as the most innovative brand of 2013. Annually hosting more than 400 events in the United States, the retail chain has set a high bar for the industry. “For retail marketers, it’s the one to watch and the competitor to top, regularly experimenting with new concepts and producing highly visual and engaging affairs,” writes the magazine’s Anna Sekula. Blending event planning with social media, video production, and a strong community appeal, Target, as well as runners-up Coca-Cola and Samsung, are changing how consumers experience brands. Perhaps you can borrow some ideas from them?

What are you reading today? Let us know in the comments.

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