If we tell our colleagues that if we are unhappy with our current job, we should quit.

And though we admit just how badly we want to walk away, the idea actually terrifies us. The act elicits deeply rooted fears and anxieties within us. So instead of facing them, we cozy up back to our comfort zones – no matter how unhappy we actually are.

This is the belief we grew accustomed to, shaping us to think that we shouldn’t stop while we’re ahead – we need to keep on moving forward. The negative impact it can create to our personal life coaxes us in the idea of staying stagnant. And in return, our brains would coerce us that this is what we want. When in reality, we’re just here for the sake of avoiding change.

Internal factors such as what our loved ones would say and financial insecurities would fog our view of the opportunities quitting can open, chances of growing and improving ourselves that contributes to our personal happiness.

Coauthor of the motivational book Just Start: Take Action, Embrace Uncertainty, Create the Future and preside of Babson College, Leonard Schlesinger, said that a large majority of us are paralyzed by our unhappiness with our current reality.

This same paralysis stops us from taking that leap and keeps us glued to various mundane job. Tech entrepreneur, Daniel Gulati believes that most of us stay too long in professions we hate because the corporate world is geared in keeping people in roles without really considering whether or not an individual matches his or her position.

Simply put, the world doesn’t give us enough freedom to grow and create situations that allows us to thrive and move forward.

So you’ve followed all the advice you’ve read from several motivational books but the feeling’s still the same. You still feel stuck and you’re not even really sure why.

If everything still feels the same, chances are it’s because you’re still resisting quitting. Even if it’s pretty obvious that things aren’t working for you anymore, you continue the same routine every day, refusing to prepare for the change walking away could bring.

We’d probably defend ourselves by saying that we’re not really sure what we want right now but this ideology hinders us from discovering the right career for ourselves by just sitting around and thinking about it. If something isn’t working, get up and gather the courage to do something about it.

The second we pick ourselves up and put ourselves into this kind of headspace, true breakthroughs will happen.

People who refuse to acknowledge their unhappy situations and continue to do the same thing day in and day out without ever finding real meaning in what they do, will never flourish – no matter how hard they work.

The fact remains, quitting carries a negative connotation – that is, when it means fleeing away from challenges and responsibilities – but in certain cases, it’s a necessary step towards the path of success. It all boils down to acceptance rather than fear.

Sometimes, it becomes exactly what we need in order for us to know what’s best for us – something that will be hard to find when doing the same thing over and over again. Don’t view quitting as a sign of failure, see it as a chance to find what you’re really set out to do in this world.

Statistically speaking, a large majority of today’s labor force are walking away from their 9-to-5 work and corporate roles to join the growing population of digital nomads – freelancers and remote workers cooped up in coworking spaces pursuing their dream jobs. These communities typically found within shared offices encourage young professionals to be brave, to not fear quitting and follow the path less traveled.

Its true magic reveals itself in the sense of urgency that follows, the same feeling that opens up a space for you to find what really matters.

Changing one’s perception isn’t easy, and that’s the truth. But ask yourself what truly makes you happy. What’s the one thing you can’t stop thinking about?

Deep down, we know what would really make us happy but fear is the only thing that’s stopping us from achieving this. Quitting is necessary when something no longer makes us happy or pushes us to grow.

View it as a chance to win at life and in any case that you still need some help, talk to us today.

2017 played quite the significant role for South Korean pop or K-pop culture. In the aforementioned year, what once was a hidden safe haven became a major driver of global culture.

The Korean wave – commonly known as Hallyu – became a full-blown global phenomenon as it made its prominence known. Starting from the entertainment field – filling the streaming platform Netflix with unique Korean dramas, down to the cosmetics industry with its intricate skincare regimen. But at the heart of its growing presence in the global community is its music – the well-acclaimed Korean pop music or K-pop.

Hallyu has been around for almost two decades now but K-pop in particular, have accumulated a global audience in the past five to ten years.  With several second generation artists hitting the Billboard Hot 100 chart, its exports have spearheaded its growth into a $5 billion industry.

Their distinctive blend of melodies, well-choreographed dances, dazzling productions and eye-catching performers, have allowed them to become a global phenomenon. Surpassing language barriers and cultural differences, their music have helped them connect with the rest of the world.

As their audience grows larger, talks of diversity and inclusivity come in. With the country’s conservative nature, their following couldn’t help but wonder just how open the industry is to other cultures.

Though experts admit that prejudice towards foreigners remain to be rampant in the country due to its traditional customs, it can’t be denied that the country is going through its multicultural phase and in response to this, they have become more accommodating to its neighbors.

Not only are we seeing large numbers of different races within South Korea’s current population, the same diversity is now being seen in the K-pop industry as several multinational groups emerge.

The popular girl-group Momoland that made breakthrough success earlier this year with their third mini album “Great!” and its title track “Bboom Bboom” is proof that with inclusivity comes success. The band’s youngest member, Nancy Jewel McDonie, is a half-American, half-Korean, 18 year old who grew up in the province of Daegu. Though her father is American, she grew up to be more fluent in her mother’s dialect. Nancy and the rest of the members of the band is well-received by the local audience as well as their global fan base.

But Momoland wasn’t the first group to introduce non-Korean idols. JYP Entertainment’s GOT7, introduced 3 of its foreign members hailing from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand during their debut. The boys garnered global success 4 years since their debut and is well-loved by the Korean public.

Admittedly, the bigotry is still there but compared to the earlier generations, today’s Korean public have grown to be more open to diversity.

The advantages brought upon by inclusivity and creativity can be observed not just in today’s global music industry.

Simply take a good look at today’s workforce. The changing way of working has opened the general public’s mind to the different ways of efficient working. The movement of shared offices or coworking spaces taught us to embrace the unique workings of productivity. Though several experts would suggest that there seems to be a pattern or a way to hack utmost efficiency, it may not be effective for each one of us. Some might need flexibility or creative freedom to produce innovative ideas. Hence, these open layout offices aims to cater to those with peculiar ways of harnessing productivity.

Its success shows that it’s not bad to open up ourselves to the unusual. Just as how the rest of the world warmly embraced the Hallyu wave.

Talk to us today and we’ll show you a different way of being productive.

In an ideal world, each one of us would agree with one another. We wouldn’t have painful arguments or conflicts that would later create more damaging issues. We would be in harmonious circumstances, happily going on our own ways.

Realistically speaking, this ideology is impossible to achieve. Whenever we force each other to agree with one another, the more we grow farther apart.

This idyllic expectation of sunshine and rainbows is crushing collaboration. Instead of being the messy back-and-forth process it naturally is, we force it to become harmonious. We expect everyone to concur and be supportive towards everyone yet this constant desire hinders partnerships in fulfilling its promises of greater innovation and improved risk moderation. At its universal form, collaboration coincides with healthy conflict.

A large majority of us have been taught to see collaboration and conflict as two different things.  The common narrative for teams include perfect synchronization and tight formation. As players gathered in one team, you should “all be in the same boat” and to be a good member, you must “row in the same direction” but contrary to popular belief, these dreamy visions of what a team should be is what weakens them.

Nothing is perfect. In collaboration, tension, disagreement and conflict is needed in order to improve the value of an idea. It helps expose the risk of a plan and leads to an enriched trust among the participants.

It’s high time that managements change their mindsets towards conflict. They should start letting go of the idea that it is destructive and embrace its potential to be productive. Moving beyond clichés and daydreams, the activity of collaboration becomes excessive if you only resort to agreeing. American writer and political commentator Walter Lippmann did say, “Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.” In order to make the most out of it, divergence is needed before convergence.

But much to our dismay, our antipathy towards discords is embedded so deep into our thoughts that it takes a great deal of effort to encourage even the most modest disagreements. Though there are certain steps that teams can take in order to develop productive friction when it’s needed.

First, it’s important for teams to discuss and recognize the different roles of each member and emphasize what each position brings to the project.  Explain how they each contribute to different agendas. Having good composition allows groups to normalize the tension collaboration naturally brings. Fighting for the best solution possible becomes a norm and gives people a new perspective on disagreement with colleagues.

Secondly, the use of personality or style assessment tools helps figure out the differences in each individual. Other than that of stemming from their respective jobs, each member will have a different view on things depending on their personalities. This would help you foresee any personality related conflict that could arise.

Lastly, in order to normalize and encourage productive conflict, teams should establish sets of ground rules around discord. Figure out behaviors that create positive contributions and separate those that detract from it. It’s important to paint a clear picture of what is, and is not, acceptable behavior to the rest of the team.

It also helps to define processes so that you will have a more-frequent or more-effective conflict.

Admittedly, it’s not enough to simply just follow the aforementioned techniques. Changing people’s mindset towards conflict and disagreement goes beyond. Some teams even go as far as joining coworking spaces to gain brand new perspective. These shared offices take pride in the great communities they create. Its open layout encourages open communication and the diversity of its members shows that there is beauty in each one’s differences.

So you’ve recently joined your very first coworking space! You’ve gotten to know the work area – where the private offices are, the café and snack bar, as well as the usual schedule of the daily pool tournament. Despite of this, there’s one more thing left to do now that you’ve settled down; making friends.

We’ve all been in the awkward situation of being the new person – a fish out of water to simply put. Usually taking place at networking events, industry conferences, charity events, dinner parties, and other social-professional circumstances, we are often forced to build our rapport quickly. Like any other human being, we attempt breaking the silence by asking:

“So, what do you do?”

It’s a pretty standard question, we think to ourselves. A large majority of us – if not, I think almost everyone – believes that talking about one’s respective work is one of the best way to build a connection with someone we recently met. But in reality, it’s actually the opposite – in fact, it’s best to avoid this exact topic.

According to experts from network science and psychology, humans tend to seek out relationships that has more than one context for connecting with another person. Known as multiplex ties among sociologist, these are connections that has overlapping roles or affiliations from different social contexts. For example, if a coworker happens to live in the same condominium as you or you both go to the same gyms, it means that you share a multiplex tie.

Experts believe that the reason we prefer these kinds of connections is because of the ideology that relationships built on multiplex ties tend to be richer, more trustworthy, and longer lasting. This can be observed in our daily lives: those coworkers who also happen to be actual friends is far more likely to be with you should one of you decide to change careers. This goes the other way too, those who have at least one actual friend at work are prone to liking their jobs more.

Going back to the question “What do you do?” why shouldn’t we use this as an opener?

Say you’re already attending a work-related gathering or simply meeting a new individual under the context of work, it quickly sets a boundary in the conversation that he or she is simply a “work” contact. Though yes, there’s a possibility of discovering another commonality between the two of you but the chance of the conversation heading towards the aforementioned direction is slim to none.

So instead, consider starting with questions that are deliberately non-work related. Trust that the context of the conversation will eventually go back to work-related topics.

Here are some questions that you can use to start conversations with and will hopefully help you discover more commonalties and even gain you a new friend:

This question opens up a wide range of possible answers. In addition to this, it gives the person the freedom to talk about work, kids, or simply anything that excites them.

This works for the same reason mentioned earlier but is far more forward-looking than backward looking. This gives the person a bigger set of possible answers.

Similar to the aforementioned two questions but is more backward-looking than forward. Regardless, it’s once again an open-ended question that gives others plentiful of answers to choose from.

Though this question dives into one’s backgrounds, it’s a much less assertive than asking where they came from. It allows them to answer with simple details of their childhood or engage the story of how they got where they are and what they’re doing.

As expected, this steers the discussion from work – unless of course they are lucky enough land a job that they’d be doing for fun. Yet in the end, it’s the type of question that will stir non-work answers.

These examples of open-ended questions help create multiplex ties in relationship – a concept that coworking spaces often cultivate. These shared offices are designed to create new connections in different circumstances and environments.

An average person’s ideal career life would kick start from getting that job they have been dreaming of. After that, they would work hard enough to keep it – or even, master it – so that in the future, they can relax and take the much needed break they deserve. Yet as the time passes by, instead of flying in business-class airplanes to luxurious cities, those who have “made it” seem to be working more and more hours than they did before. Missing meals, coming in early and staying in late.

It makes people wonder, shouldn’t successful people be enjoying the fruit of all the hard work and labor they have invested instead of working even more? University of London Professor of Management of Professional Service Firms, Laura Empson, helps us understand the factors that drive employees to overwork themselves.

The stories of managers and other administrative positions working long hours have become common recently. It has become a norm for a majority of us to overwork ourselves despite of the knowledge that it’s bad for both our mental and physical health.

Truthfully speaking, things weren’t like this before. Way back, white-collar workers would work as hard as they could at the beginning of their career in order for them to earn the right to be receive rewards later on. All of their perseverance would result to a secured tenure and what could possibly be a series of senior positions.

Once you’ve won first place in the competition, you would become a partner. And partnerships would mean autonomy and flexibility in when to work as well as what to work on.

But contrary to popular belief, this tradition has long been erased in the culture of organizations. Seniors are working harder than ever and the rest of the firm simply follows.

Empson said in a statement from a Harvard Business Review article that the tendency of overworking one’s self is framed by a compound combination of factors such as profession, organization and themselves. According to her research, at the heart of it is a professional’s insecurity. Employees in general, have anxiety peaks whenever contemplating about when work is actually done, how their respective management perceives its people, and most importantly, what counts as hard work. This indefinite knowledge regarding work delivery causes anxiety attacks since there’s no concrete way of telling when the aforementioned tasks is actually completed.

Professionals are constantly out to reassure their employers that they are worth the high salary they are being paid for and that they are far more valuable than their closest colleague. And when working outside the regular hours and staying late a few days a week starts to become so familiar its normal. Overworking goes unnoticed and we find ourselves taking more responsibilities in order to fulfill the need to “contribute efficiently” to the company.

But it’s not just the inherent self-doubt of employees causing this phenomenon. Organizational pressures also contributes to it so much so that even the most established members of the workforce feel the need to stay in late.

Empson’s research revealed that some firms actually hire insecure overachievers on purpose for their incredible ambitiousness and motivation. These are the kind of self-disciplined people pursuing elite positions. The constant need for validation is what drives them work harder in order to prove themselves worthy.

She notes that though it can be rewarding and exhilarating, it’s important to consider how this work related anxiety affects your daily living. It’s vital that we acknowledge how we are driving ourselves – as well as our staff – too hard. Empson emphasizes that there is a  need to learn how to help your team and that it’s important to take a step back when things are getting out of hand.

Slowly but surely, administrators and other heads of organizations are recognizing the said phenomenon. Small steps are being implemented to slowly incorporate wellness breaks into their respective cultures.

And one of the most common solutions is transferring teams into coworking spaces.

The promise of a better work-life balance and a supportive community is just a sampler of what the shared offices can offer. Freelancers, startups, and now, large companies are joining the movement in hopes of finding that spark in doing what they love. With a diverse group of people all aiming to collaborate and support one another, individuals start to feel less and less insecure about their work. Moreover, it provides them a brand new security that the hours they are already putting in is enough to be classified as hard work.

Learn more about how a change in surrounding can lessen over working by booking a tour with us today!