Asking for feedback is hard. For one thing, you may not want to hear what someone else has to say about you and your work. For another, you might think you are doing a great job — so why even bother?

Whether the feedback is positive or negative, you shouldn’t wait until your annual evaluation to find out.

Ready for a Brand New You in 2018? There is a lot of buzz around personal branding. What is it? How can it help your career? Why do you need one? As Tom Peters wrote (way back in 1997!) in his groundbreaking article “The Brand Called You”: “It’s time for me — and you — to take a lesson from the big brands, a lesson that’s true for anyone who’s interested in what it takes to stand out and prosper in the new world of work.…We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc… It’s that simple — and that hard. And that inescapable.”

Are you thinking about making a career move? Maybe it’s to another company. Maybe it’s starting a business. Maybe it’s changing careers altogether. Maybe you’re still thinking about it. Whatever career change you are contemplating, one thing is for sure: It’s scary. Why? Studies show that we humans are uneasy — if not downright terrified — of the unknown.