Tag: personal development
The Expertise-Visibility Gap: Why Being Great at Your Work Isn’t Enough to Be Seen
You’re genuinely good at what you do. You can do things most people in your field can’t. And right now, that’s probably the world’s best-kept secret. If you’re an expert, a developer, a founder, a freelancer, or a consultant who does remarkable work and stays nearly invisible while doing it, this one’s for you. That…
![The Bullet Journal Method: The Philosophy Behind My 10 Years of Analog Planning [Book Notes]](https://valchanova.me/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/bullet-journal-book-cover-scaled.jpeg)
The Bullet Journal Method: The Philosophy Behind My 10 Years of Analog Planning [Book Notes]
I’ve been bullet journaling since 2015 or 2016. Like many others, I first discovered the system through a Lifehacker article and that set me off on a rabbit hole of research that eventually led to a long-term habit. I was already using notebooks to track tasks, so the concept wasn’t new to me. What caught…
![4 Talks and 9 Meta-lessons to Level up Your Public Speaking [Present to Succeed Recap]](https://valchanova.me/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/minna-taylor-scaled.jpeg)
4 Talks and 9 Meta-lessons to Level up Your Public Speaking [Present to Succeed Recap]
If you have been following this blog for a while, you may have noticed that I haven’t shared a ton about recent events I have attended. The reason is simple. There aren’t a lot of events worth writing about. Well, Present to Succeed is different. This was a full-day conference designed to help you plan,…
Becoming a Power Reader: Battling Information Overload, Developing Skills, and Building a Personal Brand
162 articles, 38 newsletters, 16 podcasts, a few videos from an online course, and the occasional YouTube video. This is what my professional reading diet looked like. Last week alone. I’m not counting here a few in-depth New Yorker articles and Brandon Sanderson’s latest I’ve been devouring in bed lately. It may seem a bit…
Next-Level Marketing: Skills for Success in 2024 – and the Resources to Get You There
In marketing, there’s this sense that we’re in a constant state of flux. New channels sprout left and right every week. Consumers are evolving rapidly. A three-year pandemic, a major war, and a looming recession aren’t helping. How do you stay ahead of the curve and gain an edge over your competition? Well, in this…
![New Year’s Resolutions And How I Manage To Keep Them [Updated for 2025]](https://valchanova.me/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/new-years-resolutions.jpeg)
New Year’s Resolutions And How I Manage To Keep Them [Updated for 2025]
This post was originally written in January 2018 and last updated in January 2023. It’s still early in the new year, there’s the pleasant buzz of some new beginning still wringing in my years. I sit down, look at a blank space before me, and start writing down goals. Does this sound familiar? Yes? And…