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Full-time, permanent jobs with large organizations are quite possibly an artifact of a particular moment in economic history—about 60 or 70 years ago. For elite executives and professionals, such jobs are now in many cases far less attractive than independent, project-based work, say the authors, who are “supertemps” themselves. Independent professionals are making inroads in law, consulting, and even management roles, sometimes earning more than they did in their previous positions while escaping 80-hour weeks, endless internal meetings, and corporate politics. And they’re achieving a gratifying work/life balance.

A lot of signs point to a niche market on the verge of breaking into the mainstream.

Corporations are learning how best to tap the supertemps’ skills; organizations may soon come to look less like pyramids and more like jigsaw puzzles. Intermediary firms that broker independent talent are growing rapidly. But social biases against temporary work persist. And—especially in the U.S.—the health care and tax systems are unfriendly to project workers.

Rising numbers of highly paid independents will be motivated to overcome those obstacles: Health coverage could become portable; tax rules could be rewritten. The result would be not just more-rewarding careers but a more innovative economy.

It should take no more than 5 minutes to read and 15 minutes to write.

Name:

Week ending:

Accomplishments: List completed activities and notable accomplishments. What is working?

Priorities: Be specific.

Challenges/Roadblocks: Potential challenges that may impede your intended tasks.

Lessons Learned/Opportunities: List any area that might benefit from improvement; questions you are trying to resolve; lessons recently learned.

1) Have a clear compelling vision.

2) Have a plan, stick to it, and keep it simple.

3) Work on a better plan.

4) Work together. Encourage teamwork, tie executive compensation to the success of the company as a whole.

5) Include everyone. Work together with all stakeholders, including suppliers.

6) Bigger is not always best. Figure out how to make money at your current volumes rather than obsessing about growth.

7) Know the numbers. Numbers overcome defensiveness and obfuscations, making the path ahead clear.

8) Fear not. Believe your plan will work and share your confidence with others.

9) Relentless execution. You need to challenge every assumption, stress test every element of your plan and keep a laser focus on your goals.

I had a bad couple of days. Most simple situations involved conflict.

Here are a few ways different people handle contentious situations:

The Psychologist

To handle contentious situations watch the 2005 Oscar-winning film, Crash. In many scenes, the characters fail to control their emotions. They are unable to see their own biases and manage their fears. Each time someone erupts, ask yourself: What led to this explosion? What could he/she have done to avoid it? Thinking objectively about how and why other people experience anger can help you realize your own feelings when they arise-and defuse them.

The Lawyer

If you take the opponent side in a discussion, you automatically create conflict that’s difficult to overcome. Instead, neutralize a potentially combative interaction by finding a point that you and your opponent agree on. “You are right. I apologize. However, i think we both contributed to it.”

The Buddist

Anytime you feel as if you are about to spiral out of control, go ahead and excuse yourself for a minute or two. Find a quiet place and focus intently on your breathing until you calm down. Concentrate on every inhale and exhale, so you can identify what triggered your anger and deal with it productively.

The Concierge

If someone is agitated, start chatting about something ordinary. Of course, try to fix the problem, but by finding an inoffensive subject to discuss, can distract both people from the source of negativity.

The Forgiveness Trainer

You need to let your emotions out. But instead of engaging in an argument, imagine that the person you’re frustrated with is sitting in a chair in front of you. Give yourself 10 minutes to say heated, irrational things to him. This will get pent-up anger out of your system without creating any consequences. When you are done venting, you’ll be able to think of constructive things to say to the actual person.

Don’t believe in a fountain of youth? No matter what your biological age is, there are some simple steps you can take to make you feel young at heart now, and in the future.

For some lucky souls, ageing can indeed be graceful. The rest of us, however, could use a little more help—or at least an “in” on the secrets to eternal youth. Lately, researchers have been able to provide more insight into looking, acting and feeling younger.

Here are five lifestyle mottos to approach from a new perspective to help you be an old hat at staying young. Look on the bright side. The most common feature among centenarians (people who live past 100 is their attitude towards life. “In general, these folks have a common personality trait: they don’t dwell on things, don’t let stuff get to them.”

So, if you don’t already, start rolling with the punches. And start laughing more, because humour is considered a great attitude boost.

Try to shake off stress. Though it may not be possible to avoid stress altogether, the important thing is how you handle it. So, even if your life is very stressful, you can better cope with it by applying the right skills. Try to take a moment to yourself whenever possible, or take up meditation or yoga to find your Zen.

Connect with others. The simple act of going to the movies or meeting a friend for coffee or maintaining a social network on some level is important for a healthier ageing process. Naturally, family or even the larger community can make you feel valued, and that you’re contributing to society and living a life that has meaning. We need to feel that our lives have a purpose, and feeling important to others is a big part of that.”

Keep moving. Couch potatoes—that means you! The research is unanimous: to make a difference in your general health and well-being, even a moderate amount of physical activity helps more than it (initially) thought. Those who were physically active on a regular basis were only half as likely to experience physical decline as those who were inactive. That doesn’t mean you need to start training for the next marathon. Even small steps make a big impact. Taking a walk, trying a fun activity or just jumping on the exercise bandwagon are all moves in the right direction. And the best part? The benefits pay off even for those who start exercising late in life.

Use your head. When it comes to memory, either “use it or lose it.” Recent studies highlight that, in order to preserve brainpower, it’s important to keep your mind active through reading, learning and exploring.

Typically, Alzheimer’s disease destroys these neural connections, so the more links you have to begin with, the less vulnerable you are.

Fun puzzles, strategy games, such as Scrabble and bridge, or artistic hobbies including sculpture and painting can help retain memory. What’s even more effective is trying a new skill altogether, like learning a new language or playing a musical instrument. The results are as entertaining as they are beneficial.

If you do things to keep the mind active, studies show you can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s for five years.

It seems the fountain of youth exists within all of us. It’s up to you to drink up the know-how to stay younger, inside and out.

Accept applause, sure, please do.

But when you expect applause, when you do your work in order (and because of) applause, you have sold yourself short. That’s because your work is depending on something out of your control. You have given away part of your art. If your work is filled with the hope and longing for applause, it’s no longer your work–the dependence on approval has corrupted it, turned it into a process where you are striving for ever more approval.

Who decides if your work is good? When you are at your best, you do. If the work doesn’t deliver on its purpose, if the pot you made leaks or the hammer you forged breaks, then you should learn to make a better one. But we don’t blame the nail for breaking the hammer or the water for leaking from the pot. They are part of the system, just as the market embracing your product is part of marketing.

“Here, here it is, it’s finished.”

If it’s finished, the applause, the thanks, the gratitude are something else. Something extra and not part of what you created. To play a beautiful song for two people or a thousand is the same song, and the amount of thanks you receive isn’t part of that song.

Companies are operating under some of the most trying economic and competitive conditions imaginable. Yet some companies manage to change the game and achieve dramatic results.

They understand that the only way to win is to change the game. You cannot do big things anymore if you are content with doing things a little better than everybody else or a little differently from how you did them in the past. In an era of hyper-competition, the only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for something special.

Originality has become the acid test of strategy.

The new logic is that the SMART take from the STRONG. The most successful organizations aim to redefine the terms of competition by embracing one-of-a-kind ideas in a world filed with me-too thinking. The most successful companies see things that other companies do not see.

Success is not just about thinking differently from other companies. It is also about caring more than other companies – about customers, about colleagues, about how the organization conducts itself in a world with endless opportunities to cut corners and compromise on values.