Career 101: How To Set Realistic Career Goals
Career 101: How To Set Realistic Career Goals

What do you want from your career? Creative adrenaline? A nice bank balance? An authoritative role? A relaxed lifestyle? We wouldn’t embark on a journey without a real idea of our destination. So why wouldn’t we do the same when it comes to our career?

Something I’ve noticed around the blogosphere lately and on Twitter  is how people are getting really fed up of hearing the words ‘dream job’. I recently spoke about how we’re made to think that we’ll all get our dream job, no problem – but it just doesn’t work that way. 

When I was job hunting I became so discouraged. I hadn’t set any goals, so I had nothing to work towards. Now I think differently.

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Holly Suttoncareer 101, career advice, career goals, career, goals, realistic career goals, realistic goals, setting goalsComment
The Five Tools Every Blogger Needs
The Five Tools Every Blogger Needs

Do you like things that are going to help you? I know I do.

There are a wealth of resources out there for us bloggers, with people giving you a lot of different tools to choose from. I remember when I first started, I didn’t know whether I was coming or going with all the recommendations and reviews. So the five tools I can’t live without aren’t based on what others think – they’re based on my experience with them and how they’ve helped me. That’s ultimately why they’ve made it onto this list.

What each of these tools have in common is that they can help you improve. They do things for you to make life just that little bit easier to manage. So here are my life savers. Now, these are by no means the five tools I’m suggesting you should use – they are the tools that have really helped me since day one in blogging and tools that I’ll continue to use forever.

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Holly Suttonbloggers, blogging tools, buffer, disqus, evernote, google analytics, tools, trelloComment
[Guest Post]: Oh Look How Far You've Come...
[Guest Post]: Oh Look How Far You've Come...

Today, I welcome a guest post to A Branch of Holly - the lovely Stephie from Tea In Your Twenties. I have had the pleasure of meeting this lady in real life and let me tell you - she is definitely the girl behind the blog. Chatty, open and someone you feel like you've known forever.

So I won't give anything else away. Just go ahead and read. But I will tell you this - she'll put a smile on your face.

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Holly Suttoncareer advice, career, goals, guest post, inspiration, reflectionComment
Seven Realities Of Being A Blogger
Seven Realities Of Being A Blogger

When you tell someone that you’re a blogger, what would they say? I can think of a few answers. It’s true that quite a lot of people don’t really ‘get it’. It’s also true that, at the moment, there’s seems to be a bit of a general stereotype surrounding bloggers, which those of who us are bloggers know isn’t true. Yet some perceptives will never change. When I started blogging I didn’t really know what to expect. But after nearly a year and a half in the industry, it’s safe to say that some things you hear just aren’t true. Today, I’m going to let you in on some realities – and you’ll probably be able to relate to each of them too.

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Holly SuttonBlogging, bloggers, creativity, realitiesComment
14 Posts You Need To Read This Month Jan
14 Posts You Need To Read This Month Jan

2015 has started with a huge bang. Seriously. I started the year with a Bloglovin clear out and I'm so glad I did. The bloggers and businesses I follow have brought some amazing ideas to the table this month, from personal to skills and everything in between. 

You'll notice on Twitter that I share a lot of content that I enjoy reading or that inspires me. But I love putting it all together for you in one place where you can just take your time to read through all the great ideas that are out there.

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Holly Suttonblog posts, bloggers, content, creative, creativity, favourite blog posts, favourite contentComment
Do You Live Your Life Through A Filter?
Do You Live Your Life Through A Filter?

I have an announcement to make. I love social media. Interacting with people, reading useful tips and generally just having a little nosy really does fuel my life. I wouldn’t go as far to say I’m addicted – but I definitely enjoy it.

Saying that, I also love cottage cheese and my cat. Not at the same time (who knows what would happen). So how do they compare?

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Holly Suttonfilter, filters, instagram, life, photos, pictures. social mediaComment
Career 101: Why It's Important To Think Big
Career 101: Why It's Important To Think Big

So this piece of writing has turned out a lot differently to what I had planned originally.

You see, I tried to formulate this into a long textbook post. My aim when planning this piece of content was to talk with you and explain why thinking big is so important. Instead, I found that a few of the phrases I was conjuring up were much more poignant than endless paragraphs. These days, we’re being told that the longer our content is the better. But the truth is, sometimes a simple post works just as well. So I’m not here to give you the magic formula of how to reach your dreams. I’m not here to talk to you endlessly about what’s important and why. I think you already know. But here are a few words and phrases just to remind you that it is okay to think big.

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Holly Suttonbig picture, career 101, career advice, career, dreams, goals, think bigComment
Career 101: What If I Don't Know What I Want To Do?
Career 101: What If I Don't Know What I Want To Do?

Picture the scene. You’re on the job hunt. You’re desperate to start work so you can start earning some money. You’ve got a degree in a certain field, but you’re not sure if you want a job based on that. Basically, you’ve got lots of great interests and a whole bunch of awesome skills but you’ve no idea what to do with them.

Welcome to the scenario for, probably, more than half of young people across the globe.

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Holly Suttoncareer 101, career advice, career, jobsComment
Five Tips For Making The Best To-Do List Ever
Five Tips For Making The Best To-Do List Ever

You know that highly organised person who is incredibly productive all the time? The one that you envy a little but also admire? They have the ability to manage their time effectively, complete tasks to the highest standard and actually get everything done. But it's not just a matter of luck or hard work. This person has the one weapon that we all probably use on a daily basis. We're just not using it efficiently enough.

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Holly Suttoncreativity, free worksheet, lists, making lists, organisation, organising, prioritisation, to-do listComment
Career 101: Basic Career Advice
Career 101: Basic Career Advice

Isn't it odd to think just how much of your life is made up by your career? Eight or more hours of one day may not seem like a lot, but when you think about doing that five times a week for a big chunk of the year, the feeling might start to change.

My career officially started in September so I'm still in the very early stages. But I've learnt so much about such a variety of things in just a short space of time. Which is where Career 101 comes in. This is a new series I'm introducing for A Branch of Holly. Our career is so important to us and because of this, there's no harm in having a helping hand along the way. So for the first instalment, I thought it would be good to go over some basic career advice. After all, it's always better to start at the beginning isn't it?

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Holly SuttonCV, basic career advice, career 101, career advice, career, contacts, cover letterComment
Five Reasons Why Blogging Creates Happiness
Five Reasons Why Blogging Creates Happiness

Starting this blog has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Losing yourself in such a creative place is so rewarding and fulfilling. The people you interact with and the content you create on a regular basis are two of the things I love most about blogging.  Your blog is however you want it to be. There are many different tutorials advising you on how to start and grow your blog. But ultimately, the way you manage, grow and create is uniquely down to you.

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Holly SuttonBlogging, blog, bloggers, content creation, creativity, happinessComment
The 16 Day New Year Challenge
The 16 Day New Year Challenge

In 16 days, you’ll be ready to make 2015 your best year yet. How? With this 16 day New Year challenge that will refresh and renew every single part of your life.

This is a challenge that will kick start your new year in every way, shape and form, in just 16 days. You’ll complete tasks based around yourself, your past, present and future. You can start right here right now, or you can start tomorrow. The beauty of this challenge is that you can start it whenever you want.

Complete it with your best friend, your mum or see if you can do it yourself. You’ll have never done a new year challenge like it, and it’s right here just for you.

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Holly Sutton2015, advice, new year challenge, new yearComment
10 Reasons Why Graduating Improved My Life
10 Reasons Why Graduating Improved My Life

On Wednesday 3rd December, I graduated from my master’s degree.  It was a year of laughter, love, stress, tears and hard work. But more than that, it was probably the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done, in more ways than one. I won’t lie to you – it was more work than my three years at my undergraduate degree combined. Over ten exams, a 28 page magazine, two group projects and articles written by the dozen. Overall though, I probably learnt more and grew more as a person during this one single year than any other time. 

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Holly SuttonMA, Opinion, advice, career, graduating, graduation, inspiration, magazine journalism, masters course, masters degree Comments
November Photo Round Up & New Goals
November Photo Round Up & New Goals

November Goals Review

1. Get Christmas sorted [done] - Picture the scene. It's Saturday. You're going to the Trafford Centre. And you completely blast Christmas shopping. Yep, we did it! When you go with the right mindset, you've got a list and you take your time, shopping at this time of year can be really enjoyable. It was great and I can't wait to wrap everything we got.

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Holly Suttongoals, instagram, life, monthly goals, photos Comment
Blogs I've Loved In November
Blogs I've Loved In November

If you don't follow these bloggers already, you really should. Collecting and writing these posts each month really makes me realise just how amazing the blogging community is. The fact that each of us can come up with so many unique ideas for content on a regular basis truly is brilliant. December will be a quiet month so I'll be taking a break from this post until the end of January. But I'm pretty sure everyone is going to kick start the new year with style and a bang. So take a well deserved break this Christmas, catch up on your favourite blogs and add some more to your feed. This is the content I've been loving this month...

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Holly SuttonBlogging, Opinion, blog posts, bloggers, blogging community, blogging resources, blogs, creative Comments