The road to success is often a difficult one. Nobody in this world is perfect by any means; we all will fall down from time to time and fail. This is where most people give up because a task seems too hard for them. I believe there is no such thing as failure in life, there are two outcomes only: success and growth. Failure sparks the growth that we need to ultimately be successful in the future. We all need to stop putting our heads down when we encounter failure and instead develop a mentality called the growth mindset.

Difference Between Fixed and Growth Mindset 

Let’s first start off with the opposite of a growth mindset: the fixed mindset. An individual with a fixed mindset often complains and views traits and situations as stable and unchangeable over time. For example, for an entrepreneur who needs basic finance skills to create a business budget, he would display a fixed mindset by saying something along the lines of “I’ve never been good a math or financial statements, so I’m not cut to run my own business”. On the contrary, someone with a growth mindset views intelligence, abilities, and talents as learnable and capable of improvement through effort and hard work. If the entrepreneur had a growth mindset, he would instead say “I don’t have a background in finance, but I can learn and practice those skills until I feel capable”.

The Impact of Having a Growth Mindset

Having a growth mindset is important because it can help you:

• Overcome obstacles when learning and developing a new skill
• Recognize the importance of challenge, struggle, and failure in personal growth
• Cultivate creativity
• Find courage and motivation to create progress
• Develop resilience
• Support self-esteem

All these attributes are a result of having a growth mindset and are all key when trying to learn and develop new skills and overcoming adversity along the way.

In conclusion, anybody is capable of anything in this world, the only thing that you have to change is your mindset and the way you look at challenges and failures. The growth mindset is a powerful tool and is a belief that you are capable of anything if you put in the hard work along the way and don’t let failure break you down.

Throughout our lives we are all in pursuit of one main objective: Happiness. Happiness can have many different meanings, but I believe that true happiness is defined as being successful by loving what you do on a daily basis. So many people are successful in this world, but at the same time are often miserable because they hate what they do. Many people always say the same exact thing: Ah, I have to go to work today. We are truly happy if we are instead saying “I am so happy I get to go to work today”. Just changing one simple word from “have” to “get” makes all the difference in our lives. I survey on zippia.com states that 50% of people hate their job. This needs to change if we are all going to reach our true happiness in our lives. Let’s talk about why it is that so many people are unhappy with what they do for a living.

Unfair Pay 

Many people are unhappy with their job because of their underwhelming pay. Many people believe money will buy them happiness and try to do anything they can to make the biggest bucks. But does it really buy happiness? Why live a miserable life throughout your career just to make a large amount of money that you won’t even know how to spend later in your life. Many people are afraid to do what they love because they don’t want to make less money than their peers. Our society should strive to work in an industry that interests them, not that pays the most money. Money is something, but not everything. If you are doing something you genuinely enjoy, it won’t feel like “work” all the time and you will be able to put your best foot forward because you happen to be so passionate about it.

Overworking

Employees constantly being overworked has also been a prime example of why people hate their jobs. Being overworked is a direct correlation to workers trying to get a raise in pay. Why work overtime in something you don’t enjoy and have a passion for? This comes back to theme that we need to stop constantly chasing money. Money will come over time, we have to prioritize enjoying what we do so we can grow and feel satisfied with what we are doing. If that means working less hours but actually coming into work every morning with a smile on your face, it’s a fair trade.

Overall, our society needs to stop chasing money when we are pursuing happiness. I encourage you to choose a career you are interested in and our passionate about, that way you can put your best foot forward and enjoy what you do, even if it means taking a pay cut. Happiness is making a living by doing what you truly love to do. Go out there and find your true passion and give it everything you have, and I promise you will go very far. Society needs to develop this mindset so we can live in an ideal world where most people are happy and satisfied with their lives.

In 2020 our world suffered from one of the biggest pandemics in recent memory: The Coronavirus, universally known as COVID-19. This pandemic effected the world in ways that were originally unimaginable, most noticeability with work and school switching to remote platforms. Since COVID, remote work has spiked at a rapid rate.

Pros of Remote Work 

An article on forbes.com states that, as of 2023, 12.7% of full-time employees work from home and 28.2% use a hybrid model. Before COVID, many companies were highly against remote work. However, after COVID hit, companies were forced to work outside the office to limit the spread of the virus in order to keep everyone safe. This changed people’s views on working remotely when they were eventually forced to. Many learned that working remotely has various benefits, such as cutting costs on real estate and allocating funds to other areas of interest, including testing new business models, hiring better personnel, and venturing into new segments. Multiple companies have benefitted from these new allocations, such as PWC, who projected a $1.5 trillion addition to the economy, thanks to the new technology.

Cons of Remote Work

Remote work has its challenges as well. Physically being in offices give companies more control over work processes, live meetings can be way more productive than zoom meetings, some people need social interaction to give their best work, and being physically present in the office induces more creative collaboration. Working remotely has been proven to hurt workers mental health and it has decreased effective communication, which is essential in any business.

In conclusion, having to quarantine over the COVID period has forced our society to adapt to working remotely, causing an uncertainty in various work environments. There are many benefits of working remotely, such as eliminating real estate costs for businesses and offering flexibility for workers. However, there are many disadvantages too such as less effective communication and efficiency within a business. The world is leading towards further utilizing remote work, which could be detrimental to full-time employees in the future because of the lack of face-to-face interaction.

Accounting has always been an integral element of the business world, but it has never been more important than it is today. While AI has helped generate financial information at a rapid rate, the improvements in the economy have resulted in a need of more accountants. We need financial professionals to help clients make sense of their records and information. With the improvements of AI, accounting has evolved from old school bookkeeping to a more hands on and communicative profession. When AI generates certain business or client financial information, how is everyone supposed to make sense of the data they are working with and make decisions? That’s where many hire an accountant.

Accounting Jobs Outlook

According to the U.S. bureau of labor statistics, they project a demand increase of 7% for accountants over the next 10 years. This is due to other factors, such as globalization, a growing economy, and a complex tax environment. Potential clients need professionals to help them analyze their financial statements because many simply can’t do it on their own.

Shortage of Accountants

The growing demand for accountants is also a direct effect of the supply. In an article on businessinsider.com, it states that there is a nationwide shortage of accountants and it’s becoming a problem for businesses. Overall, fewer college students are graduating with accounting degrees than in years past. A 2022 Deloitte poll found that 82% of hiring managers for accounting positions at public companies and 69% at private companies said talent retention is a challenge. Since there are fewer accounting majors today, most companies need more accountants and have less than they would like.

In conclusion, the work force needs accountants today because of economic factors and the shortage of accounting majors. Business need workers who can manage financial processes, financial reporting, and ensure regulatory compliance so the accountability and integrity of a business don’t suffer. The business insider article compares the shortage of accountants to playing sports without a referee. Accountants understand the language of a business and companies cannot be successful without them.

Artificial Intelligence, well known as AI, is changing the world we live in as we speak. It is helping us perform tasks at an efficient rate and less brain power is being used to generate information. As shown is the graphic above, the use of AI has skyrocketed in world markets over the past 10 years to up to almost $12 billion in revenue. The question we should ask ourselves is, while AI is an amazing tool, are there also negative consequences of it? Out of all the major industries and jobs in the world AI has a unique impact on accounting. As a result, many raise the question of if we will need accountants in the future. After all, why do we need accountants when AI can simply create financial statements and analysis for us?

Effect of AI

On an article on Rekord, they describe the 8 main ways AI is changing the accounting industry:

1. Improved quality of data analysis– AI can process huge amounts of data, extract insights and detect more complex patterns in data than humans can.
2. AI can learn and become smarter– AI can automatically and instantly learn from errors and become increasingly smarter over time.
3. Mitigating repetitive tasks– Rather than wasting time on tedious tasks, accountants can focus their efforts on work that can only be done by humans – such as consulting with the clients and advising them on successfully running their business.
4. Reducing errors– Artificial intelligence can detect errors immediately and ensure bookkeeping and accounting records are always accurate.
5. Speedy data analysis- AI can provide valuable insights on the current status and the future of the business, much faster than a human ever could.
6. Real-time compliance monitoring- It provides accountants with reliable, fast data each time they generate a report, thereby maximizing efficiency and giving clients peace of mind.
7. Increased security- Cybersecurity technology is capable of accessing the stored data securely and protecting the cloud with methods that are very complex for intruders.
8. New opportunities- AI creates new career opportunities by allowing accountants to focus on higher-level tasks that require human instinct and insight.

Importance of Consulting and Auditing

Overall, while AI can do a lot of work for accountants, the world is still in need of accountants. Accountants need to adapt and embrace technology while developing new diverse skills, such as interpreting the information generated by AI and using data to help clients make financial decisions. Consulting and auditing have never been more important than it is now. We need accountants who are willing to offer advice to clients and be able to effectively communicate, in addition to understanding financial reports. While AI has generated financial data and information, it can’t make decisions for you, and that’s where accountants are still more important than ever in our modern society.

In conclusion, AI has made a positive impact on the world and hasn’t caused harm in the field of accounting. We still need accountants, but they must be able to perform different skills than previously before AI and technology took over. Instead of constantly crunching numbers and bookkeeping, accounts must develop effective communication and analytical skills to use the information provided by AI to help clients make business decisions in fields such as consulting and auditing.