October 2023 EHI Online Meeting

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DATE: 10-13-2023

Welcome and Prayer

Iragi opened the meeting with prayer. 

Bible Verse

Hebrews 12:11 

(NIV) No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 

(LSG) Il est vrai que tout châtiment semble d’abord un sujet de tristesse, et non de joie; mais il produit plus tard pour ceux qui ont été ainsi exercés un fruit paisible de justice. 

Rigo: Discipline to me means something is holding me accountable for the things that I say I am going to do.  

Rigo gives a real-life example related to his personal health. He has decided to wake up early in the morning to exercise to take care of his health. It is not easy to wake up early in the morning, but, with discipline and the goal in mind of living healthily, he wakes up in the morning.  

Rigo: Discipline is like a muscle in the body. The more we exercise and work that muscle, the stronger the muscle gets. The stronger muscle then allows us to do more. It is the same with discipline. 

Rigo: Discipline is our friend if there is something that we want to achieve in life. Discipline knows no borders and can be applied to everything in life. Personal or professional, discipline can help us achieve our goals.  

Rigo shares the saying, “Repetition is the father of learning.” The more that we do something, the more that we learn. We can use discipline to learn new skills. 
 
Legrand: I am learning English by implementing discipline in my life. I find myself progressing by reading English texts and watching English movies. It is not always easy to change one’s habits, but with courage and determination, we will get there.  

Iragi (Question): Sometimes I give up on what I decide to do. What is a strategy so that one does not give up? 

Rigo (Answer): Time management is important to companies that work with remote freelancers because they are relying on the freelancer to do the work they promised to do.  

Rigo gives a personal example from his professional life as a project manager. “I have to know what I need to do, when I need to do it, and how I need to do it. The night before a week begins, I review my calendar for the week. I list my goals for the week, and then, I break down those goals into days of the week. I divide tasks each day to achieve the goals I have and to remind me of what needs to be done each day to accomplish the goals. Planning ahead keeps me on track in achieving my goals.”  

Rigo also advises removing any distractions from completing tasks.  

Discussion

Rigo: Last week, Philemon mentioned using AI to create proposals. I wanted to follow up to see how that is going for you. 

Legrand: Using AI for my job proposals has allowed me to get more interviews than before.  

Philemon: AI should not be copy and paste but a template to use. 

Rigo: We do not want to copy and paste but use AI as a guide to collect our thoughts. As you are creating a proposal using AI, always make sure to personalize it and add human value, providing previous experiences as examples. Make sure you are not using copyrighted information that could potentially get you in trouble.  

Elin: Keep up the good work. Build up your discipline. Also, I would like to encourage everyone to keep learning.  

We encourage EHI participants to take online courses and obtain online certifications to enhance their skills to attract the largest number of clients. Certifications are a great way to show off your skills and qualifications on your Upwork profile. Certifications demonstrate your competence to a client. 

Closing Prayer

Jeff closed us in prayer. 

Upwork Tips 

We encourage all freelancers to learn new skills to grow personally and professionally. Developing skills that are in high demand on Upwork can help you win more jobs and attract more clients. 

https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/upwork-unveils-most-in-demand-skills-for-independent-professionals-in-2023 

UPWORK ACADEMY (shared by Legrand) has good and free resources.  

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Academy/ct-p/Academy 

ENGLISH PRACTICE 

Improve your English-speaking skills with the Duolingo app (free and mobile friendly; fun and game-like) https://fr.duolingo.com/ 

UPWORK LEARNING PATH BADGE (shared by Agustin) 

 https://community.upwork.com/t5/Growing-on-Upwork/tkb-p/Growing 

 TIPS ON USING AI FOR CREATING UPWORK PROPOSALS 

  • Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/resources/how-to-use-ai  
  • Proposal Genie 
  • Free trial with 20 free proposals 
  • General Guidelines for using AI 
  • Do not copy and paste. Instead, use AI as a guide to collect your thoughts.  
  • Use as a starting point only  
  • Customize computer generated content to reflect your own style  
  • Add human value and personality  
  • Be careful about what you share with IA, never share personal, financial or identification details  
  • Make note of any copyrighted considerations  
  • Fact-check to ensure accuracy 
  • Compare different AI platforms