You must hone your ability to block out external stimuli and focus solely on the work you provide for your employer, not what you can take from the company. High focus leads to high productivity, which in turn leads to high value. Attaining such a high degree of focus will make you much in demand in the business world and in society at large. Productivity should be measures either by you, or by your employer, and the most successful companies are usually those who prioritize keeping track of their employees’ productivity.
Trust people, and take advantage of opportunities however and wherever they present themselves; these are the two greatest skills that anyone can possess. You must have faith and trust in your employer when taking a job, and recognize that opportunities will frequently present themselves in strange ways. Every risk has a corresponding potential reward, and you generally will only succeed if you are taking risks to get to those awards. Have faith in others and take as many risks as you can, because greater risks tend to offer greater rewards.
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In this article Harrison discusses the importance of concentrating on your work and not getting distracted. The true value of the best executives comes from their ability to concentrate and get things done. If you can concentrate for a long period of time on a single issue, you will improve the quality of the work that you do. The qualitative aspects of your work are incredibly important because they end up determining your outcome. Good companies and employers value people who are organized and think through issues when they are working on something. You need to concentrate. You need to give everything you are doing your full attention. You need to work hard and be focused.
In this article Harrison discusses that you need to pay the cost if you want to have the life and career you are capable of. There are a lot of people who are not willing to pay the price for the things they want in their lives. People are unwilling to pay the price to advance in their careers. They want a shortcut. They try to make a quick buck instead of providing long-term value. You need to be willing to pay the price to do well at anything. Most successful people pay all the prices to get ahead. You have to give your job everything you have, you have to create value, and then you will be rewarded accordingly. Everything costs us something.
In this article Harrison talks about making rules that represent success and not failure. You make rules and interpret the things happening around you accordingly. Rules control how you feel about yourself. You need to have rules for your life and career that empower you. Your rules for what it means to be successful will largely control how you feel about yourself and your job. People who feel the most successful typically have the fewest rules. If you set rules for yourself that are easy to meet you will experience lots of fulfillment. Use rules to make yourself happy. A person who has the least stringent rules to meet is the happiest. You need to feel good about your life, so do not allow your rules to hold you back.
Everything is negotiable, and thus it is important that you choose your negotiations wisely. First, judge your negotiating environment and determine when you can and cannot negotiate; in many important matters, negotiating may actually work to your detriment. Your success in both career and life depends far more on your contributions than your negotiating skill, and having things offered to you is always preferable to demanding them.
In silence, you confront your true self; when you are less active, you need more to confront your mind’s inner workings. This is difficult for most people to do, as they frequently are more interested in distracting themselves than confronting silence. There is strength is being able to confront silence, and it is something that you must learn to live with and learn from. Don’t get lost in distractions, or spend your time in activities aren’t contributing to your happiness.
In this article Harrison explains how you can ensure success in your career by externalizing your opponents. Your job is like a game; if you work hard, play by the rules of the company and are seen as part of the team you will be viewed as a valuable player for the company. The most significant part of any game is the presence of an opponent. Don’t look for an opponent among your co-workers. Never speak negatively of your team members. Instead, concentrate on the external opponents. External opponents bring you and the team closer as you work towards a common goal. In order for you and your company to succeed it is important to have an external opponent. Harrison advises people to consistently work hard and not participate in the politics. This is a sure way to score big in your career.
True self-esteem comes from within, not from the acceptance of others. When your sense of worth comes from within, you free yourself from comparisons with others and will enjoy a greater sense of internal security. You will no longer be bogged down by the experiences of others and can become much more self-reliant.
Your greatest successes will come from some of the smallest actions in terms of meeting people. You will cause a “stacking effect” the more you meet and connect with people; conversely, people cannot connect with you when you are withdrawn and nothing will happen. You must do everything in your power to connect with as many people as possible.
A powerful sense of self will make all the difference in your life. You must understand that your sense of yourself and your capabilities come from inside of you, not from the external forces that have brought you to your current place in life. What you feel internally might be completely different from what the world is telling you, and you must learn to focus on the former rather than the latter.
Adopting a positive attitude will always bring you closer to success, as nobody wants to be associated with a losing side. Everyone wants to associate with and hire winners, and avoids losers. Nothing is more important than maintaining a positive attitude, as many employers hire people based primarily on attitude; with the right attitude, everything else will fall into place. You must look like you are on the winning team, even if times are tough; nobody wants to hire a loser.
Everyone tries to maintain a certain emotional state, and learning to control your own emotions will have a profound impact on your career. While everyone allows their emotional states to be influenced by outside events, there is no advantage in basing your own emotions on things that you cannot control. Allow yourself to discover happiness and fulfillment naturally, rather than making your emotions dependant on external circumstances. Your outlook will have a tremendous impact on your psychological health, as well as that of those around you.
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