Use your past, rather than some unattainable ideal, as the yardstick for measuring progress in your life and career. The most successful people are also often the most unhappy, because they measure themselves against impossible ideals, which causes a constant sense of inferiority. There will always be someone better than you, and there are ideals all around you against which it would be unrealistic and stupid to measure yourself. Instead, compare yourself only to the person you were before; measure yourself against your own progress, and forget about others.
In this article Harrison suggests that you need to be in favor with the right people. These people have an ability to control what happens in your career. People with strong and influential opinions exist within all companies and organizations. It is important to cater to and get the approval of people who have the ability to influence the opinions of others one way or another. When you go against people with the power to influence others they can turn against you and make your career and life much more difficult. You do need to be aware of the game going on and you do need to play it, or at least play along with it to get ahead.
In this article Harrison discusses the importance of being well-liked in your job. Being well-liked is necessary for success in any job and in advancing your career. If your co-workers or your superiors do not like you, your career in your organization may be doomed. If you are isolated from others within your organization, it is far easier to let you go in times of economic uncertainty. Harrison gives certain pointers to ensure that you are well-liked in your job. He talks about staying away from cliques, never saying anything bad about any co-worker, making your superiors feel important, listening instead of talking, participating in group activities and being non-confrontational. To advance, you need to keep out of trouble and be well-liked.
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Different results will not come from doing the same thing over and over again; to succeed, you must be innovative. Free your mind of unnecessary, extraneous thoughts and remain singularly focused on your job search. Your own instinct will guide you far better than a surplus of outside advice.
If you wait for the right market conditions to begin your job search you will face more options, which in turn will help you make better decisions. When the market for your product is strong, you have much more negotiation leverage and are much better positioned to get what you want. Market conditions, therefore, give you a compelling advantage. When do you begin your job search, make effective self-promotion a top priority and draw as much interest as possible to yourself; surprisingly few people do this, and dong so will vastly increase the number of offers you receive.
“Fatal Friction” can inconspicuously infiltrate your relationships, then wreck your career and future career prospects. Accidental or unintentional remarks can generate “Fatal Friction”, which in turn generates tensions with the people around you and prohibits you from achieving your full potential. In your career and in life, you must do everything possible to avoid fatal friction between yourself and others.
Repeat work is always more valuable to you than one-offs, however well-paid they may be. Companies succeed or fail depending on their ability to generate repeat business. Repeat work grants you more options and control over your life and actions. Even work with a lower salary, which might not initially seem appealing, can be beneficial if it promises repeat jobs.
It is very important that you always ask questions in an interview when given the opportunity. Here are some good questions to ask and why you should ask them.
Public Interest and nonprofit jobs can be excellent career choices if you are passionate about a certain issue, such as civil rights, the poor, or the environment. Public Interest jobs will place you among colleagues who share your interest, and enable you to make a difference in your chosen field. Public Interest work can be intensely gratifying, so much so that few people who enter such jobs ever return to the private sector.
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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