Several years ago a long-term relationship I was in ended and I felt absolutely terrible: the person I was with could not stop fraternizing with other men. At least a few times a week, she would be out with a different man and say it was related to work. We lived together and she would come home late – sometimes she would make excuses that she was staying with friends and would not come home at all. Eventually, I was so angry about this all the time that the relationship ended.

Most people assume that those around them are more interested in what they are doing than is the case, and focus on themselves rather than on what the people around them are doing. Rather than worrying about what others think of you, focus on your own forward momentum in whatever you are doing. Do not try to keep things a certain way and protect a norm, but instead challenge conventions to find career and life success.

In this article Harrison discusses how a very crucial part of your future success and happiness depends on your ability to be free. The concept of freedom is difficult for most people to truly understand because hardly anyone is really free, in the deepest sense of the word. Most people are trapped by their own mental barriers, by obligations to others, by financial constraints, by habits and in many cases by actual physical barriers. Moving towards true freedom is something that will forever change your life and career, and will help you reach your full potential. In order to make the most of your life and career you need to understand the limits that may infringe upon your freedoms–and then decide which ones you can do without. The more freedom we believe we have, and the more we believe we can do, the more we will achieve.

Do work that you love, and make it part of your life and identity. Success comes to people who love what they are doing, because their work becomes part of their lives, and there ceases to be a separation between work and pleasure for them. If you are not doing something that you could not imagine yourself doing into your old age, then you are probably in the wrong profession.

Only take on more responsibility when you are ready for it. While it is fine to try new things, you must have a clear understanding of the challenges ahead of you; otherwise, you are likely to get into trouble when you step outside of your comfort zone. Do not get ahead of yourself and take on work of which you are not capable in your drive for success, or you risk sabotaging all of the hard work you have already invested.

You need to provide people what they want, otherwise you will not have a job. Although they might not always be the most desirable kinds of jobs, certain jobs always exist because they provide services that people will always require. The only secret to continual employment is to provide a service that people always need; if you do this, and nothing else, you will always find yourself employed. Give people what they want.

We all create problems about something in our lives, and respond to these problems differently; these problems are life’s way of sending us messages and challenges. We can make these problems work either for us or against us. Develop a sense of clarity about the true nature of whatever problems you are facing. When you remove the charge from problems and view them in the present rather than the past, you will find that the solution lies within each problem and you save your time and energy in dealing with them.