In this article Harrison discusses that you need to protect your ability to earn a living at all costs, and you need to make sure that no one is going to slow you down. The sooner you understand that your career is not as important to anyone else as it is to you, the better. The fact of the matter is that virtually no one is going to work as hard for your career as you. If you depend on others to do your work, you are likely to be sorely disappointed. Even if it appears like you have no options, you need to be very careful about the people with whom you cast your lot. You are never going to find the answers to your success and what you need in someone else. It has to come from you.
In order to make full use of your strengths, it is important to determine whether you are an internally or externally motivated person. While externally motivated people are directed by others’ opinions, internally motivated people prioritize their own opinions and ways of thinking in their lives and careers. Decide which sort of person you are, embrace this identity, and seek work that makes the most of your natural tendencies.
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When you are a commodity, you can be replaced on a whim and have no value beyond anyone else in the market. Do something that differentiates you from others. When you are unique, you are no longer someone whom employers can easily find on the open market and your value will increase. Establish yourself as irreplaceable due to your unique skills. Understand your employers’ needs and desired direction in order to create value for them.
You are in your most productive state when you are “awakened” and driven towards your goal. Once you experience this kind of awakening and tap into your inner drive, all aspects of your life can profoundly change; people with such drive attain incredible levels of achievement in virtually every discipline. The most successful people throughout history tap into this higher form of energy to achieve their goals, and you can too.
You cannot create alibis for your life and hope to achieve anything. Rather than spend your time creating alibis, use this time to address the reasons you haven’t yet reached your full potential. Interestingly, people who fail to achieve what they want are always making excuses as to why they do not succeed. The world does not care about your reasons for failure, it only cares about results.
In this article Harrison explains how you can use every single negative thing that happens to you as fuel to drive you forward. Negative things keep happening in life. Your reaction in such circumstances is the key to whether you succeed or fail. Do not allow something negative to push you down. The success of most individuals is largely based on how they handle setbacks. Use negative experiences to change your life and rechannel your experiences into something more positive. Experience the pain and then use this pain to fire you up to do better in the future. The best lessons we get from life are from the bad things that happen to us. If something bad happens, channel this energy into something positive. This will change your life and your career.
The most resourceful people and organizations also usually end up being the most successful. Most people, however, fail to use their resources to the best of their ability, and are not even aware of all of the resources at their disposal. Learn to recognize the resources in your environment, and consistently make the most of them. Many resources are right in front of you, but remain invisible to most people.
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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