Avoid complacency, as it can literally destroy your career and your life. You are either moving up or moving down, and complacency will always place you on a downward trajectory. Surround yourself with people who will continually challenge you to become better. Surrounding yourself with mediocre people will introduce mediocrity into your own life; when you surround yourself with people who accept nothing but the best, you are likely to become exceptional as well.
Like everyone else, your employer wants to believe that he or she is a good person who stands for something positive in the world. Therefore, work to ascribe positive motives to your employer when in interviews, and think of in terms of how their work serves a higher purpose. Speaking about your and your employer’s work in these terms will put you on a higher plane than others, and will associate both of you with good and noble qualities.
Despite the obvious advantages, getting jobs through a friend or relative may ultimately harm you. When you do so, you risk lowering your colleagues’ opinions of you, who may see your connections as evidence that you lack the skills to get your position on your own merits. Nonetheless, there are situations in which it is acceptable to take advantage of such connections, but you must be on your guard; make sure that the job you get is a good fit, and one in which you would perform well regardless of your connections.
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In this article, Harrison discusses how you should seize every opportunity that comes your way. Opportunity actually presents itself before you very often and in the most unusual way. Taking advantage of the opportunity would mean that you first recognize its presence, and then utilize it in the smartest way possible. You need to be prepared for it at all times and you also need to realize that they appear to only those who are ready to grab it. Look at the world and the people, places, and things in it as sources of continual opportunity as well as at the things that are presented to you as opportunities, not as obstacles. Harrison believes that everyone is confronted with opportunities but only a handful would recognize and make proper use of them.
You must think of yourself as a product, something of value for which people are willing to pay. Your career will thrive in direct proportion to the perceived value of the product you are offering, so you must present yourself as something that the world wants and is willing to pay for. Pick something, and focus on doing it to the best of your ability. The quality of your product will determine the quality of your life.
There is no such thing as true security in either work or life. Companies must subject themselves to change and chaos in order to survive and grow, and you must do so also. Peoples’ natural desire for predictability and for things to proceed in a certain way leads to many missed opportunities. You must not short-change yourself by constantly seeking order; expose yourself to change and chaos in order to force yourself to grow.
In this article Harrison discusses why your need to feel important should not be controlling you. The need to feel important is so deep and profound that you do whatever it takes to feel important. This need to feel significant controls and governs your life. For most of us, there is nothing more important to our sense of importance than our careers. The best thing you can possibly do for your career is detach from this need to feel significant and realize how this is controlling so much of what happens to you. You need to do the work you love and live the life you want without being controlled by a need to be significant. This will change everything for you and allow you to contribute to the world in a productive way.
In this article, Harrison explains the importance of understanding the fact that you are not entitled to anything. One of the greatest blunders that people make is to believe that they are owed something and also that someone else is to be blamed for what happens to them. These beliefs are traps and allow others to take control of their lives. Harrison states that you need to hold the reigns of your own life, do what you want with it, make the most of what you are capable of and take responsibility of everything you do. The scepter should never, under any circumstance, be given to anyone else. Your achievements, life, and income should be the result of what you achieve and not others. The people who are the happiest, the most successful, and in control of their futures realize they are not entitled to anything.
When you become associated with products and brand names, you are no longer being who you want to be and will find it much more difficult to take charge of your life. Do not be influenced by what you or others think you should be, but instead focus on being your own person. When you are influenced by others, you are fitting into someone else’s plan and not your own. When you have really made it, you are in control and are no longer influenced by others.
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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