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.
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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In this article Harrison discusses the importance of having a strong desire to achieve goals. People who are out there achieving great things are the ones who have the most desire. When you have a wish that is backed by a desire, you will start to achieve what you are looking for because you will create opportunities for yourself and your desire will drive you to excel. Without a desire and a goal you will just wander aimlessly through life. Get obsessed and focused on a goal. This is the only conceivable way your career is going to go to the highest level possible. Wish big and create a desire, and your life and career will never be the same.
Knowing your product is crucial to your career and life. Just as you must have a clear sense of your own product, you must seek companies with a strong sense of their products. Random products, or lack of focus on the right product, can be disastrous for businesses and individuals alike. You must not only have a product, but a product that people want, so concentrate on your product and its effective delivery.
In this article Harrison discusses the importance of keeping one’s job secured, and how external factors affect job security. It is crucial for job seekers to choose the right kind of job, the right kind of organization, and to have the perfect pay-package for enjoying job security to the fullest. Professionals in high positions in an organization are more prone to getting chucked off rather than those in lesser positions. The complexity of an organization also plays a crucial role in hampering or promoting a sense of job security among different workers in an organization. Competitiveness in an industry is also a harbinger of increasing insecurity in jobs, as there is constant push-and-pull with regards to resources.
Nothing gets accomplished when peoples’ values are in conflict, so it is very important to work with an employer who shares your outlook and values. Find a work environment where you fit in, and where people like you. Value conflicts with your coworkers can undermine your performance, whereas a harmonious work environment reinforces your performance and values. Most cases of workplace excellence involve people in jobs that match their values, and finding this harmony will change your career and life.
Your success in both career and life depends on the strength of your desires. Peoples’ respective levels of desire differ greatly, and those with the greatest desire tend to achieve the most in life. If you do not desire something strongly enough, you probably will not get it. Putting the greatest possible desire behind your dreams is the best thing that you can do to ensure your success.
In this article Harrison discusses the importance of putting your efforts in the right direction. The most important decision you can make is deciding where you are going to put your effort. If you choose the right field for your efforts, you will frequently be richly rewarded (even if you do not have a lot of skill in the field). When you identify something that the market wants, and provide it, then you can frequently do quite well—even if you are not particularly skilled. It is just a question of being at the right place at the right time and taking action. In your career, very little is more important than where you choose to focus your effort. Nothing is more important than working somewhere with opportunity and where you are being carried away by the wind of a positive economic current.
Avoiding problems, not challenging yourself, and giving up in the face of challenges are all forms of being a loser. Your reaction to any given situation is far more important than the situation itself. Whether you are the type of person who moves towards or away things will ultimately determine your career success; those who move toward things make consistent progress, confronting their fears by facing and dealing with them.
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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