Life Lessons

Assessing your employers’ needs will lead you to success in both your job search and your career, so work to ascertain exactly what it is they are looking for. Once you know what your employer wants, do precisely what is expected of you and you will succeed. Determine exactly what your employer is seeking by asking lots of questions in the interview. Those who take the time to understand their employers’ needs are those who wind up with the best jobs.

In this article Harrison discusses how happiness comes from within and not from objects outside of yourself. Each and every one of us is seeking something. The worst sensation is to strive for something and, upon achieving it, to discover that it is empty for us. We all want the superficial outcomes. However what happens is that in seeking these things our brain tries to convince our subconscious that the trivial stuff matters. This ends up creating an internal struggle that really inhibits your ability to ever get anywhere. In your life the most important thing you can do is become the person you are trying to be, instead of trying to get a different life through things, people, and circumstances outside of yourself. You can achieve your dreams; just remember to look within yourself first, in order to assess what is truly important to you and your happiness.

Rumors are extremely dangerous. Competitors and colleagues alike share incorrect, negative information about you, these rumors can spread like wildfire and quickly shipwreck your career. Make sure that your peers know and understand you, show courtesy and respect for others, and avoid all types of arrogance; if you can do these things, you can mitigate the likelihood and potential damage of rumors.

While your relationship with your parents shapes the future course of your life, you do not have control over the events of your childhood. Find a mentor, someone to listen to and guide you going forward will give you confidence going forward and enhance your chances of success. A good mentor will give you the psychological grounding and confidence to achieve anything.

The character of your goals will determine your accomplishments, your impact on the world, and the quality of your life. The world respects people whose goals are of good character, and having such goals will motivate you to great achievement. Goals predicated on harming others will never take you very far, and people with such goals never retain their positions for long.

When I was around 14 years old, I spent several months going to a public high school on the outskirts of Detroit. Within a short time, I met a couple of kids I liked. These kids had all been using “snuff”or chewing tobacco for years.

If you can believe something, it is quite possible that you can achieve it. All of your expectations begin in your mind, so you must think highly of yourself in order to do well. Believe religiously in your strengths, your abilities, and the strength of the market. Do not listen to negative influences or surround yourself with negative people, as you will find the happiness and success you seek in a positive place.

In this article Harrison discusses the role of authority in your job. In order to get a job, stay employed and succeed in the world, you need to demonstrate authority. You need to portray strength and confidence to your employer and potential employers. Many people have very little self confidence and are constantly asking others questions and seeking the approval and authority of other people. We use authority to govern our relationship and interaction with the world. The more presumed authority you have to offer your employer, the bigger difference it will make. Authority has a giant impact on your success and what ends up happening to you in your career and job. You need to always cultivate authority.

I’ve been using the same driver to take me to and from the airport for years. The last time, the car he picked me up in was not as clean as it normally was. He also usually had a few chilled bottles of water waiting for me (and a Diet Coke). This time,...

There is a tremendous amount of negativity, harm and hurt in the world. These forces are all around us and conspiring to bring us down and reduce us to less than we are capable of being. In order to reach our potential and be the people we are capable of becoming, we need to do everything we can to be positive in the face of overwhelming negativity. This will save us, make us strong and give us the lives we are entitled to and deserve.

In this article Harrison discusses how it is important to stay focused. According to Harrison anyone can get started on the road to success and a life of fulfillment but the real task is staying on the path of success. Staying on track can make a giant difference in the quality of your life. No one is going to be there to keep you on your mission and this is the most important thing you must realize. You have to stay focused even amidst the myriad distractions of people and life. Everyone has a spirit within, which drives him or her to do great things. It is those naysayers around us, and the prospect of something bad happening that often keeps us barred back, and on the sidelines. But there is nothing glorious, fulfilling, or memorable about spending your life on the sidelines. You need to run the race, and once you start running you need to stay on track.

In work and in life, everyone slips at some point. Left unchecked, however, a slip become difficult to stop and turn into a fall. People slip either because of things within their control, or because of things outside of their control that they should nevertheless be addressing. You must take action when you are slipping, whatever the reason for the slip may be, and don’t let gravity hold you back.

In 2000, I needed computer programmers in our company more than anything. At the time, however, it was exceedingly difficult to find a good computer programmer. I went through a lot of tough times trying to hire and keep computer programmers. Computer...

There are many people and organizations who, for a variety of reasons, seem never to succeed no matter what they do and experience perpetual bad luck. Do not waste time analyzing the causes of ill luck; simply avoid people and businesses who seem to have it, and instead associate yourself with those inclined to growth and development to achieve your goals.

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.

I read this book some time back and I’d like to share it with you. The Power of Concentration by Theron Dumont is an incredibly interesting book and  has lots of useful information on the immense powers of concentration and exercises on concentration. —-Harrison The...

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.

Gauging the people around you and giving them exactly what they want can determine the success or failure of any action you undertake. This ability separates the great entrepreneurs from the average. Instead of assuming that you know what people want, work to ascertain peoples’ actual desires and fulfill them. When you go out of your way to fulfill the needs of your employer rather than focusing on your own needs, you will find great things happening in your career.

Opportunities present themselves to you everyday, although you may not always see them. Recognize these opportunities, and take advantage of as many of them as possible rather than letting them pass you by. You cannot afford to let individual opportunities slip through your fingers. Visualize the potential opportunities in each meeting, and try never to let one slip by.

Joshua Bell, one of the most famous violinists in the world, took a $3.5-million dollar Stradivarius Violin and played for 45 minutes in a Washington DC subway station. Despite more than 1,000 people walking by, only a three-year old boy and six other...

Nothing is more crucial to your career success than being “in the zone”, and genuinely passionate about your work. Most people, rather than existing in the zone, merely go through the motions of what they feel others expect of them in the hopes of achieving wealth and achievement. To reach your full potential, find work that comes naturally to you, at which you are good, and that makes you happy. When you have this passion, everything else will fall into place and outside obstacles will cease to hinder you.

One of the most important things you can do in your career is generate value for your employer far in excess of what you receive back. You can talk your way into a high-paying job, but you will not remain there unless you provide more than you take. Organizations thrive when all of their members produce goods and services efficiently. Your career depends on providing more than you take, and surrounding yourself with people who do the same.

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.

Information sharing, as exemplified by the internet, is changing the world for the better and is the way of the future. You must also become a force for sharing information in order to experience progress and achieve your goals.

Concentrate on your employer’s needs in order to achieve career stability. While everyone seeks security, it is detrimental to approach your job search with this as your main motivator; concentrating instead on the value that you provide your employer will increase your own value. Give your job your all, and you will be seen a productive unit in your employer’s organization, and security will follow naturally.

You will come across both people who believe in you and those who do not in your life; it is vital that you surround yourself with those who believe in you and what you can achieve. The beliefs of others dictate what ends up happening to you, so it is equally important to avoid those who do not believe in you. Define yourself in terms of the person you want to be, and start acting like that person.

In this article Harrison explains how unlearning can make us happy and help us grow. One of the most important forms of growth is unlearning. All learning we do, in a sense involves unlearning. The more we can unlearn, the more likely we are to experience the sense of growth and progress we so desire. Imagine how much more productive your life would be if you could unlearn many of the beliefs and behaviors that have caused you so much stress. You and your life would be utterly and completely transformed. This would result in an incredible sea change in the way you approach and live your life.

Your success will largely depend on the extent to which you can handle frustration and rejection. In fact, you need to become an expert at failure, because you can learn so much from the experience. The more you are rejected, the closer you bring yourself to eventual success. Never give up, remember that the law of averages is working in your favor, and keep pushing through towards success. Set aside your emotions and negative feelings about rejection.

You need not only to fit in, but to be seen as fitting in with your coworkers. Harmonizing with your work environment is one of the most important things you can do for your career, and failing to do so can cause you serious problems. Achieving such harmony, however, will ultimately bring you closer to your career goals, and is among the primary things that society demands of its participants.

Avoid the envy of others. Successful individuals know envy can lead others to undermine them; in order to remain powerful, you must paradoxically minimize the appearance of power. Avoiding envy will put you in a much better position to succeed and effectively compete.

I’m a businessperson. As a businessperson, I find I get a lot of phone calls from private equity companies and so forth throughout the day. I enjoy getting these phone calls, not necessarily because I’m looking for their investment, because it can...

Successful people manage their minds well; your mindset is the prime determining factor in anything and everything that happens to you. Just as you strive to become and stay physically fit, you must ensure that your mind is stable and moving in the direction of your goals in order to achieve happiness.

You must desire success in whatever you are doing, and make sure that desire matches who you are and want to be. Put your heart into what you are doing, and be behind it 100%. When you go out into the world you will inevitably face rejection; having your heart in soul invested in your chosen career will help you overcome this rejection and keep pushing forward towards success.

You will find much greater success and contentment by focusing on your connections to others rather than your differences. While all people see themselves as separate entities, you must remember that all things and people are interdependent. Your position in your life and career results from how well connected to the people around you, not your relative difference or transcendence.