Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Two Pairs of Hypnotic Words That Can Change the Journey of Your Life.

You may have a desire and though you yearn to get it fulfilled, you allow it to remain useless and go the "stale" way by not taking the most appropriate steps to get it translated into a concrete result. Therefore, you continue to lead an ordinary life without any thrill or happiness. The journey of your life is similar to billions of people who just come into this world, lead a normal or sub-normal life, and leave the planet without creating any ripples. But you should ponder if this is the right way to lead your life. 

The problem is several people including you are always surrounded by "naysayers." When you share your passion with them, they will immediately come out with umpteen number of reasons for preventing you from pursuing your dream. In fact, you yourself have been looking for some alibi or the other for escaping from the drudgery, if any, that may be involved in following your passion. The main reason for your attitude of not taking any step is that you are afraid either of failure or of success in your efforts.

You should first understand the fact that failure and success are integral to the process of learning. If you fail in your efforts, it shows that you have committed a few mistakes. You should take a detour for analyzing those mistakes and finding out ways of avoiding them. Remember that if you skip the step of analyzing and finding out the ways of avoiding those mistakes, you will continue to repeat them. So, you will never move ahead in your journey of achieving your desire. Remember the words of the Bard who said, "Sweet are the uses of adversity." The adverse situations created by your mistakes will teach you several useful and more often, very big lessons.

Even if you succeed in your efforts, it does not mean that you have not committed any mistakes. Perhaps, your passion and the efforts you have put in have been so strong that they have nullified the impact of your mistakes. You should, therefore, analyze the process you have undertaken even if you have succeeded in your efforts. Only then, you can make your journey towards your goal smoother and silkier.

Now the point is: How to change the course of your life's journey? There are two pairs of words you should get imprinted in your mind. If you get these words etched in your mind and if you keep reminding yourself of them, you will find it easy to dispense with your alibis and begin your journey of pursuing your passion.

Two pairs of words that can create this positive impact.

"Bypassing the gatekeepers" and "taking action" are the two pairs of words that can suitably nourish your head and inspire you to leap into action.

Bypassing the gatekeepers.

You should ignore the advice and suggestions of the "naysayers" who are bent upon discouraging you and not allowing you to pursue your passion. These gatekeepers are negativity-breathing dragons and are worthy of being bypassed and their suggestions deserve getting slain. Never, never heed their advice. Once you are clear about your goal, you should immediately devise a plan for pursuing your passion. The plan should consist of concrete steps. Of course, the plan should not be cut-and-dried. There should be flexibility for changing or modifying the steps if necessary or if there are bumps.

Taking action.

You will not move even an inch towards your goal if you do not take action on your plan or steps. You should start taking action on them. You need not worry even if you make incremental improvements. But you should ensure that you are consistent in taking action. Remember that every step matters, however small or simple they may be. Only then, you can achieve the goal you are passionate about. 

If you are persistent with your "stick-to-it-ivity" especially in implementing the essence of these two pairs of words, you can certainly change the course of your life's journey.

Saturday, December 26, 2020

Are You a Procrastinator? Knock That Habit off.

If you have the habit of postponing things, you have to necessarily get rid of the habit because the habit will not allow you to progress and achieve your goals, whatever they may be. There is no doubt you have to think through and consider various factors before making any decision. But this does not mean you can keep on postponing making decisions. So, how to go about the process of getting rid of this dangerous habit? The following tips may help.

Are you postponing tasks because they are unpleasant?

If you have been postponing tasks since they appear to be unpleasant, it is high time you change your perception. By postponing these tasks, you will be missing out on several viable and worthy opportunities. The best way to induce yourself to take up the seemingly unpleasant tasks is to attend to them when your efficiency level is at its best. 

The efficiency level of a few people will be in full force during the morning hours. For a few others, their system and the mental faculty will be working at their optimum level of efficiency in the nights because these people are "owlish." So, these nocturnal 'creatures' will not hesitate to burn the midnight oil for carrying out their tasks.

You must know the time when your faculties are sharp and you can work in top gear. You should take up the so-called unpleasant and cumbersome tasks during such hours. In fact and surprisingly, you will find that the same tasks are easily executable when you try carrying them out at the "best" hours.

Are your tasks big?

If the reason for your postponing habit is because your tasks are big, you can adopt another strategy for winning over the habit. The simple suggestion is you should split the big tasks into several smaller milestones. You will then not feel the heat of the size of the tasks. You can easily complete them as well. You will ultimately be amazed to see how you have won over your postponing habit.

Dispense with your fear of failure.

A strong reason for your postponing tasks is that you may be afraid of failures. Never forget the fact that failing and achieving success are parts of the learning process. Unless you fail and know what mistakes you commit, you cannot improve yourself. How can you achieve personal growth if the mistakes you used to commit continue to stick with you? So, you must get rid of the fear of failure and start acting upon your ideas. If you purposefully work on this suggestion, you will certainly be able to put your firm foot on the track of knocking off your habit of procrastinating.

 

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

The First Great Secret That Can Help You Grow in Your Career.

That you have to work very hard to grow in your career can be the most dangerous untruth you may have come across. While making this statement, experts have obviously distorted the truth. As the German philosopher Georg Christoph Lichtenberg said, "The most dangerous untruths are truths slightly distorted." So, what is the truth that has been hidden by this distorted untruth? What is the secret that can help you in your career growth? Let us find out.

Know this big myth and treat it as you treat a cobweb.

That hard work can help you in your career growth is a big myth. In fact, hard work can sometimes hurt your growth. An example can explain this clearly. If you work hard, you will be increasing the likelihood of getting burdened by more work than what you are capable of executing efficiently. Unfortunately, you will have a tendency or may feel a morbid pleasure that is derived out of wrong thinking that only because you are impressing your boss with your hard work, he is giving you more work. In reality, your boss knows that he cannot rely on other employees. Since you have always proved to be a reliable employee, he is dumping all the work on you.

An unfortunate fact is that there is a saturation point in everything. This means that your efficiency and focus will come down steeply beyond a certain point. So, the quality of your output will be much below par when you reach the point. Hence, at the time of writing your appraisal report, you will be rated as an "average" employee whose output is just average. When your work is viewed as "average," how can you expect to have exceptional career growth?

What is the great secret?

At the time of recruiting you, the recruiters of your company may have interviewed you and checked your credentials to ensure that you possess the academic and other qualifications that are required for carrying out the job for which you are being considered. But they may not have the complete scope to check all your skills. Of course, if you are an experienced candidate, they may scroll through the testimonies your previous employers may have given. 

Only after you begin working for the company and only after a few days after you begin executing your work, the company may know how capable you are. To put it differently, the quality of your output alone will decide your career growth. So, the great secret that can help you in your growth revolves around how you go about executing your work and how you keep improving the quality of your performance.

So, the secret that can help you grow in your career lies in being curious, asking questions, and learning  During the course of executing your tasks, you will have certainly have lots of chances to mingle with your superiors and employees who have more experience than you. Instead of discussing with them about the weather or the baseball matches of the previous day, you can ask questions about your job and the tasks you are carrying out, and how you can excel in your work. By adopting this approach, you will not only impress them with your curiosity but will be able to learn a lot from them as well. If you blend your creativity with the insights you gain from them, you can come out with unique and unimaginably great ideas. If you put these ideas to use, you can vastly improve the quality of your output. What more do you need for achieving the career growth you are aspiring for?

Saturday, December 12, 2020

Why You Must Consider Your Health as the Most Valuable Asset?

Focusing on your career growth, business success, or your financial wellbeing is not at all bad. But if these goals become an obsession and if you keep pursuing them at the expense of your health, you are heading towards a heavy-hitting disaster. This means that among all your assets, your health is the most valuable and you must afford the top-most priority to it. Your spouse and children may know also that you are not just a talking-and-walking credit card or ATM for them and that you and your health are paramount. You must, therefore, ensure to eat healthily, have adequate sleep, and do daily exercises.

But how can you know that you are not taking proper care of your health? If your performance or output is consistently below par and if, in the heart of your heart, you feel dissatisfied with your own work, it shows that you are neglecting your physical well-being. Conversely put, you cannot deliver the best if you are not 100% fit and healthy.

Health issues and mental stress.

Remember that even minor issues such as common cold, headache, pain, and minor bruises can cause mental stress. You may be aware of the ill-effects stress may cause. This being the case, you can imagine how major ailments can make your life miserable.  

Health issues and energy levels.

Secondly, health issues will drastically bring down your energy levels. Therefore, you will get annoyed even over trivial matters. Due to this, there will be strains in the relationships with others including your friends and close relatives. Your system will not function efficiently also. Hence, you will feel fatigued sooner than normal. These are some of the reasons why you must ensure to maintain good health.

Are there fail-safe methods for maintaining your health? 

The answer to this question is in the negative. However, if you infuse a cadence of consistent rituals into your daily routine, you can certainly maintain good health. These rituals are proven steps that can unlock your capability which if used optimally, will help in achieving and maintaining a high productivity level. You can lead an active and full life as well. Thanks to fewer medical issues, there will not be any loss of work-days.

Good health and quality of life. 

When you are young, your body will cooperate with you even if you do not care to take the steps required for maintaining your health. But as you age, your system will start getting sluggish and hence, will not cooperate with you. Though it is wrong to assume that a well-maintained body will not become sluggish, you can retain stable energy levels if you take good care of your health. Most importantly, it is a proven fact that good physical health can guarantee excellent mental health. Simply put, the overall quality of your life will be very good even as you age.

Eating healthily, having adequate sleep, and doing exercises on a daily basis are not just traditional methods because even contemporary experts suggest only these steps. In fact, by following these suggestions, you are not biohacking your system for maintaining good health. On the contrary, you are ardently adhering to the concrete and workable advice of experts so that your health does not get hijacked by your wrong focus on the "mirage of success" at the expense of your physical and mental well-being. 

Friday, October 2, 2020

You Are a Cheat

You are a cheat and a fraud if you say that you are not afraid of the uncertainties of life. You are deceiving yourself if you keep making such a statement. Do you want to know why I am saying this? Please read the post fully to know.


A few years back, I attended a seminar in which a few experts delivered lectures on management topics. One of the experts remarked, "Entrepreneurship is more about eliminating risks than about taking them." I wanted to shout at the top of my voice that he was talking nonsense. But I refrained from doing it because decency demanded that I should not behave like that in public. But his statement triggered a few thoughts in my mind forcing me to delve more into the topic. I found a few interesting things when I dug deep into it. 

A question that may haunt the minds of people and more particularly, entrepreneurs.

"What will happen if we face failure in this?" Almost all the people will have this question in their minds before they take up a new task. Let me take the example of entrepreneurs because in general, it is they who invest hugely in whatever they do. Almost all the entrepreneurs, while launching a new product or service, or while making a big announcement about their new venture, are likely to have the above question in their minds. Of course, they may have done their research before coming out with their new ideas and plans. But the initial exhilaration and euphoria are heady drugs the stimulating effects of which do not last long. So, after some time, apprehensions start creeping into their minds. These doubts become more insistent and pronounced in due course of time. That is the reason weak-minded entrepreneurs develop cold feet and stop going ahead with their plans.

Even if you are a strong-willed entrepreneur, the uncertainty may make you wonder if the future will be as you have thought it to be or if it would be otherwise. You may also wonder if the risks are worth taking. Not just you, even the so-called geniuses in the entrepreneurial world will admit that they have faced similar situations and have been afraid of uncertainties before a new launch, be it a product or service or a new line of business. According to them, there is no fool-proof system to know if a new launch will be a success or not.

As Gary John Bishop, a famous author puts it, “Success is never certain. It never comes without risk. Even if you’re the smartest or the hardest working, there’s no guarantee of anything. The people who go on to do great things in their lives know this. They also embrace it......They didn’t succeed because they were certain they were going to succeed; they succeeded because they didn’t let uncertainty stop them.”

Precisely put, successful people are aware that they have to take uncertainty in their stride and embrace it as they do with innovations. They even go a step further and call uncertainty "the evil twin-sibling" of any new idea. But they look for every way to derive optimal benefits out of the uncertain situation. 

Leveraging the uncertainty is the only way.

Day in and day out, changes in the technological sphere have been happening at an unimaginable speed and so, it is not a surprise that business models suddenly vanish into oblivion. This means entrepreneurs have to learn how they can leverage the changes and the uncertainties that accompany them and unlock their benefits, whatever may be the odds or risks that are a part of those uncertainties.

What is the major difference between uncertainty and risk?

In uncertainty, there is not even a shade of certainty. This does not mean that you will certainly fail. On the contrary, in risks, you can use the Theory of Probability and know the chances of success or failure. Frank Knight, a popular economist, who authored the book "Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit," corroborates this fact also. For example, when you pick out a card from a deck, you will not be able to rightly predict which card will come to your hand. But Probability Theory will help you in knowing the chances.

The truth is without embracing uncertainty, you cannot accomplish anything. You will not realize your potential at all. Jonathan Fields, who authored the book, "Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance," also says, “If everything is known and certain, that means it’s all been done before. And creation isn’t about repetition.”

Uncertainty provides a large scope for failure and obscurity. So, you will be confronting the challenge of using your innovative ability to come out with great ideas that can eliminate the chances of failure. This means you should develop your resilience to adapt like a chameleon because circumstances can change so drastically and at a great speed. Only then, you can withstand the impact of Tsunami-like waves of changes. How can you reach the top if you wilt under the impact of such changes?.

Of course, this can be both bewildering and overwhelming. That is why not many have the courage or the mental strength to take risks. Though a few experts opine that you have to minimize risks, the problem with this suggestion is that by doing so, you will miss several great opportunities. So, instead of trying to minimize risks, you should learn to identify and foresee them to manage them and derive their best benefits.

Thanks to the major advancements in the technological realm, you now have several tools using which you can smartly foresee risks. Ironically, the same technological advancements have made risks difficult to identify. It is in this context Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning can help businesses. These hybrid techniques will help in sifting large amounts of data and analyzing them. So, the decision-making process in your business will improve by leaps and bounds. 

Of course, the future will see several new developments and changes that may make the magnitude of uncertainty stronger. But ML can develop, update, and improve according to the developments and changes. At the same time, experts warn that ML is not a silver bullet and humans can never be replaced.

In a nutshell, if you learn to be resilient and leverage uncertainty, it will be easy for you to shape your success. As they say, there is always thrill in not knowing the future.

Friday, September 25, 2020

Is Under-Promising and Over-Delivering the Right Strategy to Grow in Your Career?

People in general advise that the best way to impress your superiors is to under-promise and over-deliver. But there is another school of thought that is quite contradictory to this advice. Let us find out what this new advice is and if this advice will help you in your career growth.


Modern gurus are very much against under-promising and over-delivering. Instead, they advise that you should over-promise and over-deliver. What does "over-promising and over-delivering" mean? Its implied meaning is that you should be proactive in your approach. When the management expects you to do the jobs assigned to you in the right manner, you should volunteer to offer beyond what is expected from you. Simply put, you should promise to surpass their expectations.
  
What can a proactive approach do for your career?

A proactive approach is an accelerator that can fast-track your career success. In fact, this approach is what differentiates a great performer from a good performer. By being a great performer, you can ensure not only your growth but the growth of your organization as well. Even Dondi Scumaci, who is considered an expert in the realm of leadership, says, “Compliance will never take you where commitment can go.” So, you must remain committed to adopting a proactive approach.

This approach comes with another benefit as well. You will inspire your peers and colleagues also and if everyone in the organization adopts this approach, the company is certain to scale unimaginably great heights. 

If you just comply with the instructions of your management, you will be considered a responsive employee. On the other hand, if you adopt a proactive approach and voluntarily over-promise and over-deliver, you will prove to be an asset for your company. The top management of the company will very soon come to know of your proactive approach and hence, they will pick you up for a suitable top position.

Unfortunately, most of the employees hate over-promising and over-delivering. Only a few have this attitude. That is the reason the pyramid is not crowded at the top. Be among these few people and achieve remarkable growth in your career.

Monday, September 21, 2020

The Worst Habit That Can Delay Success in Your Career and Life

Habits are of several types and among them, a few are unconscious habits. Even among unconscious habits, there is one habit that can wreak havoc on your ambitions to succeed in your career or in life. You may be eager to know what it is. This post will create awareness about the habit and in addition, you will get a few tips to break it as well.


Experts and especially those who have achieved stupendous success in their life consider this as the worst habit that can nullify all your efforts and retard the process of your success. Therefore, if you want to succeed in your career, your entrepreneurial venture, or in your life, you have to take immediate steps to break the habit. Of course, there are no simple ways to get rid of it. But if you make conscious and focused efforts, you can certainly bring about a phenomenal change in your behavioral pattern and reprogram or re-tune your life for achieving success.

Our forefathers were not having habits of this type and that was perhaps one of the reasons most of them could lead a peaceful life. But after the advent of the Internet and the proliferation of different kinds of gadgets and more particularly, smartphones, everyone's life seems to have gone blooey. If it is said that this habit has led to a diminution of focus towards their life's visions and dreams, it may not be an exaggerated statement. Let us now delve into this topic.

Being an unconscious habit, you may not think even for a moment about it before you indulge in it. But unfortunately, its negative nature can sabotage all the efforts you make for having a smooth journey to succeed in your career or life. That is the reason you are advised to break it. As Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do – excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” The major benefits of dispensing with the habit are that you will become a more attentive and better listener, the prioritizing process you adopt will be better, and the quality of your output will improve dramatically. In short, your efforts-to-output ratio will see a manifold improvement.

The habit we are talking about is stopping whatever you are doing including important tasks and checking your smartphone whenever you hear the noise of a notification or a message. Of course, some of you may argue that you have the habit but despite that, you are successful. It may be true that you could achieve success in spite of indulging in this nasty habit. But if you do not have it or if you get rid of it, you can scale still greater heights. The question now is: How to break this habit?

Know what a human brain likes.

Human brains do not like unfamiliar things. Your brain may have become familiar with your unconscious habit of checking the smartphone whenever you hear the noise of a notification or a message. Therefore, it becomes necessary that you should familiarize your brain with the ways you intend to adopt for breaking this habit. The most effective way to do this is to repeat the process of not succumbing to your tendency to check your smartphone immediately when you receive messages or notifications. By practicing the process repeatedly, you can familiarize your brain with your ways. 

What is the process?

Experts suggest the following process.

You should initially set a short duration, say about 15 minutes, and not check your smartphone during that brief period. Once you succeed in this first step, you can increase this duration to 30 minutes, then to 1 hour, and so on. Very soon, you will reach a stage when you will not feel the urge to check your phone for a whole day. After that, it will become a permanent habit that can positively impact the quality of your output.

You are not advised to throw away your smartphone because gadgets like it are certainly useful in several other ways. But you should earmark a specific time for checking the notifications or messages you receive. Remember that by dispensing with the habit of unconsciously checking your phone whenever you hear the noise of a message or notification, you can prevent distractions from hampering your growth. Distraction-less efforts will do a world of good in fast-tracking your journey towards success

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

How to Convert Your Nightmarish Job Search into a Boss-Less Career

The job market has undergone a seismic shift in recent years. Especially, after the advent of the Internet, things have changed dramatically. But unfortunately, not many career aspirants seem to have the complete knowledge of the shifts and changes that have taken place and that are likely to continue impacting the job market even in the future. If you are looking for a career, you must know the complete details of these changes. Otherwise, you will not be able to shape your career the way you want, not to talk about shaping your life. Let us find out more about this.

Not just small entities but even giant companies have switched gears and are adopting new tactics to manage their operations. Regardless of their motives, the fact remains that these tactics help them save costs to a significant extent. The most important tactic they are adopting is to look for experts with in-depth knowledge in their industry and hire them on a contract basis or on a commission basis. This means that if you have knowledge and experience in specific industries, you can offer your services as a freelancer and earn a huge income. 

Of course, when you were studying, you would have never thought that you would become a freelancer or an expert who would work on a contract basis because that was not the norm then. But in the present-day context, it has become one of the most sought-after options. Even mammoth organizations are on the look-out for experts who are willing to choose this option.

Ironically, even now, there are skeptics who think that working as a freelancer can not be full-belly gratifying. These skeptics are always like that. They never like contemporary ideas. But once the ideas get translated into real successes, they will unashamedly use the phrase "I said so." 

The question you should ask yourself is "What prevents me from choosing the freelancing option when I am in possession of expertise in this in-demand field and when I have time on my hands?" The fact is that freelancing options can be fun as well as lucrative.

There are two main fears freelancers may have. The first one is that they may develop a tendency to be lethargic and hence, may not be able to adhere to deadlines. The second fear can be that chances of a "brain freeze" are high in this option. Let us find out the ways to overcome these two major fears.

How to overcome the fear of missing deadlines?

If your desire to succeed in your life is unquenchable and strong, you will never allow the tendency of turning lethargic to over-power you. Therefore, check if your desire to succeed is strong enough. If you feel that you lack such a passion, you can not do anything about it. You will continue to lead an average or a below-average life.

On the other hand, if your desire is reasonably strong, you should consistently make it all the more strong. There is an easy way to do it. You should split your ultimate goal into smaller sub-goals. When you achieve a sub-goal or milestone, you should reward yourself suitably. By adopting this strategy, you will be able to improve the strength of your desire. This means that you should be taking continuous action in order to keep your desire intact and improve its strength. Never forget the fact that inaction will not take you even an inch forward towards your goal. Experts categorically say that by taking action regularly and consistently, you can keep the flame of your desire continuously burning in your belly

How to overcome the fear that you will be affected by "brain freeze?"

It is true that brain freeze may impact you if you are not surrounded by an ambiance in which all your field-related matters remain pervasive. If you are a regular employee of an organization, such an ambiance will prevail and so, you are not likely to face the challenge caused by a "brain freeze" because your mind will remain "rinsed" in the matters that pertain to your field. 

But when you are a freelancer, there are bound to be several diversions and digressions that may act as a stumbling block to your efforts to succeed. So, the chances of a brain freeze are high. To overcome this, you can adopt the following few steps. 

1. Keep strengthening the neural pathways of your brain.

Though you possess the academic knowledge of your field, you should keep educating yourself on a continuous basis. You should put in place a practicing routine for deepening and strengthening the neural pathways of your brain. One of the classic analogies is that of a much-used and worn path that runs through the forest. The more people have traveled on the path, the clearer and more usable it gets. So, keep sharpening your skills by having a consistent and regular practicing routine. This will help in honing your skills and in addition, will save you from the perils of a brain freeze.

2. Try to teach those who are willing to learn the subject of your expertise.

It has been scientifically proved that by teaching, one can learn and acquire a deeper and more internalized knowledge. Such internalized knowledge will remain with you till the end of your life.

3. Never hesitate to steal or borrow.

We are not advocating the crime of thieving nor are we advising you to borrow and get mired in debts. What we are suggesting is that you can steal or borrow the knowledge of others. There may be several other experts in your field. You should, if possible, get in touch and be in regular touch with them so that there will be knowledge-sharing between you and them. If it is not possible, you can connect with them on platforms such as LinkedIn so that you can get their updated ideas.

You may have heard of a tool known as the grabber-reacher. You should be like that tool because by being so, you can access and grab the knowledge of other experts in your field. 

By adopting these steps, you can surmount your major fears that may be blocking your decision of choosing the freelancing option.

Sunday, September 6, 2020

What Should You Do If Your Boss Is an Idiot?

You may know and everyone in your team may also be aware that the leader of your team is an idiot and a brute. Though it is certain that this idiot will never help any of you grow in your career, you may find it difficult to convince the top management to replace him. You may wonder as to how to go about this situation. Of course, you may be lamenting with your spouse that your idiotic boss is not treating you properly, is not listening to your suggestions, and not heeding your suggestions. But do not worry. Here are a few suggestions that may help you handle situations that may arise during the course of working with an idiotic boss. 


1. The foremost point you should remember is that you can discuss your dislikes for the idiotic ways of your boss with your spouse but should never discuss them with any of your colleagues including your superiors, peers, and subordinates. Precisely put, you should not discuss them at your workplace at all.

Your grievance that your boss is not allowing you to grow is completely justifiable. But in the prevalent circumstances, you can not do anything about it. If you, under a spell of frustration, complain about your boss or express your grievance to some of your colleagues, it will certainly reach that particular officer. Remember that all managers will not be rational in their approach while dealing with such complaints. Your boss may view your complaints seriously and may take action against you. This will ultimately ruin your career. The colleagues with whom you shared your concerns may not view your situation sympathetically. In fact, some of them will feel happy when you are penalized for your complaints.

2. Therefore, instead of going about complaining, you should make all possible efforts to improve your focus. Your focus should not only be on your career growth but on those aspects that will improve the standing of your company in the industry as well. For example, you should try to come out with innovative ideas for improving the business of your organization. This will help in keeping your mind stress-free. You will be able to divert your mind from your concerns and grievances and attend to those matters that will help in the growth of the company

3. If this idiotic boss continues making wrong decisions, you can have a frank discussion only with him and not with anyone else in the company. You should take the very important step of recording your views on email messages or other forms of communication also. This will help you show to the top management that you have already raised concerns on those decisions that the boss has made and that may have proved to be detrimental for the growth of the company.

In other words, you should let the top management know, of course, at the most appropriate time, that you are an alert and sincere employee who is committed to improving the growth trajectory of the company. This will go a long way in getting due recognition from the top management at the right time. This will also open up lots of opportunities for helping you grow in the company.

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

You Have Good Potential to Grow in Your Career. How to Make Your Management Know It?

You may be one of a host of people who are in possession of sterling good brains to frequently come out with new ideas. This certainly augurs well for your growth because it will help you in your efforts to succeed. But will clinging ruggedly to your superlative ideas automatically get you success? The answer to this question is that you can not achieve success just because you have ideas. You have to act upon them. Let us elaborate on this.


Malcolm Gladwell, who brought out a book entitled "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference," offers a few interesting points that are relevant to the topic of success. Now, how to explain the concept of the tipping point? Let us take the example of a glass that is filled with water up to the brim. Even though the glass is already full, you start adding water, one drop after another. The level of water will rise thanks to the Theory of Surface Tension but at a certain point, just one more drop will disturb the whole equilibrium and the entire excess water will get spilled. 

According to Malcolm Gladwell, human society reaches a tip-off point due to the act or idea of just a single person. Even infectious diseases behave in a similar fashion. They keep incubating for several years. Suddenly, when the conditions are very much suitable for their eruption, they start attacking people. 

Experts from the medical fraternity firmly opine that creating ideas will restore the tissues of your brain. But when you create them, it is wrong to lock them up in your bosom. You should keep sharing them with the right people. Especially, if you are an employee and if you nurture an ambition to grow in your organization, you must keep creating ideas on a continuous basis. Very importantly, you should bring them to the table as well. Only then, the management will know that you have the potential to grow. Unfortunately, the nub of the issues many companies face mainly lies in inadequacy in this aspect. This means they do not get the required number of employees who can provide them with good ideas.  

Of course, coming out with ideas on a continuous basis and sharing them with the top brass of the company may prove to be a frustrating process for employees like you. It is like throwing seeds on fertile ground. You do not know which kernel will sprout out and grow into a big tree. Remember that even a bright idea will work only if the conditions are congenial. But when your ideas are not received in the manner you expect, you should accept such situations with valiant gaiety.  Perhaps, the conditions may not be suitable and that is the reason you could not sell your ideas. Therefore, you must not allow such things to dampen your buoyant spirit.

Another point to remember is that just because your ideas have not been considered or have been rejected, you do not become a dullhead. The very fact that you have been continuously supplying ideas will always be remembered by the management. 

So, keep trying and keep changing your perspectives. You will get unimaginably bright ideas. This will certainly benefit you in your career growth.

Friday, August 21, 2020

Develop an Addiction for Success

Those who followed the Apollo 13 Mission may know what the commander of the mission said. If what he said is paraphrased, the meaning is: "Failure is not an option." Experts opine that if you are aiming for a huge success in your career or in your life, you should develop a similar attitude. 

In this context, I am reminded of how a friend of mine, who was constructing his own house in a suburb, had always been making it a point to earn at least 100 bucks every day, the reason being he had to pay wages to the construction workers every evening. There was no day on which he went home without this money. The inference from this is that if your aim is to succeed in your career, you should have no other option. Success should be the only option for you. You should work with such an intensity that your whole life or your very existence depends on it. If you work like that, there is no reason why you will not succeed.

When you change your mindset accordingly, you will find that all your qualms vanish and that all your fears evaporate. But how to change your mindset is the question now. Let us find out.

There are two types of fear that may afflict people who aim to succeed. Some people have a fear of failure. You may be afraid that you may fail in your attempts and that you will be ridiculed by others. This fear is so powerful that it will put you into the clutches of "The Devil of Inertia." This devil will not allow you to take the steps required for achieving success. 

Another fear is the fear of success. There are people who are afraid of success as well. These folks think that if they succeed, others may ridicule them by quoting the infamous statement "Fortune favors fools" and that they have adopted short-cuts or false ways for achieving success

But in reality, both these fears are unfounded. The findings of several studies conducted on success-related fears reveal that whether you succeed or fail, nearly 80% of the people do not care about it. Which is greater, 80% or the remaining 20%? Why do you need to worry about 20% of people? That is why you are advised to focus on your efforts in such a manner that your very existence depends on their positive outcome. Such a focus and a craving-like addiction for success will get you whatever you want in life. 

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Can You Succeed in Your Career without Hurting Others' Chances?

Abba Eban, who was a popular Israeli diplomat, once said, "You can’t achieve anything without getting in someone’s way.” This means that when you climb your career ladder, you may be hurting the chances of some people who may be slow movers or non-movers. Especially, if you are like many other ambitious career climbers who ruthlessly focus only on their own growth without giving a damn about the goals or feelings of others, you may just shrug your shoulders and say that those whose chances you are hurting are slow or non-movers and hence, they deserve to lose the race to you. 

Whenever the fact that you have hurt the chances of a few others haunts you, you may console yourself by thinking that you have not been sadistic and stood in their way just for the sake of achieving the career growth you have been aspiring for. On the contrary, you have succeeded in your efforts in achieving career growth because you have been proving time and again that you are a better leader or accomplisher. Of course, during the course of your journey, you may have used forceful language to make slow-movers among your peers or subordinates work faster. You may have hurt the chances of the growth of some of them as well. But is it possible to be graceful and gentle while handling such slow or non-movers? Let us find out.

How to handle slow movers?

It is impossible to achieve the career success you want without the help of others. These others may include slow movers as well. But you cannot behave like a Nazi for having their help. According to experts, you should be gentle while handling them. You will not derive any benefit by being harsh or by ill-treating these folks. When you confront situations in which their performances are below par, you should ask appropriate questions to know if they have any problems with the tasks. Yelling at them or scolding them will not only not get you the right type of response but will spoil your relationship with them. Only by knowing their problems, you will be able to extract the best out of them. Most importantly, they will cooperate and help you achieve the career growth you are aiming at.

Though DNA science says that certain habits are inveterate, you can easily change your ways by practice. This means that if you have all along been behaving like a ball-buster with your peers or subordinates, you can practice gentleness so that you will be able to handle them smoothly.

You may say, "I am a success-driven person and hence, I can not tolerate slow movers." You should remember that you are not asked to sail slowly as they do. On the other hand, you are advised to effect the following few changes both in your thinking pattern and in your approach.

1. Be aware of the fact that every person is unique. Some people may be ambitious, some of them may be lazy and clumsy, and a few others may be incompetent. But most of these people are like this not with an intention to cause harm to you.

2. Set fair and clear standards and gently keep nudging these people to meet them.

3. If you are gentle but firm, most of them will improve. If some of them do not seem to improve, ask them questions, listen to them attentively, and try to provide them with suggestions. If they still do not improve, do not hesitate to replace them. But even while doing so, you should be gentle and kind and should avoid criticism. 

If you follow these suggestions, the fact that your success has happened only after you have hurt the chances of others will not haunt you at all.

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Get Rid of the Barriers That Stop Your Career Growth

An expert has once said that there are no barriers to the entrepreneurial world. The fact that the number of startup companies has been increasing at a very rapid pace might have been the reason behind this observation. Whether these startups are able to sustain in the competitive environment that is prevalent now is a different question altogether. While talking about the entrepreneurial world, you may ask what the situation is in the job market. The job market does not have barriers also. This point needs elaboration.


According to Parkinson's Fourth Law, "The number of people in any working group tends to increase irrespective of the amount of work to be completed."  Let us not debate if this law is right or not. But the fact remains that job opportunities are aplenty. But unless you acquire the talent required for the job you wish to land, you cannot achieve your dream. Therefore, the foremost step for landing the job you aspire for is to acquire the required knowledge and skill. But will you get complacent once you land the job that you have been aspiring for? In fact, if you get complacent at this stage, you can never grow in your career. This means you have to set your eyes on higher levels in order to climb the career ladder. Here are a couple of suggestions that may help you in this process.

1. Acquire the "I Care a Damn" attitude.

When others come to know that you are aiming high and trying to acquire more knowledge and better your skill, most of them will discourage you. Some of these folks may be jealous. A few among them may perhaps be traditional-minded and hence, according to them, aiming high may be a taboo. Some fo these traditional-minded people may even opine that contentment is the best virtue, and aspiring to move on to the highest level is nothing but avarice. There is another group of people who are negativity-personified and so, they will discourage you also. Yet a few others can not just tolerate if someone grows. They will derive a sadistic pleasure if others get defeated and doomed. 

In short, you are bound to confront a lot of criticisms and discouraging comments. You can not move an inch forward if you react to or worry about such javelins and jibes. Therefore, you are advised to learn and practice what is known as the "I Care a Damn" attitude. As Dale Carnegie puts it, "Do the very best you can; and then put up your old umbrella and keep the rain of criticism from running down the back of your neck." Hence, do not worry about what others say and be sincere in your efforts so that your climb can be as smooth as possible.

2. Never relent even if you face hurdles.

During the course of your journey towards career success, you will certainly confront challenging situations. You should not give up even when such situations threaten your aspiration. You should be resilient enough to use your resources and tide over such situations. But there may be situations when you may not have the resources that are normally required for tiding over such situations. In those instances, you must be innovative and look for using the resources that are available with you. For example, if you do not have a camera for doing your work, you can use your mobile phone for taking photos or shooting videos. If you do not have a credit card, you can explore the possibilities of using PayPal, Shrill, etc. for making your transactions. In short, if you apply your mind, you can always come out with innovative solutions, whatever may be the situation you may face.

To summarize, you must have a strong desire to achieve your goal. You must have faith in yourself as well. You should be committed and focused also. These three are the most important ingredients required for making the tastiest of recipes, which is called "success."   

Thursday, August 13, 2020

Why Do You Need a Career Blueprint?

Is achieving success in your career easy? "Yes" and "No" are the answers. Since the answers contradict each other, there needs to be some elaboration. Success in your career is easy and simple if you accept the fact that you have to take a few diligent steps for achieving it. That is the reason experts advise that you have to delve deep into success stories that seem to have happened overnight. Such an in-depth study of these success stores will reveal that they have been work-in-progress for a very long period. In short, if you want to succeed in your career, you should have a blueprint and work on it over a period of time. The following few suggestions may help.

1. Dispense with the traditional way of setting goals.

In the traditional way of setting a goal, experts advise that you must first put in place a specific goal. Next, you must set a deadline for achieving the goal. The next suggestion you will get from these traditional experts is that you should start working to achieve the goal you have set. Though this seems to be logical and linear, modern-day personal development gurus, and especially those who offer guidance in career-related matters, advise that instead of opting for the traditional way of setting goals, you should prepare a blueprint that consists of process goals

Process goals specifically talk about the processes and the steps you intend to take for achieving your goal. For example, if you are a member of a team and if your immediate goal is to become a team leader, your process goals should consist of every step you intend to take for translating this goal into reality. You should meticulously follow these processes. Even if you follow the steps at least to the extent of 7/10th of perfection, you are certain to achieve the goal quickly.

2. Change the way you make your plans.

Earlier, experts used to advise that you should make a plan for the next day the previous night itself. But the modern gurus prescribe that you should plan for weeks. They advise that you should plan at least for six weeks. This plan that is a very important ingredient of your career blueprint should consist of the tasks or the steps you must complete every day. The plan should specifically mention the tasks you must ensure to complete every week also. More importantly, you must take action with the utmost precision. 

But you may argue that things may not turn out to be as smooth as we expect them to be and hence, there may be threatening situations that are likely to derail your plans. Experts provide a solution for this as well. They advise that you should be creative and put in place alternative, back-up steps that can help you combat such situations successfully. Such back-up steps should be equally strong and put you back firmly on the path that can take you towards your goal.

3. Ensure to remain motivated.

You should remain motivated throughout your journey. It is true that when things do not move according to your blueprint, you may get frustrated and demotivated. But if you put in place a meaningful incentive system, you can keep yourself motivated. This means that whenever you reach a milestone, however small it may be, you should incentivize yourself. If the incentives in your system are meaningful, your determination will be strong and hence, you will tread your career path with confidence.

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Secrets You Must Know to Become a Successful Employee

When you land a job and set foot at the threshold of your workplace, you do so with lots of hopes. You want to be a successful employee because you are aware that only then, you can enter the good books of the top management of your company. Once this happens, it will be easy for you to move up the career ladder smoothly. But how to become a successful employee? 


This needs planning. Of course, it is not enough if your plan is of normal quality. Your plan should be very good and viable. Further, you must start taking action and execute your plan meticulously. But to make such a good plan, you must learn a few secrets. The following are the secrets you must know.


1. Specialized knowledge.


You must study the industry in which your company is operating. Just like other fields, the filed in which your company is operating may also be changing at a fast pace. You must, therefore, keep abreast of the changes, innovations, and improvements that keep happening in the field. Possessing out-dated knowledge will jeopardize your very existence in the company. If the management of your company comes to know that you are not in possession of the latest innovations or ideas in your field, they will not hesitate even a second to show you the doors. 

On the other hand, if you are in possession of the knowledge related to the latest innovations in the field, the management will shower all the privileges you demand. Therefore, keep taking the required action to acquire specialized knowledge related to the field in which your company is operating.


2. Keep adding value to your company.


Managements never care for average employees. Such employees can not expect to have a reasonably good increase in their remuneration. The management of the company may even decide not to increase their pay. On the contrary, if you keep adding value to your company, you can demand what you think you are worth. But how to add value to your company? This is by generating innovative and workable ideas and proving to the management that those ideas will do wonders for the growth of the company. Again, this cannot be a one-time affair because managements are notorious for their forgetfulness. But ironically, managements remember a few things for longer periods. This statement may sound like an oxymoron. But this is very much true.


Managements never forget the mistakes committed by their employees. But they do not remember the good work of employees for long. This means that you should carefully avoid committing mistakes and at the same time, consistently and continuously, bring value to the company. Only then, you can constantly be in their good books.  


3. Be an opportunity-hunter.


During the course of executing your official tasks, you should always keep your eyes, ears, and other sensory organs open and look for opportunities. By identifying such opportunities, you will be able to showcase your talents and knowledge. It is true that talents and knowledge can never be suppressed and they will be "visible" to everyone at some point. But the present-day context demands that you should hasten the process by deliberately and purposely looking for opportunities and showcasing them. By doing so, you will accelerate the process of becoming a successful employee


Keep the above suggestions in mind and work on them on a continuous basis. You will soon become a successful employee. 

Saturday, August 8, 2020

A Keystone Habit That Can Help You Become Unstoppable in Your Career Growth

As an employee, you may want to have accelerated growth in your career. Especially, when you see some of the most successful people occupying very high positions, you may be puzzled over the conundrum as to how they have climbed the career rungs so quickly while you are still struggling. According to experts, the main reason for your career struggle is your mental blocks though there are several other factors that determine the success or failure of a person. This means you must ensure to eliminate these mental blocks first in order to tread confidently on your success path. Let us find out more about this.

What are the steps you must take for eliminating the mental blocks that do not allow you to climb the career ladder?

1. The foremost impediment to your career growth is YOUR PSYCHOLOGY or thought process. You have to drive out those thoughts that clutter your mind. Never forget the fact that thoughts alone govern your attitude. There are scores of instances to show how highly talented people are NOT considered for high positions just because they have attitudinal issues. Therefore, you have to work on your thought process for changing your attitude.

How to work on your thought process? The process goes like this. Sit in a secluded place, do an introspection, and identify those thoughts that do not allow you to take the required action for changing your attitude and accelerating your career growth. This is a very important step because if you do not drive away such thoughts, you will never be able to achieve what you want. Only when you examine and analyze your thoughts, you can rewire your brain appropriately and change your thought process

2. Another important step to remove mental blocks is to CONSCIOUSLY DRIVE AWAY NEGATIVE THOUGHTS. It is true that you are human and therefore, it may not be possible to completely eliminate negative thoughts from your mind. But when such negative thoughts knock at the threshold of your mind, it is better not to let them in. Even if they sneak in, do not allow them to stay in your mind for a long duration. But how to do this?  The best way is to replace those thoughts with positive thoughts or ideas. If you keep practicing this process for a few days, you will automatically banish all the negative thoughts from your mind. You can then rewire your brain to think only positive thoughts or ideas. This will bring about a phenomenal transformation in your attitude and will ultimately fast-track your career growth.

This is the keystone habit that can help you in fast-tracking your career growth.

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Productivity Level at the Workplace and a Modicum of Common Sense

Though you may wish that you should achieve quick growth in your career, there is another aspect that you cannot afford to ignore. That is you should see whether you are getting satisfaction from what you are doing. In fact, experts opine that if you are able to complete your tasks on time and without making any compromise on the quality of your output, that itself will provide you with unparalleled job satisfaction. But how to complete quality tasks on time? In management parlance, completing quality tasks on time is known as increasing your productivity level. There are a few steps that you can adopt for this. Though you may dread bombastic and high-sounding words such as productivity, output, efficiency, and so on, the steps to achieve these goals are quite simple.

Unfortunately, the top brass of several companies seems to be fond of fancy terms such as "productivity-linked bonus," "productivity-linked promotion," etc. But these terms have a tendency to become subjective because they can easily be tweaked to suit some of the managers of these companies and those employees who have the backing and patronage of those managers. A classic example is that a few years back, the CEO of a big company recommended a lower-level executive for promotion to a high position just because this executive made it a point to go to the airport every time the CEO visited his city. He even carried the luggage and other items of the CEO and saw to it that they were loaded properly in the car.

Now, what are the simple steps you can adopt for bringing about a huge difference to your productivity level? Let us find out.

1. Start with making lists of your daily tasks. 

If you are not in the habit of making the to-do lists of your daily tasks, you should begin this forthwith. This will help you in ensuring that you do not forget your tasks. Unfortunately, your mind is exposed to various types of distractions and hence, you may forget some of the important tasks. By applying your mind and preparing a to-do list, you can avoid such lapses. 

2. Review your to-do lists once every three weeks. 

Once every three weeks, take out all the to-do lists of those three weeks and review them thoroughly. This will help you in finding out the number of tasks you could not complete during the period. You should especially focus on two types of tasks. The first type is the high-priority tasks you could not take up at all. The second one is those tasks that you could not complete on time.
It is imperative that you take the above two steps so that you can identify your problem areas. Once you identify these weak areas, it will be easy for you to take corrective action and strengthen your productivity quotient

Now, what steps can you take if you find that the number of tasks you are not able to complete is alarmingly high?

1. You can work for more number of hours and complete the tasks.
2. You can try and learn more efficient ways of doing your tasks.
3. Thirdly, you can decide to take up fewer tasks.

Though most of the folks including you may choose the second option, you should explore the possibility of embracing the third option as well. This means that you should learn to delegate some of your tasks to your subordinates, peers, or colleagues. If you think that you and you alone should do every task, you will continue to struggle and your productivity will never improve.

Further, if you are falling behind the schedule while trying to complete important tasks, your reputation will get a beating. One of the best ideas is to accord top priority to such important tasks and complete them during the morning hours when your energy levels are at the peak. There will be fewer distractions during those hours. In fact, your confidence will get a boost also since you may have completed very important tasks before the drudgery of your routine tasks starts swallowing your day.

In fact, you should be ready with the list for the next day before you retire for bed every day. While preparing the list and the time schedule for each of the tasks, you should ensure that you allot a realistic duration for completing them. You should provide sufficient cushion for unexpected distractions, interruptions, and emergencies as well. Very importantly, if you take up similar tasks together, you will find it easy to complete them. 

To summarize, achieving good productivity level requires a little common sense. The only point is that you should apply your mind and keep innovating judicious ways of carrying out your tasks. 

Thursday, July 2, 2020

This Four-Letter Word Can Help You Grow in Your Career

On seeing the caption of this post, do not let your imagination fly in the wrong direction. Remember that in English, you have thousands of four-letter words but unfortunately, most of the folks remember only that particular word that should not be remembered. Let us now get into the intended topic without wasting further time.

As an employee, your aim may be to achieve quick growth in your career. But how to accomplish this aim? It is here you have to remember the four-letter word. The word is spelled as "PLAN." Yes. You have to make a solid and workable plan for your career growth. Let us find out how you should go about it. 

Remember the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson who said, "If you would not be known to do anything, never do it.” Even Saul Gellerman, who authored the book entitled "Motivation," says that when your boss recommends you for an elevation, he or she is betting his or her or even the company's reputation on you. This means that you have to earn such a name that the company and your boss is willing to promote you despite the fact that there is an element of risk in it. But how can enter the good books of your boss and the company's top brass? There are three things you should do for achieving this.

1. If you think that you are only a good performer in your organization, you are terribly wrong. There may be others who may be as good as or even better than you. They may be more knowledgeable or more talented than you. The only way you can make your management or bosses choose you over other performers for promoting is to stand out from them. You should show the management that you are competent in a wide range of tasks. You should also display your intelligence and knowledge in more number of areas than the other performers. Simply put, by distinguishing yourself from others, you can make the management choose you for a higher position. On the other hand, if you keep focusing on your own tasks and do not make the management realize that you are versatile, the top brass will prefer to retain you in the same position in which you have been showing your excellence.    
2. Let the managers of the other teams also know about your competence. If you succeed in accomplishing this, the leaders of the other teams will vie with each other when there are suitable positions for you in their departments. For making the other departmental heads know about you, you should be ready to mingle freely with the members of those teams as well. There may be several occasions that can help you develop a good relationship with the members of the other departments. There may be company outings, get-togethers, company seminars, etc. These people should know that you are competent and knowledgeable. You should be nice to them. It is not that you are advised to embrace hypocrisy and be nice to them. You should really be sincere and nice to them. If you fake, you will be found out very soon. 

The purpose of making the suggestion that you should create such an internal network is that these people will carry the details about you to their managers who, in turn, will keep the information in mind for future use. When there is an appropriate position in their department, they will remember you. Of course, they will test your competence before giving their final nod. Secondly, once you are chosen for the position, the folks who have passed on your details to their bosses are likely to be your peers or subordinates. They will extend their fullest cooperation and support to you and this will eventually help in your growth.

You have to make a plan to execute the above suggestions. That is the reason we firmly say that PLAN, a four-letter word, can help you achieve quick growth in your career.

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

How the Attitude of Mediocrity Can Kill Your Growth

A study says that the number of people who are complacent with their mediocre skills and their learning aspirations is huge. On the other hand, there are people who firmly believe that any level of talent or skill is not enough in the highly competitive environment that is prevalent now. For these latter folks, even the sky is not the limit and they do not even consider age, qualifications, and other barriers as impediments. There are people who are in their eighties who keep studying and enhancing their knowledge levels. In this context, you should understand and realize that if you develop such an attitude, no one on this planet can stall your growth. Let us find out how the attitude of mediocrity can stunt your growth and how the attitude of not getting complacent can help in improving your growth trajectory.

1. It is true that mediocrity may make you comfortable. But it may take a toll on your growth regardless of whether you are running a business or in employment. If you believe that average or normal performance is enough for executing your tasks, you will be increasing the chances of your faltering along your way. This means that your output and performance will be below par. You may commit errors and mistakes as well. Therefore, you may have to repeat the tasks again and again. This may sap your energy as well as your enthusiasm. When your enthusiasm gets a beating, your output will again be much below satisfactory levels. In other words, this may become a vicious circle and so, getting out of this quagmire may become highly difficult for you.

2. If you continue nurturing your mediocrity mentality, it may negatively impact your health as well. Your stress level will increase. For example, if you are employed and if your output or performance is not to the satisfaction of your boss, he or she may ask you to repeat the tasks until he or she is satisfied. Unfortunately, you have always been in possession of the mediocrity mentality and hence, you yourself are not certain if you will be able to improve the quality of your output. This uncertainty coupled with the energy you spend for executing the tasks repeatedly will increase your stress level. It is a known fact that constant stress can lead to serious ailments such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart-related health issues. 

3. Your attitude of mediocrity can rob your peace of mind at the home front. A home is a place where you can enjoy tranquility and peace of mind. But thanks to your mentality and mediocrity habits, you will adopt a cavalier and insouciant attitude towards your close relatives including your spouse and children. Remember that such a lack of concern for them will certainly annoy them and they are bound to get upset with your behaviors and habits. This may lead to avoidable arguments or tiffs within your family, the casualty being the tranquility at your home.
     
4. Another very important point to remember is that your mediocrity mentality will not allow you to utilize the opportunities available on the career front in an appropriate manner. Though every organization affords near-equal opportunities for its employees, it will not be a level-playing field for you because you have chosen a mediocre mentality. Those who believe in acquiring more and more skills and developing their knowledge will be able to move ahead of you and you will find yourself in an unenviable situation. 

The problem with your mediocre mentality is that if you are a team head, your attitude will deprive your team of great achievements also This is because you will either hesitate to make decisions or even if you dare to, you will perpetually make faulty ones. 

How to dispense with this mentality?

These are some of the disadvantages you are likely to encounter owing to your mediocrity mentality. You should, therefore, try and get rid of it. But you have to remember that you cannot achieve overnight success. By taking small and baby steps and achieving small successes, you can boost your confidence. 

You should remember another fact also. You cannot acquire skills in all the areas. Even if you try your best, there are bound to some areas in which you can never become an expert. In this context, it is better to recall a conversation between Bruce Lee, a Hong Kong-American martial arts instructor and philosopher, and another upcoming martial artist. This upcoming artist told Lee that however hard he tried, he could not lift his legs and use them as effectively as his peers did. To this, Lee replied that it was not necessary to acquire that skill, and instead, the artist could develop those skills in which he was strong.

You should apply the same analogy here and focus on your areas of strength and try to develop your expertise in them. You should not get complacent with average-level skills. You should learn to adroitly sidestep roadblocks along the way. You should work hard to become an expert in your strong areas. This will empower you to a great extent. You will be in a position to leverage your skills for achieving enormous success on the career front as well as in your life.  

  

Saturday, June 6, 2020

Become Unstoppable in Achieving Your Career Goals

If you are one of those employees who aspire to achieve exponential success in their career, you must be ready and willing to upgrade yourself and your habits. Of course, you have to plan your course as well so that you will find it easy to move along that path. But is planning enough to achieve this movement? The answer is: No. Planning alone will not be enough; YOU SHOULD TAKE ACTION. If you keep on planning, you will not move even an inch and get closer to your destination. As they say, "A thousand-mile journey begins with the first step." In short, you should keep taking the required steps on a continuous basis until you reach your career goal. But what are these steps? Let us have a look.

Be wise while setting career goals

A number of people commit the mistake of setting goals without thinking even for a minute how they intend to achieve them. For example, if you aim to become the top executive of your company, you can achieve this aim in two ways. The first method is a step-by-step approach which means you have to move from your present level to the next one, then to the next one, and so on. The second method is to acquire so much capability that you become deserving and eligible for the top position. In short, while setting goals, you should have clarity as to how you intend to achieve them.

Kick away the distractions

Bruce Lee once said, "It is not daily increase, but daily decrease. Hack away the unessential." Distractions are the most unessential things in our lives. They can derail all the efforts you take for achieving your goals. They can sabotage your dreams and prevent them from getting translated into reality. Therefore, destroying distractions is very important. If you win over your temptation of excessive watching of television or spending your time on social media sites such as Whatsapp or Facebook, you will get a lot of time that you can use for making efforts to grow in your career.

Put in place personal rules

You are the one who sets your career goal. Your goal will not be the same as those of others. Therefore, you should put in place personal rules that suit you the best and that can get you success. But remember that you should consistently follow these rules. There should not be half-hearted efforts.

Success hates delays

Never postpone taking action on ideas that may lead you towards success. As the saying goes, "procrastination is the thief of time." Further, experts firmly advise against delaying actions on ideas. If you delay your action steps, there are chances of the circumstances undergoing drastic changes. You may lose interest and focus as well. Ultimately, you will not be able to achieve the career goal you are aiming at. By putting in place unique, personal plans that are best suited to you and following them meticulously, you will automatically put your plans to action. To be precise, your discipline will become an automatic habit.

Plant only those thoughts that are tuned to success

If you are aiming at great career goals but if you always nurture those thoughts that focus on how and why you may fail to achieve the goals, you will never be able to achieve them. Therefore, you should learn to remove unwanted thoughts from your mind and plant only those thoughts that are focused on your success. If you practice this step consistently, you can easily master this technique.  

Be ruthless while self-reflecting

You should be ruthlessly honest while doing self-reflection. Only then, you can identify the lacunae in your approach and do course correction. Otherwise, you will keep committing the same mistakes. You will ultimately not be able to achieve your goals. This may cause frustration and so, you may even decide to jettison your goals. 

Now, which is the best time to do self-reflection? Every day, before you retire for the day, you should recollect what all you did at your workplace. By reflecting on every task you carried out during the day, you will be able to know if the manner in which you did your work would help in fructifying your aim of growing in your career. This step will help you find the shortcomings, if any, in your approach also. You must immediately take action to correct yourself so that you will not commit the same mistakes again. The step will help you fast-track your career growth as well.

Monday, May 25, 2020

Can You Consistently Come out with High Performance at Your Workplace?

As an employee, you may wish to be in the good books of your employer. Therefore, you may aim to consistently perform very well. But is it possible to consistently come out with high performance at your workplace? If you have such a doubt in your mind, you should know what experts advise. According to experts, the secret of coming out with high performance is to have fun while carrying out your official tasks. 

But how can you have fun while doing your official work? As every person is unique, the ways of having fun while doing official work will differ from one employee to another. This means that you have to learn the ways yourself. In fact, no institution or university including business schools of repute will teach you this secret. As Jim Rohn said, "Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune." 

One of the basic points that can make you happy at your work is when you complete your tasks on time. On the contrary, if you do not complete your work on time, it will make you unhappy. Of course, there may be different reasons that may have contributed to delays in the completion of the tasks. You may not like the tasks and therefore, you are finding some alibi or the other for procrastinating them. Or, there may be distractions that may be robbing your focus towards the tasks. There may be several factors that may cause a delay in the completion of the tasks. 

But how to eliminate such factors and complete your tasks on time?

Now that you have understood that it is the delays in the completion of your tasks that cause unhappiness to you, you may be wondering as to how to surmount this issue. The best way to eliminate this problem is to FIX DEADLINES. This means that you should fix a deadline for every task you take up. Remember that no one is imposing these deadlines. It is you that is imposing such deadlines and you are imposing them for yourself.

An expert has rightly named delays as "tyrannosaurs." Delays not only spoil your reputation but will cause anxiety as well. Therefore, you can not enjoy your work. This will ultimately derail your aim of coming out with high performance on a consistent basis. Of course, you should not compromise on the quality of your work just because you want to avoid delays. 

Since these deadlines are self-imposed, you will avoid distractions from over-powering you. 

Multi-tasking is a killer of high performance

A few years back, people used to laud multi-taskers. But science has proved beyond doubt that multi-tasking kills high performance because it is also a distractor. In fact, it has been proved that people need at least 20 to 30 minutes to get back the required focus after a phase of distraction, however short the duration of the distraction may be. Therefore, avoid multitasking at all costs.  

If you follow these steps, you can consistently come out with a high performance at your workplace.

Monday, May 18, 2020

When will Your Employer Consider You a Highly Valuable Employee?

As an expert puts it, "employers are always skeptical." This means they do not easily believe their employees. To put it differently, they view employees with suspicion. According to them, employees will not put forth their fullest efforts if they are not prodded, employees will while away their time if they are not supervised constantly, and they will commit blunders if they are not guided properly. Though this opinion of the expert has to be taken with a pinch of salt, the fact remains that it may be difficult for employees to earn the goodwill of their employers. This is perhaps one of the reasons some employees try to over-deliver, though whether they succeed in their efforts to impress their employers or not is a debatable point.

If you are an employee and if you, in the cockles of your heart, have a feeling that your employer views you with suspicion, you are likely to wonder as to how to enter the good books of the employer. Remember there are several employees who are like you and who want themselves to be considered valuable by their employers. Let us find out if this is possible and if so, how it can be accomplished. 

You may be a marketing executive in your company, you may be a supervisor who manages the shop floor, or you may be working in the accounts or audit department or in the HR section. Regardless of your position in your organization and regardless of your productivity levels, the management is likely to quickly forget all that you have delivered, however big your accomplishments may be. As an employee helming the marketing department, you may have brought in more business and increased sales to a significant extent. As the Head of the HR department, you might have played a key role in recruiting the right candidates for the company. Be informed that the company will not always remember these things. "People's memory is short" is the saying. Similarly, management's memory is short also. In this context, how can you make your management put you in the list of highly valuable employees?

"All the world's a stage. And all the men and women merely players," said Shakespeare. Your life and the role you play in your workplace is also similar to that of an actor. As an employee, you may encounter various types of situations at your workplace and this may include tricky ones as well. Let us assume that the company is facing such a tricky situation. Just imagine that you have authored a drama in which this situation occurs. How will you handle it? Or how will you give a twist to the story so the issue gets resolved and the situation becomes normal? In short, you are advised to put your creative muscle to work.

What is the inference of all these? You should try to become an idea machine or an idea-generating machine for your company. If you consistently provide great ideas for the company, your employer will certainly consider you a highly valuable employee. This is because it is ideas that can make or mar a business. It is ideas that can take a company to the next planks. It is ideas that can out-smart the competition. Therefore, if you become an idea-generating machine for your employer, you will not only be a valuable employee but will be able to climb the career rungs faster as well.