No matter what yard stick or metric you use to measure professional success, there are some key elements to career success.
Positive attitude
Do you complain frequently? Do you focus on the possible negative outcomes and call yourself a realist? Positive thinking has been a buzz topic for many years for a reason. Negative thinking can be the ultimate success inhibitor. Try going on a complaint-free diet. It will wake you up to how much energy you spend on negative thinking.
Openness to change
Are you rigid in your goals? Do you fixate on one thing and nothing can dissuade you? Flexibility and adaptability are qualities many employers seek. With the ever-changing global economy and increase in world-wide competition via the web, companies and organizations must respond to change quickly and easily. It is good to be focused but realize that being so focused that you lose site of the ultimate goal – to be successful – can prevent success. Career success may require going sideways, in a diagonal or changing paths completely instead of forging straight ahead with blinders on.
Resilience
Do you get frustrated easily and give up? Everyone has career set backs but it is how you respond to those set backs that determines your ultimate career success. If you wallow in self pity for weeks or months it is time to seek professional help to get you out of your career funk. Learn to accept set backs as par for the course as you experiment with what works and what doesn’t.
Power of choice
Successful people understand that it is their power of choice that determines their success. They are not victims. They don’t blame others or other things for their success or failure. They seek out every opportunity to use their power of choice and never say “I don’t have a choice”. They understand that whatever they choose to do, there are inherent risks but they feel the fear and do it anyway. They also prepare themselves for possible failure with a plan B in mind and always look at failure as a learning experience.
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