Surprising Career Habits of Highly Successful People

Surprising Career Habits of Highly Successful People When observing highly successful people, it’s easy to assume they must have had a string of great luck that landed them in their good fortune. And, if it wasn’t luck, surely, they were born with super-human abilities that made their rise to greatness quick and effortless. But our latest research confirms good luck and good genetics have very little to do with success. According to our study of more than 1,800 employees, the most important factor to personal and career success isn’t good luck, natural talent, or even decision makingâ€"it’s a habit. That’s right, people’s simple routine behaviors trump all else when it comes to influencing success. Specifically, our study participants attributed nearly 46 percent of their career success to having the right habits. They said the decisions they made accounted for 22 percent of their successâ€"making habits more than twice as critical. And for those who feel they’re simply not cut out for the job; the good news is habits far outweigh natural talent as well, which came in at just over 24 percent. Luck fell a distant fourth at just 6 percent. And what’s even more surprising is that many of the habits people attributed to their success are less heroic than they are simple. For instance, some of the career habits respondents felt made the difference between success and failure include: Think yes before saying no. Be open to opportunities to grow and expand outside of your comfort zone. Trust your gut. Do your research but stop at 80 percent confidence rather than 110 percent. Be curious. Dedicate time each week to dreaming and researching. Know the dream is free but hustle costs extra.Do the hardest or most important thing on your to-do list first thing in the morning. A lot of these habits are what we call Trigger Habits. While they seem small, they actually trigger a series of other powerful habits. For instance, ‘Thinking yes before saying no,’ is likely to create a habit of being less impulsive, more thoughtful, and even more visionary and creative. In fact, many of the good habits successful people have at work carry over into their personal life. So instead of agonizing over every decision, counting yourself down and out because you aren’t as gifted as the next guy, or even wearing your lucky socks to work each day, learn how to create new, simple habits that will jumpstart your workplace performance. The skills to learn and adopt new habits are taught in our new training course The Power of Habitâ„¢, which is based on the New York Times best-selling book of the same title by Charles Duhigg. 3 Tips to Learning New Career Habits in 2020: Spot the Lag:  Identify the areas in your career where you’re not getting the results you want, then identify the habits that will produce those results. If you can’t see the lag or the desired habits, invest in 360 surveys to gather feedback, ask a mentor or manager where you could improve or find training and development opportunities that illuminate the skills needed to reach the next level. Make it a Ritual: Create a ritual around the new habit by engineering your environment a time of day, place, people, objects, etc. so that it’s conducive to doing the habit. Set up reminders, or cues, and arrange your world so that doing the behavior comes easier. For example, if you are trying to develop a habit of quickly processing incoming email, then disable social media, instant messenger tools, and other distractions on your computer so you can focus on the new habit.     Reward Yourself: Every time you complete your new routine, reward yourself immediately. Maybe you indulge i n a special treat, an activity, or delay indulgence in your favorite guilty pleasure until after you complete the new routine. This becomes your incentive not  the results you hope for. The results will follow but reward yourself immediately to fire up your motivation in the beginning. No amount of luck, talent, brains or good decisions can compensate for your habits and your routines. And that is good news for anyone looking to make changes in 2020. Ultimately, you’re just a few habits away from success. About the author: Emily Gregory is the VP of Product Development at VitalSmarts, a Top 20 Leadership Training company. She co-designed The Power of Habit Training, a transformative new training from VitalSmarts. Emily also travels the world speaking, training, and consulting with leaders and employees from Fortune 500 organizations.

How to write about your life

How to write about your life Agents contact me on a regular basis to ask me if I want to do a book about my life. I say no. I say no because I have no idea how to do a book about my life. Im sure I have no idea because I already have had a six-figure book deal to write about my life that Im not delivering on, and the editor has dumped me. (Read: Phone calls to collect on the large advance Ive already spent.) So my qualifications to tell you advice about how to write about ones life are questionable. But whatever; I have never stood on ceremony over qualifications. Maybe the problem is that my life story needs a redemptive moment. This is what my agent-who-is-no-longer-my-agent tells me. And this is a warning to any agent who thinks they might want to be my agent: My past agent dumped me because (even though I did deliver on my first book deal) I am terrible at writing book proposals and I am terrible at following publishing industry rules. And her number one rule is that if you write about your life there must be a redemptive moment because people like that. Thats what sells, is my not-my-agents way of saying Thats what people like to read. So, okay. I try to see that. I mean, Ive read plenty of memoirs Girl, Interrupted, Smashed, Darkness Visibleall good books. All very redemptive at the end, for sure. But Ive also read Anna Karenina. Well, I havent, but Im able to spoil the ending for you right now anyway (skip to the next paragraph if you dont want the spoiler). She gets hit by a train. I think she kills herself. That seems redemptive to me. I mean, at least she doesnt have to wake up to her same problems every day. I have told this to my not-agent. She said that people do not want to read about my fascination with suicide. Its true. I am fascinated by suicide: Why dont more people kill themselves? Life is very hard. And there is no sane reason to believe it will, at some point, get easier. So why do we keep going? I dont know. This fascinates me. (Here is a great book of suicide letters. And heres a tidbit for all you productivity gurus: People in their 20s who kill themselves write suicide notes about how much they love the people who will be most hurt by the suicide: their parents, a boyfriend maybe. People in their 30s and 40s write suicide notes that are informational to-do lists: Where the cat food is, when the kids homework is due, how to find the keys to the safety deposit box. Both types of letters are great examples of how people have totally lost perspective when they kill themselves. This baffles me, since I also feel that we have totally lost our perspective by choosing to not kill ourselves.) Okay. So I told my not-my-agent that my proposal for a memoir is redemptive because the reader will see that I did not kill myself before I got to the date of the national book tour. That did not work for her. So I said my book is redemptive because I had an insane childhood and look, now Im not living on the street. My agent told me that my life is too precarious for my surviving childhood to be redemptive. She told me I could write about keeping my marriage together even though we both have Aspergers Syndrome, but before I could write the proposal (and convince my ex that this would be okay to write) we divorced. What about writing about the divorce? She said divorce is not redemptive. Im pretty sure thats when she told me to get a new agent. Okay. So back to me telling you how to write about yourself. I say, forget about redemption. Its false. I read The Glass Castle, and I think its nice Jeanette Wallis got out of her hell-hole family, but really, I want to know what her fights with her husband are like on her zillion-dollar Hamptons estate. I think you should write the truth. Be real. If you obsess about redemption instead of the truth, youll be like me, writing nothing, because life is not redemptive. Life isnt like that. Just write your own messy life, and let it spill out. But, wait. Heres the problem with that. Your life is boring. Im sorry to tell you this. But actually all our lives are boring. Which is another strike against obsessing over redemption: it doesnt make your life interesting, but good writing always makes life interesting. So you need to tell something true to make people want to read, but you need to be interesting doing it. Do you want to know what interesting is? How many articles and stories and blog posts have you read about getting fired? Six million, right? Everyone wants to tell their story. Most suck. But heres a great one: The CEO of Sun wrote a tweet to announce his resignation. Its interesting because of the media he chose, its interesting because of the timing, and its interesting because its a haiku: Financial crisis/Stalled too many customers/CEO no more The bar is high if you want to be interesting. What can you do? Heres what I do: 1. Assume you are not all that interesting. The reader does not want a peek into your life. Not enough people care. Do you know how I know? Because porn is boring. Sure, if youre using it for masturbation, its interesting, because then its giving you something. But if not, what are you doing watching? Who cares about someone elses sex life? And you can be sure that the peek into your life is never going to be as interesting as a porn movie. So forget writing a blog post merely to give someone a peek. 2. Cut fifteen percent of everything you write. Because no one is so interesting that they cant cut words. 3. Write to give the reader something they want. I try to focus on this with every post I write. But in fact, this is advice about how to do anything in your life: Help people as much as you can. Give people what they need, and if you focus on that, the rest will fall into place. This is true of how to network, how to parent, how to manage people and also how to write about your life. So really, the world is full of ways to give to each other, and were all just looking for the best way. And this, in the end, is probably why we dont kill ourselves.

Learning from Successes Trumps Learning from Failure Every Time - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Learning from Successes Trumps Learning from Failure Every Time - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Long-term success is contingent on continual improvement. There are manifold continuous improvement strategies from the Japanese Kaizen to Six Sigma to personal self-reflection and meditation. Most improvement strategies rely on identifying mistakes and taking action to ensure those mistakes are corrected and not repeated. Some of the most successful people espouse the fail fast, fail often success achievement approach. This makes a lot of sense in the context of learning what doesnt work, then making adjustments to find more effective ways to improve and get better results. Cant argue with that approach, on the surface. Look beneath the surface and this is what you will find: continually looking at what youve done wrong can be demoralizing and de-motivating. it also forced us into a continual state of trial and error which can be exhausting. it can take a long time to achieve the success we desire. There is another philosophy applied much less frequently which promotes the concept of learning from successes and building on those. Last week I was reminded of this when I got off the stage at a recent speaking engagement in front of an audience of almost 100 business professionals. So that I can continually improve I record all my presentations, whether they be keynote addresses, breakout session seminars at professional conferences or longer format workshops. While relaxing poolside after a late night swim at the hotel listening to the recording I found myself focusing on the things I liked about my presentation, and the places that generated the audience response I was trying to create. I was looking for things that worked to make sure I replicated them in future presentations. The more of those situations I identify, the more I can keep in the show, which means the more positive experiences I can deliver for my clients. And, more importantly, the less things I will need to correct” because in a very short time those will become irrelevant. In thinking about this I also came to the realization this approach should be applied to all facets of our business and life. It was a lot of fun to listen to myself and look for the things I liked. In the past it was a struggle for me to listen to a presentation when I walked off the stage because it was painful with all the focus on the things I did wrong. For that reason, early in my professional speaking career, I dont believe I improved as quickly as I could have. Since I started listening for replicating the good stuff, the quality of my presentations has significantly improved, my confidence and enthusiasm in front of my audiences has exploded, and the post event commentary from audience members has grown tremendously. Dont get me wrong, there are still sometimes places where I cringe and wish I did or said something different. When I hear those I take note to work on improvements. But, those are fewer and farther between these days. Not because theyre not there, its just that the seriousness and severity of the mistake now has a higher threshold for me to even notice. Its much more fun for me to review my presentations and build on my successes. Try it, Im certain youll feel the same and be able to accelerate your success. Here are some questions you can use: What worked well that we should keep doing? What did we enjoy most about the experience? How can we make those things even better next time?

I Wont be Coming in Today Because.... and other excuses

I Wont be Coming in Today Because.... and other excuses Now, most of us (cough, cough) have feigned sickness to get a day off work at least once in their life and anyone who says they havent is probably lying or a workaholic. In fact,  80 percent of UK working Brits have pulled a sickie over the last year, according to new research commissioned by Perkbox.   It found over half weren’t asked for proof of sickness (57 percent) and of those who were, consequences were as diverse as getting fired (one in 10), a formal warning (one in five) or no implications at all (one in three). But why do we do it when we could easily just book a leave day? Well,  nearly half of those polled believe the reason why employees pull sickies is because they are unhappy, depressed and overworked in their current jobs or in their private lives. Yet 12 percent say pulling sickies has resulted in a complete loss of their employer’s trust, making the situation worse. Perhaps that’s why 14 percent of those who got caught last year, decided to confess the truth. 44 per cent of those surveyed believe the ‘sickie’ culture may be heightened by employees who have a zero work ethic and are abusing the system. After all, nearly one in 10 of those who were asked for proof of sickness last year faked it and nearly a quarter believe having an awful relationship with their managers and/or colleagues may be a key reason why this behaviour arises in the first place. Hannah Sims, Product Manager at Perkbox Medical says: UK employees aren’t hard-wired to be deceptive or to skive off work. Sickies” result from a lack of engagement in the work employees do or in the business they work for and are often telling of more serious issues. Having and enforcing a clear sick leave policy not only makes legal sense and allows you and your business to track absenteeism, but it also means you can keep a pulse of your company’s health and signal to employees that you take their wellbeing seriously and are always looking for ways to proactively help them. So what are the top ten Sickie excuses? Here are some of the best and worst: I fell over in the shower and knocked myself out How this person was then able to pick themselves up to phone in sick baffles me. My partner threw the TV remote at me last night and I chipped my tooth   Ermmm no words for this one. I fell down the stairs and broke my coccyx (added implication cant sit)   Unless this person was never intending to go back to work this doesnt sound that convincing! I thought it was Saturday today   OK, hands up those of you who have ACTUALLY done this?? I accidentally ate cat food instead of tuna and fell terribly ill This person needs the help of Marie Kondo to sort out their kitchen cupboards. My doctors appointment was delayed by 2, then 4, then 8 hours. Then finally when it was my turn I was in the toilet so I kept waiting This person needs some lessons on how not to call in sick. I got lucky last night and didnt know where I was in the morning Now if this persons boss didnt applaud them then they clearly need to get a life. I needed a day to catch-up on Brexit deals and learn how to apply for permanent residency. Its for the companys sake too you know! Now, this is just pure genius! I dreamt I was at work. As I thought I was there I just stayed asleep Please tell me the boss didnt actually believe this one?? I had a bad dream and needed the day to recover related to excuse no.9 I wonder? So have you used any of these excuses or have you got any of your own? Why dont you share them with us.

How To Write a LinkedIn Invitation to Connect - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

How To Write a Invitation to Connect

A Beginners Guide to a New Management Position - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

A Beginners Guide to a New Management Position We all know there is a weak spot in everything that exists. For a tree, the weak spot is the limb. For our careers, it’s a new job, especially a promotion into management. The reason it is a weak spot, is that we arrogantly think that what got us here will continue to serve us well going forward. That thinking is the trap. We fail to realize that with each promotion, the job is different, as well as the expectation of us in that new and higher position. Oops! Let’s look at some rookie mistakes: Failure to understand the job. This may sound odd, but a big mistake is not fully understanding your job as a manager. Job descriptions vary wildly and when you are standing off to the side, it’s easy to see only the more superficial elements to a job. You don’t really know it until you’re in it. Making your employees your friends. While it’s great to work well and garner the respect of your employees, you are crossing a line when you make them your buddy. Perhaps the line isn’t a legal one or even policy, but you will have to make tough decisions that will impact others. You may make bad decisions because of it and even if you don’t, you risk some major backlash. Not recognizing that you must change. Even if you are promoted for the same company and department you’ve been in, you simply must change. The job is not the same as the last one you had no matter how similar it might seem. No plan for integration. There’s a reason why you think about training a new employee â€" because they have things to learn. So do you. Everyone in a new job has a period of integration, which means things to learn. Here’s how to avoid these mistakes: Make a learning/integration plan. While you’re at it, figure out what your job is and how you will approach it. Don’t assume you know everything. You will receive respect if your employees see your openness and desire to learn. Sure, you do know a few things and you should do those well to start with. Be friendly, but not a friend. There is a difference between the two. Your people will love you if you are available, friendly and easy to talk to. If you personally have an issue separating the two, then seek advice for approaches that can help you. Plan for a win. As you are learning your job, you should be finding many problems or challenges to solve. Take note of those and plan to visibly solve some “low hanging fruit”. It will help establish your credibility as a new manager and confirm in management’s mind that they made a good decision. You can take a very real weak spot and fortify it with the right approach. When you do, you will ensure your success. Most people have no one helping them figure out how to be successful in their career or how to get to that next level â€" until now. To get more of this valuable advice, here is FREE access to a great eworkbook “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” about how to get the most out of your job right now! You will also get my FREE newsletter full of ongoing growth advice. Sign up now: Get your copy of Should I Stay or Should I Go! Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran, Leadership Champion and Introvert Whisperer at www.nextchapternewlife.com.

Career Corner Career Transition Survival Tip #2 - Hallie Crawford

Career Corner Career Transition Survival Tip #2 Sometimes were so busy taking care of business that we forget to take care of ourselves. Yet, if youre amidst a major career change, there is nothing more important than listening to your Inner Voice and tending to all the little things your body, mind and soul is asking for and needs. Here are some great ways to nourish your whole self and stay balanced while successfully navigating through your career change. 2. Set boundaries. Life can get a little crazy when change is happening all around us. If youve still got one foot in your former professional role and the other foot has stepped into the future, you may feel unsure of whether youre coming or going! This is natural, especially in times of transition. The trick is to set boundaries for yourself as a way to curb the feelings of overwhelm. One boundary could be, turning off some of the channels of information overflow. For example, if youve signed up for new career membership associations or email newsletters, you could create a special email address for this purpose alone. This way, personal pursuits can be kept separate from your daily responsibilities, helping you to feel less distracted and stressed. Time can be another boundary that keeps anxiety at bay. For instance, you can make a commitment to not to think about anything career-related after 8 p.m., instead reserving another time slot for this purpose. Your commitment could be, I will work on my career transition from 5:30-7:30 at least twice a week. By setting and maintaining boundaries between your career goals, everyday responsibilities, and leisure pursuits, you will feel more in-control of your life, balanced and at peace with yourself and the process. Heres to having a career you love, Career Coaching