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Kathy Simmons
Do you want to be a winner at work? It doesn`t just happen without sincere effort. If you are willing to develop these six habits of success, you can achieve greater happiness - and more opportunities - at work:
Be A Solution-Finder, Not a Problem-Identifier
Raise Your Resilience Level
Strengthen Your Self-Control
Take The Initiative
You Are What You Think - Watch Your Self-Talk!
Ask the Right Questions
Be A Solution-Finder, Not a Problem-Identifier
"Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a good carpenter to build one."
- Sam Rayburn
It takes no particular talent to find fault. Yet many behave as though their "gift" must be shared-over and over, and over again! Do you know people at work who are forever complaining about decisions "they" make? They act as if they have no responsibility to make things better. These professional problem-identifiers generally plateau on the career ladder rather quickly.
Develop the habit of criticizing positively - by recommending a more perfect way. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, "He has a right to criticize who has a heart to help."
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Raise Your Resilience Level
"Trouble is only opportunity in work clothes."
- Henry J. Kaiser
As unfair as it seems, bad things really do happen to good people. You may have been fired in the past, passed over for a promotion, or been the victim of a nasty rumor. Don`t feel alone. Many others have suffered similar fates. Your reaction to these disappointments is a huge determining factor for your future. Pick yourself up, take a deep breath and move forward. Refusing to allow problems to defeat you is called resilience. Successful employees maintain theirs at a high level, regardless of the circumstances.
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Strengthen Your Self-Control
"It is easy to fly into a passion - anybody can do that - but to be angry with the right person to the right extent and at the right time and with the right object and in the right way - that is not easy, and it is not everyone who can do it."
- Aristotle
A moment of impulsiveness can tear down years of hard work when it comes to your career and reputation in general. Self-discipline is a sign of emotional maturity and professionalism. It is displayed by refusing to give in to bad moods and refraining from unnecessary conflict with others. Winners discipline themselves to behave professionally, even when their emotional side would rather not.
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Take The Initiative
"To get the true measure of a man`s capacity, note how much more he does than is required of him."
- Anonymous
My favorite summary of what initiative is can be attributed to Robert E. Kelley, professor at Carnegie Mellon University`s Graduate School of Industrial Administration. Kelley suggests initiative consists of four simple elements:
1) Doing something above and beyond your job description.
2) Helping other people.
3) Taking risks.
4) Seeing an activity through to completion.
Successful employees don`t procrastinate, or wait for opportunities to walk up and announce themselves! They take initiative constantly.
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You Are What You Think - Watch Your Self-Talk!
"You will draw to yourself that which you most persistently think about."
- Anonymous
Dr. David Schwartz, in The Magic of Thinking Big, says that over 80 percent of our hospital beds are filled with people with "EII," or Emotionally Induced Illness. This does not mean that they people are not sick, just that their illness began in their minds. A steady diet of negative thinking or worry is sure to rot away your potential. Can you afford it?
Surround yourself with people who help you think optimistically. Refuse to become your own worst critic. Winners keep their thoughts and self-talk positive in order to reach their maximum potential.
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Ask the Right Questions
"Don`t be afraid to ask dumb questions. They`re more easily handled than dumb mistakes."
- William Wister Haines
The value of asking questions is neatly summed up by the case of the teacher who invested her life savings in a business that had been eloquently explained to her by a shyster. When her investment disappeared, she went to the office of the Better Business Bureau. "Why in the world," they asked, "didn`t you ask us about this first?"
"I thought about it," said the lady sadly, "But I was afraid you would tell me not to do it."
Would you rather pursue your education at the school of hard knocks or avoid the angst of making preventable mistakes? Winners learn from others rather than the trial and error.
Resolve today to put these six habits into action. They are sure to shoot you up several rungs on the career ladder. Now that`s a winning idea
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