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 Sacrifice
Achieving success usually involves sacrifice. If it were always easy, everyone would drive a Porsche. Try to keep a check on your expectations. Nobody achieves everything; you have to compromise on certain matters. It is for you to set your priorities and decide what you really want and what you can let go of.
Career path Even if you work for a big company, you're essentially on your own. Businesses offer career paths, training, and teambuilding, and they want to be fair, but they're subject to impersonal market conditions like mergers, acquisitions, takeovers, and international competition; so anything can happen. That's why your employer can't be responsible for your career. You have to take charge of it yourself. Take charge The workplace can be fun and challenging. It can also be difficult. It rewards effort, planning, and training, but it punishes indifference and lack of preparation. Those who don't take charge of their own careers - who just let things happen - often end up in painful, dead-end jobs, feeling trapped in unhappy lifestyles. Choose your direction carefully Changing fields, industries, or functional specialties is difficult, and the bigger the change, the more difficult it is. Hardwood manufacturers may not want you if you've been in softwood. And vice versa. Therefore, choose your direction carefully. Once you leave a career path to try something new, it may be difficult to re-enter. You'll look like a "traitor" to insiders, and you'll be competing with those who've stayed. Learning Today's engineering graduate is obsolete in less than five years. You may be too. If you aren't learning something new today, you may be out-of-date and unmarketable tomorrow. That's especially true for those over 40. Try to keep yourself abreast with the recent happenings in your field. Learning should be a never ending process. Be a “people person” "People skills" are just as important as "technical skills," because even in highly technical jobs, you have to work with others. Many outplacement candidates are technical superstars who've been fired. They knew their jobs, but couldn't collaborate or get along with others. Average performers with strong people skills often last longer. It's better to be a "people person" with average skills than to be an abrasive expert who wins at the expense of others. Prove yourself On any given day, your present job may end, even if you own the company! Therefore, think short-term. Don't take your present opportunity for granted. A consultant is "Someone who wakes up every morning unemployed." You should feel the same way. Get up every morning feeling unemployed, and constantly fight to prove yourself. Appreciate your job, but figure out what you're going to do next. Correct networking Your friends - even distant friends - are your best allies in your life and in your career, especially in job hunting. No one will help you more than those who already know you. So make an extensive list of your business and personal contacts (essentially, everyone you've met), and stay in touch with them, even after you've found a new job. Seek balance Too much success can kill you. Learn when enough is enough. If you think you're burning out, you may be right. Highly successful people are the most subject to burnout. They demand too much from themselves - and from everyone around them. Seek balance. Remember the golden mean: "All things in moderation." Control emotions Be careful expressing strong emotions in business, especially anger and disappointment. Communicate your feelings quietly and tactfully. Understate your case. Anger is powerful, even when expressed softly. Don't explode, threaten, or attack others publicly. Don't tell opponents off, even if it would feel great. Burning bridges damages your reputation - not only with the person you dislike - but with the business community at large. Remember, if you make an enemy today, it may take them ten years to "get you." But chances are, they will. Note: This article is from Economic Times
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