Dec 11, 2010

The New ABC's of Success-in Life and Career

"The future ain't what it used to be!" says Yogi Berra. Here are some of the new rules for success in today’s global economy. Obey them and success is yours. Disregard them and you'll be consigned to limbo, if not oblivion. The rules for successful lives and careers have been radically altered as globalization and information/communication technology have significantly changed the business of doing business. Here are some of the new rules for success. Obey them and success is yours-in life and career. Disregard them and you'll be consigned to limbo, if not oblivion.

Avoid burnout. In the past, you had to work hard. Today, you have to work smart and maintain a good balance between professional and personal life.

Beware the boss who promises to build a bridge where there is no river. Don't stick it out with a boss you can't rely on. If you haven't received the raise or promotion your boss promised you five years ago, maybe it's time to find another boss.

Celebrate your victories. Set your goals and cut your journey to success into milestones. As soon as you reach one, celebrate your victory. By all means, work hard. But learn to play hard as well.

Develop your own value proposition. You and I are salesman. You must have a value proposition, an implicit promise of value to anybody you deal with-customer, employer, organization, etc. Then deliver on that promise.

Enjoy your work. All this time, we have been told and conditioned to work hard. I suggest that you look at your work as a source of joy and love. In fact, I urge you to love it-or leave it!

Find a need and fill it-before others do. If nobody needs your skills, products, or services, you'll have very little chance of proving your worth. If you want to succeed, find a niche where you can be the best. Don't just sit there; look for that need-before others do.

Get up when you get knocked down. We have been told to try and try until we succeed. Go ahead, try again, but try something else. What worked before may not work again for you. Don't count on the same winning formulas or combinations that worked ages ago. Get up, get going, but get more new aces up your sleeve.

Have a fallback. Know how, when, and where to go when your situation becomes untenable. Being an excellent performer or working with a profitable organization is no longer a sure-fire guarantee of success. Thousands of great performers have lost their jobs, and hundreds of great companies have folded up as new rules emerge in life and careers. Innovate-or stagnate. Believe there is always a better way, and find it-before your boss does, or someone tells your boss about it. When the playing field is level in quality, speed, and cost, your competitive advantage will come from new and innovative products and services.

Join winners, not losers. If you are great and join a lousy organization, you'll stand out. But you'll soon find your greatness diminished immensely if you remain with that organization. If you hang around with successful and excellent people, their success and excellence will rub off on you in the long run. So join winners, not losers.

Keep your head on the cloud but your feet on the ground. New, innovative, and creative ideas make for success in any language. Make sure your feet are planted on the ground, even if your mind is up on the clouds.

Look beyond the classroom. Despite what the demagogues tell you, believe that there is education beyond the classroom-in fact real education takes place in the real world, not within the corners of the classroom.

Master the technology of business and the business of technology.> You need to know technology and how it can help make doing business or your job faster, better and more effective. If you think you can't afford technology, I tell you that you can't afford to be without technology.

Never depend on luck. What's luck got to do with success? Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, Efren "Bata" Reyes, Dodie Rondain (who he?) have a high batting average in golf, hockey, billiards, and the NLRC, respectively. They don't rely on luck to win. Nothing beats preparedness.

Overcome the fear of failure. Many people never succeed because they never try. They never try because they fear they will not succeed. Successful men tried and failed countless times, like Thomas Alva Edison.

Perception is reality. What you are is important. What others think you are is sometimes even more important. That's why successful people are so careful about creating the right perception about them. To others, especially the greater mass of humanity, perception is reality.

Quality does not happen by accident. If you want to succeed, never turn in shabby work, products, or services. Nobody buys poor quality anymore. There's too much competition nowadays. That's why people deliberately factor in quality in whatever they do. Do you?

Reason and intuition must work together. Logic alone will make this world dull. Intuition can spark creativity and innovation, but must stand the test of practicality. If you wish to succeed, work with reason and intuition. You'll need both!

Success is a journey, not a destination. Define your goals, have clear standards, and make sure you achieve them. Success is like taking a very long train ride that stops at every way station. Savor the moment, and maybe the money, every time you reach a milestone. In a survey run by EC Business Solutions and Career Center, 95 percent of respondent managers and supervisors claim that they see themselves as successful.

Think lattice, not ladders. Career success today is no longer just moving up the ladder. Now, there are more lattices than ladders that allow you to gain greater success by moving sideways, not necessarily upwards.

Use other brains-if yours is not enough. Many successful people have not built empires by themselves alone. In fact, many don't know how. They relied on the expertise of others to be successful in what they do.

Value your customers, and make them feel it. If you want to succeed, develop a maniacal focus on your customers. Understand, anticipate, and satisfy your customers' needs, or others will. 

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