December 4, 2008

Making Work "Work": Resources for Busy Professionals

Go from ‘almost’ successful to ‘highly’ successful

Are you using your time and power to their full effects? According to success expert and coach Philip Humbert on Ragan.com, most people don't. He says the choices we make about how to use our time and power have enormous impact on our worldly success, and the key is to learn how to use time and power in the most productive ways.

Humbert says that when he compares highly successful people to almost-successful people, basic differences in a few key areas emerge.

• Almost-successful people tend to hold back a little due to fear. They avoid risk, play it safe and give up their potential power. Highly successful people, while not reckless, use their power more aggressively. They embrace change and take charge. They take measured risks and go for it with gusto.
• Almost-successful people often become frozen by indecisiveness, effectively keeping themselves in limbo. Essentially, they avoid action because they believe giant steps are required to reach their goals. In contrast, highly successful people usually take reasonable steps on a daily basis to reach their goals. They take action, but they don't expect it to result in instantaneous, massive change. Instead, they focus on ongoing and digestible levels of change.
• Almost-successful people often make excuses, such as ‘it takes money to make money, and I don’t have money.’ This stops them from taking initiative and using their positive qualities, like creativity and organization. Highly successful people see challenges as obstacles to be overcome, not deal-breakers. They make business plans. They start where they are instead of wishing they were starting someplace else.

Make it a goal in 2009 to use your skills fully and achieve your brand of success!