By: Maurice Gilbert
It takes about 15 years to be an overnight success. You’ve heard that one, right? The truth is, successful professionals don’t stumble on success — they strive for it in a disciplined and deliberate way.
Author Malcom Gladwell reminds us in his best-seller Outliers that practice isn’t what you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.
So whether you’re stalking the elusive 300-yard drive or your next promotion, you’d do well to adopt some core principles:
Find a role model or a mentor.
A good mentor helps you accelerate your career by sharing information about office politics, what to do and what mistakes to avoid.
Avoid negative people and get rid of toxic relationships.
These people have already killed their own dreams, and they’ll look to kill yours next.
Dream big.
If you only set small goals, you will only get small results.
Develop a positive attitude.
Your “can do” attitude attracts other positive people who can help you reach your dream. People with positive attitudes have an easier time overcoming challenges than people who see the glass as half empty.
Use Visualization.
Professional athletes do this well. Visualization is the processing of events in your mind with clarity, as though they are happening in real time. Your mind can’t distinguish an actual event versus an event that is visualized, so you’re preparing for events before you actually experience them.
And remember – you won’t always get it right the first time. Any (honest) successful person you meet will tell you a story about how a failure or a rejection eventually paved the way for acclaim and recognition. So hang in there!
Published by Conselium Executive Search, the global leader in compliance search.
