James Altucher recently wrote a book titled "The Rich Employee." I don't agree with its premise at all: “we just want a better job, one that fulfills us, makes us wealthy, and brings us satisfaction”. It’s chasing unicorns.
Of course my view on working for someone else has been shaped by my experience. I'm in my 6th or 7th job and I've never worked for a company that treasured their employees. I always felt like a cog in the machine.
I've met a few happy employees. I've met a few fascinated by their work. I've met a few that enjoyed what they were doing. But I've never met one who was really successful, who had a world-wide impact. I don't think working for someone else will ever make anyone successful.
I grasp the possibility in theory, success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal. If your employer has a worthy goal it may be possible for you to achieve success in a workforce.
Having said that, I've never encountered a company with a worthy goal. Frankly, all of the ones I worked for cared only about money. For a company, it's a pitiful state similar to a human being who cares only about filling his own stomach.
Don't waste your potential.
Don't think of yourself as working for someone else. Even if you are doing that right now, think of yourself as working in a business of your own. Don't try to just please your boss (other than job essentials, so you won't be fired before you are ready to be on your own).
Think of your clients first, even if they are only your workmates. Every business has clients and they are always the real employer. If you can keep your customers satisfied, you will be successful in whatever you do.
Think of yourself as a catalyst for achievement. Not: "How I can just get by, do the minimum?" but "How can I create value doing this work?"
Act with such a goal for an extended period of time and you will prepare yourself for success.
Know yourself.
This is the axiom in modern economy. If you don't work at the junction of your talents, strengths and skills, there will be always someone better than you, a competitor who can put you out of business in no time.
However, if you are in this sweet spot, literally no one in the world can beat you.
Use every possible source of feed-back. Ask your former teachers and bosses about your strengths. Ask your spouse and kids, your workmates and clients. Ask your confessor/ pastor/ local monk/ whoever leads you spiritually. Ask your friends and family.
Use some professional self-assessments. You can get one for free by signing up to Anthony Robbins' e-mail list
Examine your past. Examine what excites you about future. Get to know when you are in a flow. Scrutinize how you communicate and cooperate with people. This is very important. The people in your life can make or break you.
Build self-analysis habits.
Journal; meditate; visualize; imagine yourself in unusual circumstances; write your thoughts down; record yourself having a dialog with your subconscious about some issue; examine your conscience every evening; write a gratitude diary every morning...
The possibilities are countless. Only you can decide which of them will serve you best. I suck at visualizing, I love to write, thus I keep a journal and almost never just imagine anything.
But make sure you have self-analysis habits in place.
Without self-knowledge, you can land in your sweet spot only in a random fashion; you will do something and accidentally discover that you are good at it. It's like trying to reach destination without map and without consulting anyone for directions. It's within the realm of possibility, but using a GPS system would be so much more effective to do that job.
One last tip on self-analysis: pay a lot of attention to your deeds, not to your self-talk. Promises, plans, goals, dreams and oaths have all their right place, but if they don't reflect your actions, they are just empty declarations. Your deeds speak louder than your intentions. Observe what you do, what you like to do, what you hate doing and what actions do you avoid.
Develop new good habits.
Your level of success is determined by who you become and your habits make you who you are. Only consistent action provides lasting results and only habits guarantee consistency.
You know which habits you need. You know everything that is needed to start. Simply ask yourself "What do I want?" and "What can I do today, what can I do every day to achieve that?" The answers are within you.
After 16 years of neglecting self-analysis, I asked myself those questions and within 20 minutes came up with 15 daily disciplines. Their accuracy was above 50%. I still practice 40% of those disciplines 3.5 years later and they greatly contribute to my well-being (and success according to my definition).
Never give up. Tweak your methods, change your path, but never give up on what's important to you. Success takes time. It's not a one-time occurrence. It's a process.
No comments:
Post a Comment