What would you attempt to do if you knew that you could not fail?
What would you attempt to do if you knew that you could not fail? Your answer will reflect just a fraction of your potential. Fear of failure and of the unknown keeps us from doing great things, from realizing our dreams. Give it serious thought and what would you do if failure wasn't an option? If there no way it could go wrong? Move past that barrier in your mind and decide: what are you going to do to get over that fear of failure and start making that dream a reality today?
Share your answers in the comments!
Photo by RG
By the way - that's a photo of one of Dr Robert Goddard's first rockets - a man who's story is true inspiration for sticking to your dreams and succeeding. If you find yourself in Roswell, New Mexico, skip the UFO museum and instead go to the Roswell Museum and Art Center where they have a recreation of Dr Goddard's 1940s workshop.
Dead End Job?
Are you in a dead-end job? Take a few minutes to think about these things:
Does your job feel too familiar? Do you find yourself wishing for something less familiar and more challenging?
Are you too comfortable with your co-workers? Maybe you have been working with the same team forever, and while that can be great, does it mean you are in a static company, where no one changes jobs or responsibilities... ever? If that doesn't sound like any fun for you, you may want to look for a place where you can be given new challenges.
Are there a lot of people in front of you with more seniority who will get advancements before you? If you are ambitious, you won't be happy here.
It might be time to start looking for something else...
5 Most Common Ways People Ruin Their Careers
Even the most successful executives and leaders can suddenly "go off the track" and ruin their careers. Research on executive derailment has clearly identified the factors that cause previously successful executives and professionals to fail. Watch out for these in your own work career.
- Poor Interpersonal Style
Although technical competence and successes may initially pay off, as one moves up in an organization or profession, interpersonal skills become more important. In our study of firefighters, technical competence was the key to getting promoted to captain, but lack of social skills prevented captains from going higher in the chain of command. Having an abrasive or arrogant style, being insensitive to those around you, or coming off cold and aloof can lead to derailment of managers and supervisors. - Over-Controlling and Inability to Delegate
In today's team-centered work world, it is critical to be able to work successfully with others to get the job done. Managers who try to do it all themselves, who micromanage, or who are unable to build a team, are likely doomed to failure. - Inability to Adapt
Change is the only constant in organizations. Workers who fail to adapt will become obsolete and fail. In one engineering department, the manager was unable to master, or even understand, the new design technology. Due to his own insecurity, he refused to let the new technology be used in his department. The result: they fell further and further behind on projects and produced inferior results. - Lack of Transparency
Dealing openly and honestly with those you work with is the key to success. Even if you are justified and fair in the decisions that you make, you need to let people know why and how important decisions (such as promotions) are made. It goes without saying that unethical behavior is a key derailer for anyone's work career, so the best way to avoid temptation is to be transparent in the decisions you make and strive to be virtuous in your behavior. - Inability to Think Strategically
All too often, we get bogged down in the day-to-day work that is in front of us, and focus too much on short-term goals. However, career success requires constantly looking at the big picture, and thinking strategically about where we are headed. Strategic thinking helps us anticipate problems, recognize new opportunities, and build a track record of accomplishments.
Photo by RG
via 5 Most Common Ways People Ruin Their Work Careers | Psychology Today.
Focus on making small, continuous improvements.
Henry Ford once said, “Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small pieces.” The same concept configured as a question: How do you eat an elephant? Answer: One bite at a time. This philosophy holds true for achieving your biggest goals. Making small, positive changes is an amazing way to get excited about life and slowly reach the level of success you aspire to.
And if you start small, you don’t need a lot of motivation to get started. The simple act of getting started and doing something will give you the momentum you need, and soon you’ll find yourself in a positive spiral of changes – one building on the other.
Start with just one activity, and make a plan for how you will deal with troubles when they arise. It will be hard in the beginning, but it will get easier. And that’s the whole point. As your strength grows, you can take on bigger challenges.
Photo by RG
via 12 Things Successful People Do Differently.
7 Signs You’re in Over Your Head
- You're more anxious and stressed-out than usual.
- Goals you thought were reasonable now seem insurmountable.
- You're feeling depressed when you should be feeling fine.
- Your schedule is constantly slipping.
- I can do this has turned into I'm going to do this if it kills me.
- You find yourself working even when you're not ... and shouldn't be.
- You're screwing up ... and you're not a screw up.
Once you've recognized that you're in over your head be honest with yourself and face the fact that maybe you need to get some help, let your boss know, ask for more time and resources, and start saying NO to the things are burying you deeper.
Image by RG
via 7 Signs You're in Over Your Head - CBS News.
10 C-level titles that keep workplaces dysfunctional
If you see yourself in any of these, it's time to take a self-inflicted demotion! These are Chiefs NO ONE wants to deal with:
CWO - Chief Whining Officer All good things happen to everyone but you. Everyone has a better job, a better boss, a better cubicle, better pay, better perks, blah, blah, blah.
CNO - Chief Negatron Officer You're the self-designated dissenter, the perpetual fly in the ointment, always pointing out why it can't be done - never how it can be done.
CSO - Chief Stress Officer Your boss stresses you out. Her boss stresses you out. Your coworker stresses you out. Your job stresses you out. You couldn't be creating your own workplace stress, could you?
CBO - Chief Blame Officer Something goes wrong, it's everyone's fault but yours, and you're sure to be the one covering your ass, pointing the finger, heading the witch hunt.
CVO - Chief Victim Officer You have an abusive boss. The head of HR or IT hates you. Your peer makes life miserable for you. They're all driving you nuts. Maybe you're the one behind the wheel.
CDO - Chief Disruptive Officer Always acting out or trying to get attention, the drama queen, disrupting meetings and making everything about you. It's always about you.
CPO - Chief Political Officer The player, manipulator, man behind the curtain, puppet-master, destroyer of enemies. Too bad politics doesn't win business or keep customers.
CCO - Chief Clueless Officer Always running around like a chicken with your head cut off, asking everybody and his brother for help, never having a clue what to do, how to do it, or even how to start.
CUO - Chief Unreliable Officer When there's work to be done, finding you is like shooting darts at jello. And when you do get tagged with a task, the only thing we can count on is that it won't be done right.
CGO - Chief "Grass is Greener" Officer Your friend works for a better company or a better group. Everything is better there. Everything about this place sucks. Well, it would suck a lot less if you quit.
via Does Your Job Suck? It's Probably You - CBS News.
SMART Goals
Successful people are objective. They have realistic targets in mind. They know what they are looking for and why they are fighting for it. Successful people create and pursue S.M.A.R.T. goals - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.
Specific – A general goal would be, “Get in shape.” But a related specific goal would be, “Join a health club and workout 3 days a week for the next 52 weeks.” A specific goal has a far greater chance of being accomplished because it has defined parameters and constraints.
Measurable – There must be a logical system for measuring the progress of a goal. To determine if your goal is measurable, ask yourself questions like: How much time? How many total? How will I know when the goal is accomplished? etc. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued efforts required to reach your goal.
Attainable – To be attainable, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. In other words, the goal must be realistic. The big question here is: How can the goal be accomplished?
Relevant – Relevance stresses the importance of choosing goals that matter. For example, an internet entrepreneur’s goal to “Make 75 tuna sandwiches by 2:00PM.” may be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, and Timely, but lacks Relevance to an entrepreneurs overarching objective of building a profitable online business.
Timely – A goal must be grounded within a time frame, giving the goal a target date. A commitment to a deadline helps you focus your efforts on the completion of the goal on or before the due date. This part of the S.M.A.R.T. goal criteria is intended to prevent goals from being overtaken by daily distractions.
When you identify S.M.A.R.T. goals that are truly important to you, you become motivated to figure out ways to attain them. You develop the necessary attitude, abilities, and skills. You can achieve almost any goal you set if you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that once seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them.
via 12 Things Successful People Do Differently.
Successful people measure and track their progress
Successful people are not only working in their job/business, they are also working on it. They step back and assess their progress regularly. They track themselves against their goals and clearly know what needs to be done to excel and accelerate.
You can’t control what you don’t properly measure. If you track the wrong things you’ll be completely blind to potential opportunities as they appear over the horizon. Imagine if, while running a small business, you made it a point to keep track of how many pencils and paperclips you used. Would that make any sense? No! Because pencils and paperclips are not a measure of what’s important for a business. Pencils and paperclips have no bearing on income, customer satisfaction, market growth, etc.
The proper approach is to figure out what your number one goal is and then track the things that directly relate to achieving that goal. I recommend that you take some time right now to identify your number one goal, identify the most important things for you to keep track of, and then begin tracking them immediately. On a weekly basis, plug the numbers into a spreadsheet and use the data to create weekly or monthly trend graphs so you can visualize your progress. Then fine-tune your actions to get those trends to grow in your favor.
via 12 Things Successful People Do Differently.
Questions to help you review your goals and accomplishments & look ahead
What have you actually finished, completed, and accomplished?
You are making lists of the things you want to accomplish and HAVE accomplished, right? No? Then start now!
Review your accomplishments in a month, 6 months, and year:
- What was your biggest triumph?
- What was the smartest decision you made?
- What one word best sums up and describes your experience?
- What was the greatest lesson you learned?
- What was the most loving service you performed?
- What is your biggest piece of unfinished business?
- What are you most happy about completing?
- Who were the three people that had the greatest impact on your life?
- What was the biggest risk you took?
- What was the biggest surprise?
- What important relationship improved the most?
- What compliment would you like to have received?
- What compliment would you like to have given?
- What else do you need to do or say to be complete this cycle (these past 30 day, 6 months, or year)?
Now that you've looked back, start to think ahead:
- What would you like to be your biggest triumph in the next 30 days/6 months/1 year?
- What is the major effort you are planning to improve your financial results in the next 30 days/6 months/1 year?
- What would you be most happy about completing in the next 30 days/6 months/1 year?
- What major indulgence are you willing to experience in the next 30 days/6 months/1 year?
- What would you most like to change about yourself in the next 30 days/6 months/1 year?
- What are you looking forward to learning in the next 30 days/6 months/1 year?
- What do you think your biggest risk will be in the next 30 days/6 months/1 year?
- What about your work are you most committed to changing and improving in the next 30 days/6 months/1 year?
- What is one as yet undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in the next 30 days/6 months/1 year?
- What brings you the most joy and how are you going to do or have more of that in 2012?
- Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving and serving in 2012?
- What one word would you like to have as your theme in the next 30 days/6 months/1 year?
Photo by RG
via Questions for completing and beginning the year | GTD Times.