It’s a new year. You’re ready to hit the ground running and make clear progress in your career. But you won’t–not if you keep holding on to those pesky bad habits from last year. Yeah, you know the ones that kept muddling your success in 2015?
If you’re serious about making moves in your career this year, take heed. Jettison those habits that have worked against you and helped sabotage your success.
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1. Failure to take action. Do you simply enjoy the ‘idea’ of being successful or do you want to actually achieve the goals that will make it so? If it’s the latter, then you’ll have to stop being a “serial intender” (a phrase coined by Teri Harrison (master success coach for women entrepreneurs), which literally means giving lip-service to intent, but continually failing to take action. Why not take your career goals to the next level by actually planning, strategizing and executing to achieve each one of them? If you continue to do nothing, expect to receive nothing in return.
2. The I’m ‘not good enough’ self-talk. The conversations that you have with yourself are the most important ones that you’ll ever have. Think about it. It informs every action that you take, which is why it can also be such a powerful catalyst in sabotaging your success. Break the chains of negativity and self-deprecation by becoming an affirmative author of your destiny. Give yourself a fighting chance by starting a new, more encouraging dialogue with yourself today and everyday. If you don’t believe that you are good enough, certainly no one else will.
3. Failure to follow-up. Even though you’ve taken the initial step of effectuating your goals by taking strong action, there are often points along the journey that require more action to seal the deal. Essentially, a follow-up activity. Maybe it’s returning an email, phone call or sending in an important document. It may even be checking in with a busy executive to make sure he or she received your original submission. Whatever the case may be, don’t stop short of the additional and often critical activity needed to help you realize your career goals. Failure to do so can mean a zero return on all of your initial hard work and, of course, scrapping the goal itself.
You’re probably ready to go full-bore now, right? I hope so! Armed with a compelling list of career goals to achieve this year, you’re half way there. Now, be proactive and clear the path of roadblocks to attainment by avoiding these three career-sabotaging habits, and stake your claim to even greater success.
To your success!
Karima Mariama-Arthur, Esq. is founder and CEO of WordSmithRapport, an international consulting firm specializing in professional development. Follow her on Twitter: @wsrapport or visit her website,www.wordsmithrapport.com.