Tip of the Day

Career Advancement Tips

Apply Yourself
A great idea alone will not succeed as much as a good idea with great effort. Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb with a single stroke of genius, but rather with consistent applied effort to test, study the results, and try again. Inspiration springs from busy hands and busy minds. Keep challenging yourself, keep applying yourself, and you will amaze yourself.

Some people allow themselves to be limited by accepting lower expectations or making minimal commitments, but not you. You have talent, skill, and experience that make you unique. As you apply your talents, you will learn more about how to use your skills. Like a professional athlete or an artisan, consistently exercising your talents will not exhaust them, but rather make them even better. Surprisingly, the more that you do, the more that you are capable of doing. You do not need to wait to be challenged, or wait for responsibility to be thrust upon you. Rather, set very specific goals for yourself and apply yourself to attain those goals. Every achievement will build more confidence, more excitement, and more desire.

Helpful
If you want to get ahead, hone your personal skills, but keep constant attention on opportunities to help those around you to succeed. It may seem contrary to think that building personal success is predicated on supporting the success of the people around you, but it is a fundamental truth. Some people call it Karma, and some people call it common sense. The way that you treat your peers, your partners, your customers, and your coworkers will all come back to you.

Ethics
Act with integrity. Regardless of what position you have or what you do, ethical behavior is critical to your personal success. Integrity is built on ethics and is the cornerstone for credibility. If you can be trusted, then your commitments can also be trusted. Customers are reluctant to make purchases, even at discount prices, from an individual or an organization that does not have a reputation for ethical behavior. Why is this so? How can a good price commitment be trusted if the quality, commitment, or integrity of the individual or organization can not be trusted? By contrast, if the individual or organization can be trusted and continually demonstrates a commitment to ethical behavior, then isn't it more likely to have confidence in a good offer? The same logic applies to customer service, finance, and even management.

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