Seek advice before acting on important decisions. It is so easy for me to go into difficult situations and make large decisions with the belief that I already have all the answers. It is equally easy for me to overlook things that I should have considered before acting. I have better results when I get ideas and solutions from other people. I better understand my circumstances by discussing them with someone else.
Get greatest results from each activity and from each day. The National Football League wide receiver Jerry Rice holds 23 NFL records. He caught long passes. What made him greater than other wide receivers is the distance he gained after he caught the pass. Business professionals can do a better job for their company by identifying those small details that turn mediocre projects into hugely successful products. These people are the innovators. They do the same tasks every else does and make greater results than anyone else. These people make the same products everyone else makes and make those products far better than anyone else. These people build companies like Google, Apple, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, and Samsung.
Take breaks during the day and stop working when the day is over. Again Jerry Rice knew when to step out-of-bounds or go to the ground to avoid a violent tackle. He knew when he had gotten the most possible yards out of a play and avoided pushing a play that would only risk dangerous tackles and possible injuries. Smart workers take breaks during the day. Smart workers leave work at the end of the workday. Continuing to work longer and longer hours can lead to inefficiency and health problems.
If you finish your work before the end of the day, do at least one more task before leaving work. It is easy to sit around or leave early. By starting and completing one more task on these days, you will find that your production can rise dramatically. If you add and complete one extra task per week, you will complete fifty more tasks over the course of the year. Your company will benefit. Your value to your company will grow.
Regularly read articles and books about your job and your goals. Nearly every job continues to evolve. Many jobs disappear entirely. New information and tools become available to make job performance easier and make you more marketable. Take advantage of this information to grow in professional value and for personal enrichment.
See obstacles as opportunities to create personal value. Everyone encounters obstacles. It is very easy to give up or procrastinate instead of acting on these obstacles. Often obstacles one person experiences are the same obstacles other people experience. By acting on the challenges you face, you can develop effective, often new ways of dealing with these obstacles. As you overcome obstacles in your own life, look for ways to help other people use your solutions to overcome their own obstacles. People have founded companies based on providing products and services to overcome common obstacles. If you can sell the solutions you have developed in overcoming obstacles, you have a business.
Continue to build your network of friends and mentors. One of the more interesting qualities of my son is that he has multiple circles of friends. The people in each of these circles are people he has met at different times and in different settings. He has friends from high school classes. He has friends from his sports activities. He has friends from college. Since graduating from college, he has met these people from different circles to pick up new hobbies and to travel. He has traveled to Sweden, Peru, and Thailand to meet with friends he has met over the years. You may also find that having new circles of friends can help you develop new and valuable career ideas and solutions.
Continue to set goals. Goal setting can have a subconscious power to drive your actions even when you are not working directly from a daily plan. Additionally, having goals can give you a sense of purpose and a feeling of a richer quality of life. Rather than focusing on the ruts of your life, you can focus on your goals and how to move toward them.
