This is my last career advice blog post of 2010. I always take off two weeks at the end of the year to celebrate the holidays, to visit family, to recharge my batteries and to prepare myself for the coming year. I will begin posting again on January 3, 2011. Happy holidays to you and your family.
I have been blogging about life and career success for quite a while now. I always say that creating the life and career success you want and deserve is a matter of applied common sense. My writing, speaking and coaching is devoted to providing easily implementable common sense ideas that you can use to create your career success.
If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that I am a big fan of SUCCESS Magazine. If you’re not a subscriber to SUCCESS you should be. I read it cover to cover every month. Each issue provides truly valuable career advice – the kind of stuff that will get you on the road to career success and help you stay there.
I was reading the latest issue of SUCCESS the other day. It had an article called “Get Started: Take the First Step Toward Success” by John Maxwell, a well known author and speaker. I mentioned him in a post a couple of days ago. Three of John’s books have sold more than a million copies. I have several of them on my office bookshelf. He writes a great blog that you can find at www.JohnMaxwellOnLeadership.com.
As I read the article in SUCCESS, I was struck by how much John Maxwell and I think alike. Here are some examples from the SUCCESS article and my latest book Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice, All in 140 Characters or Less…
Maxwell says, “Know yourself.”
Success Tweet 125 says “Get to know yourself. Use your self knowledge to better understand others and build mutually beneficial relationships with them.”
Maxwell says, “Determine your priorities.”
Success Tweet 7 says, “Figure out what you really want to do. Work you love will make it easier to create the life and career success you want and deserve.”
Maxwell says, “Develop your life philosophy.”
Success Tweet 17 says, “Clarify your personal values. Your values are your anchor. They ground you. They center you. They keep you focused on what’s important.”
Maxwell says, “Get physically fit.”
Success Tweet 91 says, “The better you fell, the better you’ll perform. Live a healthy lifestyle. Eat well. Exercise regularly. Get regular checkups.” Success Tweet 93 says, “Becoming a high performer is easier if you’re physically fit. Increasing your heart rate is a great way to improve your fitness level.”
Maxwell says, “Learn your trade.”
Success Tweet 83 says, “Master your technical discipline. Share what you know. Become the go to person in your discipline in your company.”
Maxwell says, “Pay the price.”
Success Tweet 97 says, “Today, do the things others won’t do; so tomorrow you can do the things they can’t do.”
Maxwell says, “Develop solid relationships.”
Success Tweet 123 says, “Use every interaction to build and strengthen relationships. Strong relationships are your ticket to success.” Success Tweet 127 says, “Pay it forward. Build relationships by giving with no expectation of return. Give of yourself to build strong relationships.”
Maxwell says, “Prepare for the future.”
Success Tweet 81 says, “Become a lifelong learner. The half-life of knowledge is rapidly diminishing. Staying in the same place is the same as going backwards.”
Maxwell says, “Find purpose in your life.”
Success Tweet 3 says, “Think of your purpose as your personal mission; why you are on this earth.” Success Tweet 4 says, “The mightier your purpose the more likely you are to succeed. It will give you a strong foundation when the winds of change shift.”
I make these comparisons between John Maxwell’s advice in SUCCESS and the advice in Success Tweets to show how most career success is simple common sense. However, to take advantage of any career advice you have to work at it.
As we approach 2011, I urge you gather up the five or so bits of career advice that make the most sense to you — no matter where you found them, and create a plan for how you will put that career advice into play in the coming year. Take it one step at a time. Keep focused on creating the life and career success you deserve. As Success Tweet 21 says, “You’re in charge! Commit to taking personal responsibility for creating the life and career success you want and deserve.”
There is a bonus tweet in Success Tweets. Success Tweet 141 says, “Knowing is not enough. Successful people will read the advice in these tweets. And they act on it. Be a successful person.” That’s my wish for you as we enter 2011.
The common sense career success coach point here is simple. Remember the advice in Success Tweet 141. “Knowing is not enough. Successful people will read the advice in these tweets. And they will act on it. Be a successful person.” Knowing is great. Acting is better. Knowing is easy. As I’ve demonstrated in this post, most career success advice is the same message, presented in different words. That’s why I urge you to find the five bits of career advice that make the most sense to you and act on them. Knowing is not enough. You have to do. Thank you for reading these posts in 2010. I hope you continue to read and comment on what I write in 2011. More important, you have my best wishes for making 2011 your best year yet – one in which you truly achieve the life and career success you want and that you deserve.
That’s my last career advice blog post for 2010. What do you think? Please take a few minutes to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us. As always, thanks for reading. Best wishes for your career success in 2011 and beyond.
Bud
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