It’s easy to think that rising in the workplace requires talent. While it’s true that talent can help, it’s not the only thing. Here are ten things that everyone, especially young people starting out in life, can learn and do to make themselves stand out in the workplace.
1. Being on Time
How can anyone take you seriously if you don’t value time? Being late for meetings, parties, and other social or business interactions is a sure way to earn a negative reputation that will stand in the way of your success.
Change that habit and start being on time for every engagement. This new habit will soon prove the saying “time is money” because you will reap the dividends of this habit of successful people.
2. Work Ethic
You must invest your 10,000 hours in anything you do in order to attain mastery of that activity. You will not earn anyone’s respect if you are constantly trying to put in the least amount of time just to get by. Go all out, and success will follow you throughout your life.
3. Putting in Effort
A tireless work ethic goes hand in hand with putting massive effort into what you do. You cannot earn respect by simply dreaming or imagining things. You must put in the necessary elbow grease in order to bring your thoughts and dreams into reality. In the end, you will not be judged by the ideas you had or dreamt about but by those that you implemented
4. Good Body Language
Your personality and behaviour speak louder than anything you say. Your body communicates even before you utter a single word. Do you maintain eye contact when interacting with others? Is your handshake firm or weak? Do you walk with your head held high? Make sure that every aspect of your body language sends out positive messages about you. Let your body language speak loud and clear that you deserve maximum respect!
5. Energy
Learn to exude high energy if you want success and respect in life. Many people struggle through each day because they don’t eat right, they don’t exercise enough, and they don’t sleep enough. In there lies the secret to becoming a “ high energy” person. Eat right. Have about 7 to 9 hours of sleep each day. Exercise a minimum of three times each week for no less than half an hour for each session. Your energy levels will skyrocket, and those around you will notice.
6. Attitude
There’s a saying, “ your attitude determines your altitude”. Nobody wants to associate with a negative person who will always have something bad to say about everything. Conversely, people gravitate towards those with positive attitudes. This positive attitude will enable you to overcome any challenges that you may encounter on your way to success and earning respect.
7. Passion
Passion can be looked at as the childlike excitement that someone has about something. Such passion is contagious and enables people to inspire others to attain lofty goals. Steve Jobs did it at Apple. Henry Ford did it at the Ford Motor Corporation. Their names will forever be remembered. Your success may also just be waiting for you to ignite your enthusiasm for everything that you do.
8. Being Coachable
No one knows everything. However, our egos sometimes block us from being receptive to criticism, however well intended that criticism may be. You aren’t going to succeed or earn anyone’s respect if you aren’t humble enough to learn from feedback. Accept criticism, and you will open the doors to being coached to higher levels of success in all aspects of your life.
9. Doing Extra
Personal development and career gurus always advise us to do more than we are paid to do in order to get ahead faster. Zig Ziglar even puts it that there is no traffic jam on the extra mile. In other words, you join an exclusive club when you make a habit of going above and beyond the call of duty. Develop a habit of doing extra, and you will earn the respect of everyone who comes across your path.
10. Being Prepared
What is the definition of luck? Luck is when an opportunity meets preparation. Things begin to happen when you prepare yourself for those things. For example, people who want to run a successful hotel prepare by working in successful hotels and learning everything there is to learn about the business. In which field do you want to be respected as an authority? Learn everything you can about that field. Get mentors from that field. Hang out with the known experts in that field. Before long, opportunities will line up for you to step up and make your mark upon that industry.
There you have it. Start doing the ten things above and see how much respect and success will come your way. Your journey may be hard at times, but you will certainly reach your destination if you make a strong commitment to implement the principles above.
After all, they all come free and don’t require any talent!
