# Color your Career #: July 2021

' Win at Work ' by Shaun Belding - A brief

Winning Attitude - Open your ears, your mind and your heart; This is how you open your future

The journey of SUCCESS is like a path through a forest. There are ravines and low-hanging branches that will get in your way. There are creatures that will startle you. There will be forks that require tough decisions But as long as you are moving, and looking at your internal compass to ensure you are heading in the general right direction, take comfort in knowing that your path is as good as any. Take a look around every once in a while to appreciate where you are and how you got there. Enjoy the journey, and the people you meet along the way.

The job-for-life mentality that our parents has is gone in a big way, with people now averaging between 10 and 11 jobs in their lifetimes. Your journey to winning in the workplace begins with a plan.

Things to consider:

Be a champion of change(Do not wait for someone to inspire You)
Focus on Big picture(what you see depends on where you stand)
Connect and being a good team player
Networking(If you are always there for others, you will never face challenges alone)
Listen and genuine praise(Listen more than you talk)

5 rules for making good First Impressions:

Smile
Make eye contact
The handshake
Be interested
Walk on the lighter side

Win at Work covers 5 fundamental topics:

The winning Attitude
Achievement and Success
Winning in the Workplace
Winning with people
Dealing with Stress and difficult people

People with the winning attitude:

are positive
understand themselves and what's important
believe
continuously improve
have passion

A person with positive attitude:

focuses on positive events and aspects
focuses on solutions instead of problems
chooses hope over fatalism

Know your priorities:

Individuals with the winning attitude understand their priorities, and use them as their guidelines when making decisions. Because their actions are in line with heir priorities, they inevitably get greater enjoyment out of the things they do. The ultimate payoff to understanding your priorities and letting them guide your decisions and actions is undeniable.

The more your actions begin to align with those things you feel are important, the greater your satisfaction and success. Knowing who you are and what our priorities are gives you confidence in yourself and your decisions. It also helps you better put the challenges you face into proper perspective, which is one of the best ways to make sure that you are mentally prepared for the things life throws at you.

Discovering your true priorities is like an explorer finding True North. Once you have that unchanging frame of reference, reaching any destination you choose only required a look at your compass, a good map, and a willingness to begin the journey.

Accept responsibility:

Accept responsibility for your own future. People with the winning attitude universally agree that they are ultimately accountable for both their successes and their failures.

Passion:

When you are truly passionate about something, work ceases to be work. You can not hit what you do not aim for. The journey to success begins with creating forward motion and achieving positive momentum. The easiest way to create positive momentum in virtually every aspect of your life is by goal setting; more specifically, by creating and then achieving highly focused short-term goals.

Once you define SUCCESS, follow 4 steps:

Set a goal
Create a map
Set a timeline
Take action

Focus:

One of the most notable characteristics of very successful people is their ability to stay focused on the things that important to them, their careers and their business.

The way of words:

Use 'Excellent/Outstanding/Brilliant' than just saying 'Thank You'
Use 'Absolutely/Of Course/It would be my pleasure' than just saying 'yes'
Use 'I want to get this right for you' than saying 'Can you please wait a minute'
Speak in sandwiches(good & bad news)
Words of empathy make sure that you have taken time to listen

Networking:

Connect people
Laugh
Be a source of information(go-to person)
Be involved
Remember
Be a mentor
Be there for the 'little people'
Social networking

When all stressed up and nowhere to go, follow steps below:

Put things into perspective(separating signal from noise - life changing (or) just a annoyance)
Focus on what's going well - not what is stressful
Identify your cold buttons
Focus on the issue
Create a ranking system
Create a new morning routine

ref: Win at Work by Shaun Belding @ https://www.amazon.com/Win-at-Work-Shaun-Belding/dp/8175545488

' The Start-up of You: Invest in Yourself ' by Reid Hoffman - A brief

Differentiate or Die:

In a world where "a million people can do your job", chart a career path that sets you apart from other professionals. You don't need to be better than all professions. You just need to be better in a local professional niche.

3 pieces(one that does not work without other) that will consolidate your position in the market:

1. Assets: What you have going for you now. Your soft assets (like knowledge, skills, connections) and hard assets(like cash in the bank)

2. Aspirations & Values: Where you might like to go in the future

3. Market Realities: What people will actually pay you for

One way to upgrade your competitive position is by upgrading your assets - i.e, Investing in Yourself.

Plan to Adapt:

Entrepreneurial career planning and adapting is about being flexibly persistent; always ready to adapt, but also persistent in driving towards set goals. You will never have complete certainty at any point of time; Identify areas of incomplete knowledge about yourself or your industry and make plans that will help you fill those gaps.

Prioritize learning over profitability, so you should prioritize learning(soft assets) over salary(hard assets) for the majority of your career. Once we follow the path of "Continuous Learning" in the long run, We are likely to lead a more meaningful life as well as make more money in the process.

Craft a experimental Plan A, an alternative Plan B, and an unchanging, certain Plan Z:

Plan A: What you are doing now. Your current implementation of your competitive advantage.
Plan B: You pivot to B when your plan is not working or when you discover a better way toward your goal.
Plan Z: You shift to Z if something goes seriously wrong. It's the lifeboat you can jump in if your plan fails and you need a re-load before getting back in the game.

People you spend time with shape the person you are today and the person you aspire to be tomorrow. Finally, remember that relationships are like any living thing; if they are not getting stronger, they are getting weaker.

Conclusion:

Start tapping into your network. Start investing in skills. Start taking intelligent risks. Start pursuing breakout opportunities. Most of all, start forging your own differentiated career plans.

ref:

The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career by Reid Hoffman - https://www.amazon.com/Start-Up-Future-Invest-Yourself-Transform/dp/1847940803