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Many young executives like to ask for career success tips. I usually start by
saying
career success doesn’t come in a day. Yet, day-in day-out I see young people
entering the working life pushing themselves as if they will make CEO in a year.
They have a tendency to compare their progress with their contemporaries. You
should not and must not compare your career success to your contemporaries.
If you ask me, what is career success? Frankly, I don’t have the answer. But,
I can give you a
career success tip that works for me. However, ultimately only you can
answer “what is career success?” because only you can seek. No one can do it for
you. It is to be defined by your own values and principles in life. You
would have to define what is career success for yourself. It means different
things for different people. And it is your
career goals.
The first step is to ask yourself “What is career success?”. It is not a
question you should mull over daily. You will have to spend time thinking about
this. The answer will not come easy. Ask yourself that question, and then let it
float in your mind for however long it takes – never force the answer.
Remind yourself this – if your career is a marathon, then it includes the
preparation for the race – the warm ups, the stretches, the strength exercises,
the stamina building, the constant practice runs. Constant effort is what will
eventually get a positive response. And that response is success.
My biggest fear looking at many young first job executives is that a lot of
them embark on this marathon and end up hurting themselves. They hurt themselves
because instead of warming up and stretching, they sprint. Eventually they end
up injured, taking months and years to recuperate.
This is an important career success tip. Your career like many things in life
cannot be rushed. You succeed by not rushing nor lazing off. Your career success
comes to you when you do not rush yourself through it. But this also means you
do not laze off. When you rush you start to be careless. You forget the basic
important steps in the race for your career success. If you sprint through at
this early phase, you risk overdoing it. On the other hand, if you laze off –
you won’t put in the appropriate effort needed for success. For success to
happen, you need to be moderate in your pursuit. That would be career success
tip for you. There is a saying:
- Hurrying makes things too tight,
Slacking off lets things get too loose,
By not hurrying and not slacking off,
We can succeed at what we do.
In this race, you are your own competitor. To end this career success tip, I
leave you with this thought from Dao De Ching:
- He who knows other men is discerning, he who knows himself is
intelligent.
He who overcomes other is strong; he who overcomes himself is mighty.
He who is satisfied with his lot is rich.
He who goes on acting with energy has a firm will.
He who does not fail in the requirements of his position, continues long.
He who dies and yet does not perish, has longevity.
