You Already Have What You Need for Success
I just ran across a great op-ed at HBR.org this afternoon by motivational psychologist and author, Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph.D. The “Nine Things Successful People Do Differently” are within your reach; where you are today is only a frame of where you can be tomorrow.
As categorization goes, I like to think of three types of professionals – very successful, marginally successful, and clock puncher – and most of us have been in each one of those categories for varying lengths of time. If you’ve come this far, I imagine that your goal is to push the margin and spend more time in the very successful camp. While all nine actions mentioned above are essential, the two things I’ve found most useful in getting there are grit and working out your willpower muscle.
I don’t believe that you have to teach grit; you just have to push wants so far that they become needs. As for training your willpower muscle, do what the a smoker does to quit, replace your bad habits. Some experts recommend gum or lollipops, but I’ve found that a list of 10 other options is most effective. Consider this next time you find yourself scanning Facebook or G-chatting at work. What are the top 10 things you could be doing instead that will move you from clock puncher to marginally successful and then to the next level?
