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Earn It (16 of 16 Keys to Success)

Jeff Gawronski — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:43:14 +0000

Nothing in life that is worth anything is handed out for free. You might get a good break, such as landing your current company or job, but how things turn out to a long-term career that you excel at and enjoy will certainly be earned. Think about the things in life that you were proud of accomplishing. Maybe it was a big strike out in a baseball game or getting a pile of work done that seemed impossible. They required hard work and an understanding of what needed to be done. Most importantly you earned it! People who work hard in life have a greater self worth because it was earned. Feel good about yourself through everything you do by always working at getting better.

The promise is this; You will never regret something that you truly put the effort in to EARN. And beyond that your attitude, thoughts and feelings towards what you earned is what will propel you to greater heights. The euphoric feeling of success through EARNING IT is so high that it is almost guaranteed that you’ll fight to get that feeling again and again and again. And when you reach it… That is when you know you’ve reached SUCCESS.

Delete the Negative Bug (15 of 16 Keys to Success)

Jeff Gawronski — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:17:10 +0000

If you just read #1-14 and a voice in your head gave reasons to shoot them down then you have the ‘negative bug’. This is the most crippling reason why people don’t succeed. The negative bug destroys ideas, demolishes hard work, makes excuses and in general creates a negative production level. Some people project the negative bug vocally through complaining or making fun of ideas or work that should get done, while others are slowly eaten away at by a negative internal voice that shoots good ideas down. Did you read #1 Never Look At the Clock and say to yourself, ‘Well, how would I know when to go to the staff meeting? This is the negative bug! Instead of reading the 16 Keys to SUCCESS and using them for good and growth, the negative bug found a way to determine why they are not good or can’t be followed. Delete this bug and re-read #1-14.

Do What You Say You Are Going To Do (14 of 16 Keys to Success)

Jeff Gawronski — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 03:58:52 +0000

Ever tell someone that you’ll do something and then decide not to do it? If it was something minor, such as ‘tomorrow I’ll come into work a half hour early’ then it is easy to think, ‘I know I said I was coming in early, but I was tired, no big deal’ … this might be true. It might be true that not coming in early is not a big deal, but the BIG DEAL is that you broke your word. Every time you break your word people remember. They don’t get mad or upset if it is minor stuff, but sooner or later if your broken word becomes habit the expectation level for you decreases. Being known for not following through brings about a decreased expectation that without your even knowing it decreases your value and view by others as someone to trust and believe in. When you commit >> DO IT! And if you really want to excel DO IT even when you don’t commit.

READ, READ, READ (13 of 16 Keys to Success)

Jeff Gawronski — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:27:34 +0000

Just the word READ can be scary to many, but it shouldn’t be. Reading can start with news or business websites and should eventually grow to books. Reading opens the mind, increases intelligence and makes you a more productive employee. Ever met a person who reads a lot and sounds unintelligent? The answer is NO, unless they read comics only (and even then they may sound well read). Reading increases your brain cells and pools all your knowledge together. By reading you’ll be surprised what good ideas you come up with in the world outside of the books.

Reading books has a way of ingraining an intelligent subconscious that simply can’t be bought. You can buy an expensive computer, a high tech phone, a tool that helps your job function, but you cannot buy the smarts that get from reading. Beyond not being able to buy what reading books gives your inner person, you also can’t fake it either! Everyone around you instantly knows whether you Read.

Cut Costs or Bring Value (12 of 16 Keys to Success)

Jeff Gawronski — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 00:36:36 +0000

In whatever task you take on if you can cut expenses and save a company money you instantly become twice as valuable. On the reverse if you can find something that causes the company to earn more revenue and increase it’s value you become three times as valuable. Train yourself to look for ways to save money or increase value and you will be successful and invaluable to any corporation or start-up.

What a simplistic idea! Save money or bring more money in and you are more valuable. As simplistic as this obvious statement is, did you know the vast majority of employees don’t think this way? Most employees see their job as a basic function or cog in the wheel, when at the root of it your job exits to either save money or bring in more revenue. At the point your job ceases to do one or both of those functions, that is the day your job will also cease to exit. Start looking at your job and work though the important lense of profit and loss and you’ll be in an invaluable success. You’ll also find the way you work and how you perform will have a pleasant and unexpected paradigm shift.

Train Your Brain To Think (11 of 16 Keys to Success)

Jeff Gawronski — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 03:11:33 +0000

In many things we do in life it is easy to turn the brain off and go into autopilot. Ever drive, get to your location and can’t remember the drive? You were on autopilot. Essentially your brain was mush. Of course this is normal sometimes, but the key is to take those zone out moments and use your brain to think. Whether you think about ways to improve work or ways to improve other things in your life you will be better off training your brain to think.

There are only 24 hours in a day and 5-8 of those hours are sleeping. With the remaining 16-19 hours you have obligations, family and other things that will consume your mind. You also have ‘mush’ time. This time is super valuable. Keep some down time to stay refreshed, but find ways to take other down town and turn it into something that has value. Train your brain to think and you’ll find successful concepts and ideas flood in.

Don’t Cut Corners (10 of 16 Keys to Success)

Jeff Gawronski — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 20:48:17 +0000

In the end cutting corners will always catch up with you in a negative way. Even in little things if you skip steps, or make something easier by doing it in a way that is not 100% right, you are cutting a corner. Take something as minor as brushing your teeth, the person who cuts time or skips flossing will most likely in the long run have worse teeth. This example is good because it shows that sometimes cutting a corner does not have an immediate bad outcome, you can skip flossing today and be fine, but continue on that pattern and 6 years from now it could catch up with you. The thing with cutting a corner that is important to know is that you never really know which corner cut will result in a negative outcome. Truth is some cut corners can appear to be smart at first, but the problem is they never create more effective outcomes.

An improvement comes from thinking and determining a better solution, not from skipping a step or taking a simple path. In a work example, not double checking task or copying another employee’s work is a cut corner. Sure it may seem quicker and easier at the time, but in the end it will have an adverse effect. Never take the easy way out!

Make Nothing “Oh I just do” (9 of 16 Keys to Success)

Jeff Gawronski — Mon, 09 May 2011 05:16:47 +0000

If asked, ‘what did you do today’, never say ‘oh I just did this’ or ‘oh just the usual’. Those who work and don’t value what they do respond this way. Have you ever seen a successful person say ‘oh I just did’? The answer is NO, because successful people turn a basic day and make it better or make it more productive. Prevent work boredom by setting goals, learning and seeking more and you’ll never respond with ‘oh I just did’. The success factor sounds simple, but it is one of the hardest. Your overall mindset should never turn to “Oh I just do”. Next time someone asks you how your day was or what you did, first stop, think and before you say the usual, quick and easy answer, think of what you did to make an impact. Now, answer the question, it doesn’t have to be long winded, but rather make it have a purpose that encompasses a successful day. …And if you can’t…. Then you better start having productive days!

Don’t Leave Work Unaddressed (8 of 16 Keys to Success)

Jeff Gawronski — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 05:45:24 +0000

There should never be any work that is set aside or ignored. The successful leader knows if they don’t complete the work no one will and that would create company problems. Have a task with an issue? SOLVE IT. Unsure how? You can always ask a manager or colleague, but you can also determine a solution that makes good business sense. The attitude of ‘handling it tomorrow is fine’ or ‘its no big deal’ does not embody success. Everything matters and things that seem to be less urgent to you are most likely urgent to someone else or your company. Don’t assume something can wait or will have no effect if delayed. It will ALWAYS have a negative effect. Just the simple fact that you have to do the task tomorrow means something else important is delayed from getting your attention. Leaving yesterday’s work for today creates an avalanche of lost time, productivity and most certainly will have a negative effect on your company. Never sweep work under a rug. Instead handle it and move on to the next challenge.

Set Goals (7 of 16 Keys to Success)

Jeff Gawronski — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 03:14:50 +0000

To be the most successful you must have a vision for the future. By setting goals you are keeping yourself on track and vigilant against easy distractions. Setting a goal can be for everything. Set goals to do everything better. If yesterday took 2 hours to complete a daily task, make a goal for it to only take 1 HR 45 Minutes tomorrow. Or make general goals to make your company better outside of what is asked of you. There is no piece of success that isn’t first thought in your head. Create a vision to obtain and execute to achieve. Set hard goals, but don’t make them so hard that you become discouraged if they are too hard. Lastly, if a goal is too easy, re-set the goal or add new goals to fill in the time.

Why are so many people afraid of goals? So often goals are not set because people are afraid of failure. The fear of not reaching a goal is so strong that the average person won’t even set goals. This means just by setting goals you are step closer to success. The point that no-goal setters don’t understand is that failure to reach goals is a good thing. If you hit every goal then you’ve set easy goals. When goes are missed and failure happens that is what causes true internal growth and the ability to re-evaluate and go at it again. Failure breads success and you can’t have true failure without first having goals.