Perhaps you have a crack team of ivy league individuals; maybe you’re lucky enough to be in the company of proven industry professionals; you could have seven of the brightest interns the local college has to offer at your disposal. Whatever your personal experience, no one situation is going to ensure success for you.
It may not be what you want to hear. As long as you play by traditional business rules, making all the moves they tell you will put you on the fast-track, you’re set for the stars, right?
Not always.
You need individuals; thinkers, creatives, visionaries. You need resources. You need the right timing. Most of all, you need to be aware of your own role, and how you might be getting in the way of your own success…
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Your opinion should never be immovable.
Let’s talk about the merits of a team; in order to create the best group possible, you fill your work space with people of all ages, backgrounds and expertise. Truly, if you were to hire 10 of the same type of people, your business would flounder because there would be no change; no galvanizing light that ignites a fire when you’re stuck in your ways (as we all tend to be from time to time.) Your success will, in part, be contingent upon your ability to take constructive critique, your openness to new ideas and a general flexibility that lends to growth.
According to not-for-profit engineering organization ASME,
“Almost a quarter-century of records of student design teams, mainly in Stanford University’s mechanical engineering design program, indicate that performance improves when a team pays attention to its members’ individual personalities. In other words, teams do better when they are composed of people with the widest possible range of personalities, even though it takes longer for such psychologically diverse teams to achieve good cooperation. They must first cultivate an openness to opposing opinions and recognize the value of exploring a problem from various angles.”
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Believe it or not, yes, you really did need that extra hour’s sleep.
We’re not smart enough when it comes to fueling our bodies for optimum success; a healthy diet, regular exercise and quality sleep is vital. If you do wake up feeling awful despite a full seven hours’ rest, the issue may be in your habits: do you sleep with live technology in close proximity to your bed; are you eating dinner less than an hour before you lay down; are you overly stressed? These factors contribute to the functionality of your brain – you know, that thing that allows you to work? Consider changing your habits if any of the above applies.
On a positive note, coffee contributes highly to short-term memory. In other words, your dreams have become reality.
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Procrastination leaves room for mistakes.
There are plenty who thrive on getting projects and assignments done two minutes prior to the strike of deadline. These individuals are also 40 percent more likely to experience financial loss. Coincidence? Probably not. Follow this link for more damaging stats on chronic procrastination.
You won’t always make the right business decision the first time, and you don’t have to. What you do need is the knowledge that will allow you not to contribute to your own failure.
Images: BrandonGaille.com (1), Giphy (1)
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