7 Ways Successful People Deal With Their Weaknesses

Nobody is perfect; even the wisest people have weaknesses. We sit back and assume that successful people have it easy, but that’s not true, they have struggled and kept going until they reached that position. What’s different about them is not their traits or money or opportunities, it’s how they see life and how they do things differently.

They are aware of their weaknesses, but they rather focus on their strengths and work towards improving them. Don’t believe it yet? Well, take the most successful people you know, and think about them. You only know them for their best skills and talents, not their weaknesses right? Well, neither do they. This is the exact mindset we should all adopt.

Here are 7 ways in which successful people deal with their weaknesses.

1. Concentrate On What Interests You

If you are running behind something that does not interest you but you are just doing it for the sake of it, then your performance would be mediocre. It will only reflect as your weakness, as your mind cannot perform well at that task. Instead, look at what makes you feel better. When you work hard towards achieving something you are passionate about, success will follow your path.

“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” – Herman Melville

2. Managing Time

We often try to get too many things done at once, or nothing at all. And neither is good. You need to analyze how much needs to be done and how much you can do. Organization and time management are two skills you need to be efficient at if you want to become successful. Just by being more responsible with time, people can get more work done in less time.

3. Enhancing Key Skills

Don’t we all have certain skills that we are exceptionally good at? And it’s just easier for us to do well at it. As discussed above, people who are smart, focus their time and energy on improving what they are already good at, which only sharpens those strengths even more. When you excel in what you are best at, nobody will even notice what your weaknesses are.

4. A Set Goal and a Plan

Making a concrete plan can give you proper focus towards where you are headed. Without focus, we tend to lose our way, and it only delays the journey towards success. Figure out what you want and how you plan on achieving it. Even someone who are successful today had to make a plan, and struggle all the way up.

5. The Will to Take Risks

Anything that is challenging won’t come without risks. The uncertainty is a part of success, only the will to keep going through it all will keep you active in the game. One of the biggest fears we all face is the fear of losing. This stops us from even taking a chance or going the extra mile. What makes successful people different is their will to take a risk.

6. Not Letting Failure Stop You

There are small failures that await you along the way, and that’s the truth. Even successful people have faced failures in life, but they struck back. Don’t let one single failure dictate your life; it’s only one weak moment. But fight the weakness with your strengths. We all fall, more than once, but unless we learn to get up and gear up, we would never be able to succeed.

“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” – Chris Grosser

7. Surrounding Yourself With Positivity

The worst enemy to any mind is negativity – it can easily drag you down. By steering clear of negativity around you and having a clear perspective, you can follow your goal with no distractions. Successful people get a lot of negative vibes, but they always have their guard up. If you let it get to you, it will only make you deviate from your path.  

There is not much difference between someone who is successful and someone who is not – it’s just their approach to life. They may be doing the same things as we are, but they do it differently with more focus and direction, and with a fire that keeps their passion burning. Let the stories of others inspire you to forget your weaknesses and be successful.

How do you overcome your own weaknesses? Comment below!

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8 Ways to Create a Trustworthy Brand Online

Trust is a vital element to business. Potential customers need to feel they can trust the company they are doing business with, and this factor gives companies the edge over their peers. When researching a service provider, a company may trawl through ten or twenty businesses online who all essentially offer the same service or product.

If your company can convey the impression of a trustworthy brand, it is statistically more likely to be chosen. It is said that if a customer has a bad experience with a company they will tell 10 people about it. If they have a good experience they are likely to tell one. Due to this, making your company stand out as a trustworthy brand can avoid negative feedback and a bad customer perception.

Here are 8 things you can do to make your online business look legit and trustworthy:

1. Don’t use generic templates for your website

It is important to keep a unique edge to your brand in order to stand out. When meeting a person, we make a judgement on them within three seconds. Imagine this is the same philosophy when someone views your website. It needs to stand out, for all the right reasons.

If you use a generic template, it shows a lack of imagination and effort. Developing a unique style that is memorable is a useful way to keep your name in the forefront of a customer’s mind. This doesn’t mean a site full of plug-ins and gimmicks, but one that gives concise and helpful information to a customer in a unique and user friendly way.

2. Provide social proof via testimonials

People believe people. They may distrust your business by default as there are professions that people are unfairly prejudiced against. If you can provide authentic customer reviews which convey the trustworthiness of your brand, as well as excellent product provision, it will give reassurance and confidence to the potential customer.

3. Create a helpful, rich and value-based content resource

You want people to buy your products or services. That is essentially why you have a website, as a shop window to your business. You also need to give a deep insight into what you are offering the customer, and this does not just mean the product or service. This means selling your online brand not just as a product, but as a brand.

It is your job to draw the customer in and give them a reason to believe you are a trustworthy brand. Fill them with confidence that you provide an excellent service, are customer focused and that they matter to you.

“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” – Sam Walton

4. Make it easy for customers/prospects to reach you

When a customer decides to commit to your brand, they need to be able to reach you in the format they choose. Contact information needs to be displayed clearly and offer a variety of media of contact. You need to offer phone, skype, email, social media and business address. In addition to this, make sure there is a realistic timeframe given on your site as to when the customer will hear back from you. Have phones diverted to mobiles if you are on the move. If there is an online contact form on your site, give a clear impression of when a customer may expect to hear back from you.

You will lose business if customers have the impression that their business is not important enough to them to return a phone call. They will assume that this is your attitude in business as well and this does nothing to building the impression of a trustworthy brand.

5. Regularly update your website

Keeping your website regularly updated is vital as a staid, old fashioned site gives the impression of a staid, old fashioned online brand. Keep the website full of new information. For example, if your industry has big stories in the news, add links or reviews of these stories on a blog. If you have introduced a new product, add it to the site as soon as possible.

Keep an eye on the styling of your website. Create an online brand that is modern, sleek and has the same feeling as your business. Make sure there is no out of date information and remove anything that is no longer relevant.

If a customer can see that you have not updated the site for a while, it does not create a dynamic impression. Creating a trustworthy brand involves making the customer feel that you care about their business, so you will care about them.

6. Stay active on social media platforms

Social media is a massive marketing tool in today’s business world. Get active on as many platforms as you can. Make sure these are regularly updated as well as your site. It will help your online branding if a customer feels you are a presence on social media. Many people use social media many times a day, and you need to fit into the way your customer thinks and works.

If you are in a business that targets 18-30 year-olds for example, you may get most of your business as a result of being seen on Facebook or Twitter. Do not dismiss social media as an add-on, make it a focal point of building your online brand.

7. Show reviews and encourage your customers to post reviews

Make sure you show your customers what you have done and that you have satisfied customers. However, it’s easy for people to assume the reviews might be fake. It’s advisable you offer a way for your customers to submit their feedback/testimony about their experience with your product or service. This reassures your prospects about the authenticity of the reviews and testimonials submitted on your website.

Posting real reviews, with names and locations, pictures constitutes to an effective trust element. Let them read case studies of work in your industry or work you have done and encourage them to give feedback. Make them feel their views are important to the business.

8. Put your audience in the center of the stories you tell

Customers want to feel important. They want to feel that you really care about them and their job as individuals. You need to remember that the customer is at the heart of your business. No customer, no business, no revenue.

“The best customer service is if the customer doesn’t need to call you, doesn’t need to talk to you. It just works.” – Jeff Bezos

Conclusion

In summary, there are simple yet effective ways of establishing a trustworthy online brand. Follow these suggestions, take your focus off the product and how wonderful it is, and put it on your customer. That is the essence of creating a trustworthy online brand.

What do you think is the most critical aspect of a business in today’s world? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Read This to Change How You Think About Perfectionism

Perfectionism is on the rise, especially among young people. A January study published by the American Psychological Association, found that between 1989 and 2016, self-oriented perfectionism — or the need to be perfect — increased by 10 percent. During the same time period, other-oriented perfectionism — placing higher expectations on others — grew by 16 percent.

So, what’s the solution? Surprisingly, expectation management. Intuition says that letting perfectionists, whether self-oriented or other-oriented, set expectations will lead to unrealistic goals. However, trying to keep them from setting high standards isn’t an option because it’s in their nature.

Below we will see how to show perfectionists at all levels within a company how to use their personality type to their advantage:

1. Employees

Self-oriented perfectionism

While most young people flounder to find a career path, perfectionists know exactly what they want. Their perfectionism can lead to great professional goals, as long as the expectations are managed properly. Arrange mentorships between experienced employees and young professionals to discuss their personal goals.

For instance, let’s say an employee wants to become a manager within three years. The more experienced colleague can then explain what it takes to get there and whether or not that timeline is realistic. With that information, the self-oriented perfectionist can create an actionable plan that meets their expectations.

Other-oriented perfectionism

Before an individual even applies for a job, they create expectations. They do research and form an idea of what it would be like to work there. Once hired, they then expect leaders and co-workers to fit into that vision even though it can lead to them being overly critical of others.

Manage these expectations early by explaining that not every employee contributes to the company in the same way. This person was hired to do a specific job, and their success will look different than a co-worker’s.

Make this clear when acknowledging your employees. When you publicly praise an employee, tie their performance to the company mission. This way, perfectionists will see how everyone fits into the big picture. They’ll then be able to form new expectations that reflect each co-worker’s role in the organization.

“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.” – Salvador Dali

2. Managers

Self-oriented perfectionism – Managers who are self-oriented perfectionists face a unique dilemma. They want to succeed, but their success is tied to their team. If their employees falter, managers feel like they’ve failed.

As a leader, you need to adjust their perspective. Have managers list what is under their control and what isn’t. For instance, they can set a goal to meet weekly with each employee to discuss performance. However, they can’t blame themselves if an employee doesn’t take their advice. Once they have their list, have them set expectations for themselves — only themselves. Also, make sure there is a clear way to assess their success.

If they want to improve their communication skills, ask them what this would look like. Would it mean receiving fewer clarification questions from their team or would it mean spending more time listening to employees? This will help them form a clear definition of personal success.

Other-oriented perfectionism

When a manager is an other-oriented perfectionist, they can overwhelm their team with high expectations. Nonetheless, when they properly harness their need for perfection, they can motivate their team.

Remind managers that, as a perfectionist, they have a very clear picture of what employees’ success looks like. The trick is getting their team members to buy into these goals. For example, employees may think it’s unrealistic to increase sales by 25 percent in three months. But a manager who’s an other-oriented perfectionist sees a clear road to that milestone.

To ease employee doubts, encourage managers to break down larger expectations with employees. Have them set smaller goals for each individual and clearly explain the unique role they play in achieving these goals. This will turn an other-oriented perfectionist’s goal from overwhelming to motivating.

“Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.” – Og Mandino

3. Yourself

Self-oriented perfectionism

Leaders with self-oriented perfectionism tend to spread themselves too thin. They feel they need to be a part of every aspect of the organization, but this inevitably leads to failure.

Instead of trying to be perfect at everything, take stock of your strengths — and be honest. For instance, if you came from a marketing background, don’t create high expectations for yourself when it comes to product development. Instead, surround yourself with colleagues and employees who make up for those weaknesses.

Other-oriented perfectionism

As a leader, you see endless potential, but sometimes, you can push everyone too far. Avoid this by tracking progress toward each goal. Set smaller expectations to satisfy your perfectionist instincts. Every time a small goal is met, celebrate that success with your team.

Most importantly, be sure that the data you’re tracking is objective. One issue perfectionist leaders face is defining great work. You envision one result, while everyone else imagines something different. Numbers are less subjective and help you maintain a realistic perspective.

Has the need for perfectionism improved your life? Let us know your thoughts below!

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5 Signs You’re Going Down the Wrong Path

Are you on the right path?

Do you know the signs that you’re not?

Do you know what to do about it?

 

Many go about their days distracted or hypnotized

– by the paychecks

– by the instant gratification

– by perceived by label and status

 

We assume these are markers of achievement and success.

I did. For 4.5 years I thought I was when I was in my career managing songwriters and producers.

I was making money. I was partying. I was doing things. My life was popular.

 

I later realized I was:

– becoming materialistic and focused on what people can do for me

– waiting on others to tell me what was next for me to achieve

– imitating other people’s interpretation of success

– doing things for the sake of approval from others

​​​​​​​

I wasn’t truly living MY life. I was living a life driven by the expectations of others.

I wasn’t behind the wheel. I remember reaching a point waking up every morning

with a knot in my stomach…

 

In this video, I share 5 powerful ways I identified I was going down the wrong path, so you can do the same.

 

Some of the Things I Cover In this Video

I had to look deep within to truly know something was not right.

Here are some of the questions I asked myself that helped me to clarity and can help you:

– Are you losing trust in yourself and leaning on the opinion of others?

– Are you uneasy about the things you have to do to be successful?

– Are you constantly feeling anxious with a sense of no control over your life?

– Is your drive fuelled by proving yourself to others?Are you neglecting your own needs?

 

Tomorrow, I’ll share with you ways to identify people that are not compatible with your path.

 

Click this to attend our Master Your Influence event in Bali, Indonesia this July 23rd – 26th

 

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3 Ways to Uncover Your Blind Spots and Live Life on Your Terms

Do you ever start to say something you know you shouldn’t, but cannot help to say it anyway? How about a specific relationship breaking down again, despite employing an array of differing strategies? I’m talking about the times where it seems no matter what you do, history has no choice but to repeat itself.

This, ladies and gentlemen, can be attributed to our blind spots. The areas where our ways of thinking hide the key to unlocking our full potential. We assert we’ve looked everywhere, but we cannot look where we cannot see. These barriers to awareness cannot be distinguished with the same thinking that got us there. A new mind and a new heart must be fashioned to break old, embedded patterns. For a life we truly love, we must take to the hills for a new vantage point.

Here are three essentials to uncovering your blind spots and living life on your terms:

1. Deal With Your Ego

Your ego, more than anything, is a protective device. Fashioned from the most primitive parts of your brain, such as the amygdala, your ego puts up a wall as you make mistakes or fall victim to your weaknesses. This component of your psyche, essentially your false self, makes it increasingly difficult for you to address your shortcomings logically and riddle them with emotion.

Because your survival and safety is paramount, responsibility is dodged and allocated elsewhere. Worse off, these areas of the brain are not accessible to our conscious awareness.

The saving grace however, is the part of the brain responsible for logic and reason. This higher-level, non-reactive consciousness can guide you in the right direction if you allow it. Understanding you have a war going on in your mind is the first step — with the second being, who you allow to win.

Your ego is insecure, underdeveloped, irrational, and painfully selfish. Calling it out when it attempts to run wild is up to you. Ironically, because it will stop at nothing to ensure your superficial needs — attention, love, praise, connection, etc. — are met, it typically jeopardizes them by being too attached. It’s a question of what you want the most versus what you want right now. You’ve got Jekyll and Hyde at odds in your head — who are you going to give the hammer to?

“Check your ego at the door. The ego can be the great success inhibitor. It can kill opportunities, and it can kill success.” – Dwayne Johnson

2. Question Everything

Success is not final. What works in producing results may not work for as long as we want to believe. With certain approaches having produced results for us in the past, we’re naturally inclined to lean into a sunk-cost bias and ride them out ignorantly. No one wants to give up their beliefs. Where we are in our lives right now is because of a sum of the choices we’ve made based on those beliefs.

Of the same token, what got you here won’t get you there. This is where many people struggle to stay in the game and begin to suffer — helplessness sets in when it appears all you know won’t make any difference. The only way to keep the door open to possibility is through inquiry.

By constantly questioning the approach, the mindset, the attitude and the focus on which you employ, you sift through the options objectively until you land on what you choose to try. Even if you’re wrong the first time, you simply go back to the drawing board and try something else. It gets messy when we over-identify with what we think. You can have strong opinions, but go easy on the Kung Fu grip.

3. Seek Feedback From Thoughtful People

This step is listed last for obvious reasons — it’s the most difficult. Putting yourself out there in the open for potential harm is no easy feat. When you realize the reward far outweighs the risk however, you’ll act every time.

Find a few close confidants whose opinions you value. Maybe they’ve accomplished some success in their lives or maybe they just know how to strike a chord with you. Set up regular conversations with them to provide feedback on what you’re up to in life, assuring them your feelings are suspended throughout the sit-down. Create a safe space for them to provide honest, thoughtful feedback for you to look at from a third person perspective and make a decision on whether or not you’re going to add it to your arsenal. Remember, they can see what you cannot.

This isn’t an open forum for someone to trash you. It’s simply a training ground for you to be with the perceptions that you’ve created for yourself through your attitudes and actions. By honoring and valuing others’ opinions, you’ll be one step closer to getting in the minds and hearts of the people you wish to influence most — as well as one step further away from your ego.

“One of the greatest values of mentors is the ability to see ahead what others cannot see and to help them navigate a course to their destination.” – John C. Maxwell

People can’t appreciate what they don’t know is there. There’s more than one lens in life and you just happen to possess one of the billions. Life isn’t the way you see it, but merely the way it is. Staying grounded in situations and seeing your emotions for what they are (i.e. a cry for help) will allow you to continue to heighten your perspective and gain a panoramic view.

You don’t access your peripherals without stretching your sight. Try these three techniques today to take a break from informational learning and discover for yourself what’s been in your way this whole time.

How do you discover what’s holding you back from achieving success in your life? Do you have any techniques? If so, please let us know in the comments below!

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3 Things You Need to Do to Be in the Top 1% of Your Chosen Field

Everyone endeavors to be a champion; to be a leader in their field. Many people get frustrated when they simply do not see that process involving as expeditiously as they would have anticipated. But the fact is that many people are already in the top 1% of their field. And, if they would simply expand their horizons and look at alternate ways of viewing their successes, they may see that.

Below are three ways that you may consider as pathways to viewing yourself in the top 1% of your chosen field:

1. Know your category

There are many measurements that can be utilized in most chosen professions to gauge success. We tend to only look at the end result, the finish line, but there are many baton handoffs that occur between the gun sounding at the start and the flag at the finish line. For example, in sales we tend to look at percent of quota as a method of gauging success.

Closing sales and percent of quota is one way of assessing your level of success in the field of sales, but think for a moment of other gauges of success that will move us toward a greater percent of closing the sale. For example, if you are in a high cold call sales environment, the number of calls you make may be above the average, significantly so that it places you in the top 1% of all callers.

“The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.” – Colin R. Davis

This behavior must ultimately lead to the more macro measurement of percent of quota. However, your calling behavior should be celebrated as you being in the top individuals who place calls. Perhaps it is your closing on appointment stats or maybe it’s referrals received?

In my field, that of training and keynoting, most individuals look at income as being the top 1%. I have no illusions over the fact that I am not earning what Anthony Robbins, Brian Tracy, or other luminaries in the field earn. However, my statistics on LinkedIn at the very top of the LinkedIn food chain. My social selling index places me in the top 1% of individuals in management consulting. So, guess what? I am the top 1% at least of something! And that will lead to higher income.

What about you? Think about what criteria you can use to measure yourself that will lead you to an elevated level of status in your chosen field? And here’s a bonus, that status elevation may lead to an increase in self-confidence. That may lead to an increase in the overall macro measurement you are looking to attain.

2. Never stop learning

The old saying, “you are either green and growing, or ripe and rotting” holds true. The fact is that to be in the top 1% of any field requires constant and continuous focus on learning both within the field, and outside of the field. The notion of learning outside of your chosen field is important as you begin to take ancillary information and incorporate it into your daily activities. The end result is new and exciting ways of managing yourself in your business by taking what people have done outside of your business and applying it within.

May I suggest a formalized and structured time for daily learning. It could be as simple as 15 minutes a day. Choose a time when you will be uninterrupted or have the ability to set up your environment where you will not be interrupted. Then think about what knowledge you want to acquire. It may be a book that you buy, a video that you watch, or feed that you read. But the constant repetitive pattern of the behavior called “acquiring knowledge” must lead you to the top 1% of your chosen field.

3. Have fun on the way to the top

You may have heard that success is a journey and not a destination. That is also true of entering the top 1% of your chosen field. If every day you wake up with a sour stomach and a grimace on your face wondering how you’re going to claw your way up the wall of success, when you get there chances are the first emotion you will feel is resentment for the arduous journey that brought you to the pinnacle of your field.

“Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.” – Jim Rohn

But when every day is a joy because you enjoy what you do, the people you do that with, and your inevitable ascension, each day becomes a wonderful thread woven into the fabric of a joyful and successful career.

I have seen many people over the years in my training and consultancy become so obsessed with the goal that they lose focus on the path. I have also seen individuals climbing with unbridled enthusiasm and doing whatever they can to bring others along with them. That brings me to a question you may want to answer:

Can I really make it to the top 1% of my chosen field if I do not bring other people along with me?

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The # 1 Reason Why Most People Fail in Life and In Business

Here are some things to think about and to answer after you have watched the video above.

Part of taking radical responsibility is accepting the fact that we create all of our life experiences… The Good and The Bad.

 

• What in your life right now are you not taking responsibility for creating?

• What are you resisting right now that you know you need to accept?

• And what would happen if you became curious about this area of resistance and decided to explore it?

 

Click this to attend our Master Your Influence event in Bali, Indonesia this July 23rd – 26th

 

Here are some of the points we cover in the video above:

 

• How to breakthrough identity issues so you can show up in the world as a confident leader.

 

• How to stop stepping outside of your alignment so you can stay congruent with your purpose.

 

• The method Michael Jordan uses and why it won’t always work unless you know when to

implement it.

 

• Why Elon Musk is big on taking a Leap of Faith.

 

• How I took my power back and built a brand worth millions in record breaking time

(2 years to a $1.2 Million Dollar offer).

 

• My methods of removing overwhelm and loss of clarity for your vision.

 

• Why getting rid of negativity is a myth and where you should put your energy instead.

 

• The methods we use on a daily basis to hit our goals faster and with more follow through.

 

 

We explain all of these points in detail in the video — make sure you watch it in full because there are a lot of gems of wisdom you don’t want to miss!

 

Check out the video and let me know what you think?

 

 

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https://addicted2success.com/weekly-wisdom/the-1-reason-why-most-people-fail-in-life-and-in-business/

5 Reasons Why Perfectionists Cannot Be Entrepreneurs

Perfectionists have high standards for themselves and for others. In an office environment, as employees, they take their responsibilities seriously and never complete any task or project without double-checking even the minutest detail to ensure that it is perfect. They can be irritating to others, too, because they expect the same perfection from their co-workers.

When a perfectionist who has been amazing on the job decides that they want to strike out as an entrepreneur, there are personality traits that can really work against success. Knowing about these in advance may help a perfectionist avoid some of these pitfalls.

Here are five of those pitfalls:

1. I Have to Do It Myself

Perfectionists believe only they can complete a task or project exactly right. Due to this, they operate in two ways:

• If they have a team with specific tasks, they will micro-manage every step of the way. Having done this myself, I can confirm that this is exhausting.
• They don’t employ or outsource anything, because they must control every aspect of their businesses and spend whatever time is necessary to complete every task themselves. They must feel in control or things will go wrong.

The problem of course is that, as business tasks and processes expand, the perfectionist finds himself grappling with an ever-expanding list of tasks to perform. At some point, he “hits a wall,” because there are just not enough hours in the day to get everything done. Ultimately, this means that there will be tasks not completed exactly right, and this is a “killer” for the perfectionist.

The solution is not an easy one. It will require admission that no one can be “perfect” in every facet of a business. For me, it was the accounting function. If a perfectionist can pick just one facet of the business that must be tasked to someone else, this is a major first step. After that major first step, it will gradually become easier to task out other facets. It’s gradual, and it is a process.

2. Inability to Accept Feedback

Because a perfectionist truly believes only they can “do it right,” when positive or negative feedback comes along their defenses are immediately activated.

Perfectionists have difficulty admitting any weakness. While most entrepreneurs seek advice and counsel from others as they develop their business plans and steps toward a launch, perfectionists tend not to seek advice, believing again that only they can make the process work. They must strive to develop the perfect product or service, no matter how long that may take.

One famous perfectionist was Steve Jobs of Apple. He wanted control of every aspect of product development and insisted that every employee come to him for approval of every detail of a new product innovation. He was unrelenting and known for bursts of anger, often firing employees at will, and that led to his removal from the company at one point. However, he did have a transformation of sorts after he was brought back in to revive Apple, and his perfectionism did modify, especially after he became ill.

“I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.” – Elon Musk

3. Perfectionists Delay Launches

When a perfectionist decides to strike out on his own, he develops a product or a service for which he believes there is a customer base. He develops a business plan and establishes timelines, just as most would-be entrepreneurs do.

The difference between perfectionist and non-perfectionist entrepreneurs is this: the non-perfectionist is willing to develop an MVP, launch it, test the waters, and modify and improve that product or service as they receive feedback and data from marketing and sales efforts.

The perfectionist, on the other hand, cannot launch a less-than-perfect product or service. They fear rejection and failure. There will always be something that can be improved in some way. The result is that a launch is indefinitely delayed and so are marketing plans and the development of a customer base.

4. Perfectionists Suffer from Lack of Balance

Because of their obsession with both doing it all themselves and being perfect in everything, perfectionist entrepreneurs will find themselves increasing their work hours and spending every waking hour on business-related activities. Ultimately, they will sacrifice social activities, time with family, vacations, and even small previous pleasures, like a lunch or dinner out or shopping. They avoid phone calls from friends, forego meals and sleep, and often suffer from insomnia and chronic fatigue.

In short, work becomes the perfectionist’s entire life. These long, unrelenting hours, often combined with stress because of the never-ending list of tasks, lead to burnout. And when burnout is reached, it’s impossible to function effectively. The signs of this include inability to focus and forgetfulness – something that a perfectionist cannot tolerate.

“It’s all about quality of life and finding a happy balance between work and friends and family.” – Philip Green

5. Perfectionists Will Lose Their Creativity

One of the key ingredients of successful entrepreneurship is creative thought and problem-solving. This is how new products and services are developed or existing ones improved along with how new and unique marketing strategies are developed.

When perfectionists are so focused on those tasks at hand and dealing with the fear that things will not be perfect, they lose their ability to think “outside of the box.”

Even though Steve Jobs was a perfectionist, he was able to back off at times and to “dream” of what could be. This drove Apple to new heights under his returned leadership and his change in mental approach.

It’s not that perfectionists cannot be successful entrepreneurs, it’s that they have to work to accept that “done” can actually be as good or better than “perfect.” “Done” means that the company is launched; it means that products are out there and that marketing strategies are beginning to bring in customers. Often, the beginnings of this kind of success will modify a perfectionist’s behavior going forward. And the additional bonus is that the entrepreneur may actually find time for social and family time again.

Has the need to be perfect ever stopped you from accomplishing something you truly wanted? If this is true, let us know in the comments below how you overcame your perfectionism and kept moving ahead.

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https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/5-reasons-why-perfectionists-cannot-be-entrepreneurs/

The 3 Meta-Skills You Need to Learn to Achieve Anything in Life

In the world today, the only thing that we are sure of is that it will change. But by the words of Jeff Bezos, we need to focus on the things that won’t change, not on the things that will. And this is where meta-skills come into play. A meta-skill is a higher-order skill that allows other skills to be used and developed. This basically means that in order to master lower level skills, you need to master their common denominator.

So if you can master these 3 meta-skills below, you can achieve almost anything in life:

1. Building Habits

Aristotle used to say “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit,” and Jim Rohn agreed by adding  “Motivation is what gets you started, habit is what keeps you going.”

We can find strong proof of the importance of habits everywhere in the world, from business to sports to education and most business books tell us to form habits in this or that. But rarely do we learn how to build habits and are presented with a step-by-step process of doing that.

I’ve read so many books about building habits but most of them lack at least a couple of steps which would help you build a habit. Eventually, I managed to build my own system. This system helped me build a reading and a writing habit and currently, I’m building a health habit with it.

I took the time to learn how to build habits – any habits – and it gave me a massive payoff. I can now build any habit if I want to and this meta-skill will be an invaluable tool for the rest of my life and it can be in yours too. Habits train you to do one single action every single day until it becomes a part of who you are and the next meta-skill perfectly compliments this one.

“Motivation is what gets you started, habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Rhon

2. Small Actions

Everyone celebrates Elon Musk’s motivation to work 28 hours a day but, I put my focus on a smaller “celebrity” that has:

• Written 5 bestselling books
• Earned a computer science Ph.D. from MIT
• Became a father of three
• Obtained a tenured professorship at Georgetown

And he did all of this while shutting off work at 5:00 p.m. every single day and keeping the weekend just for his family. Oh and I forgot to mention – he did all of this by the age of 33 (he is 35 now.) His name is Cal Newport.

Cal never runs on 100% of his speed because he understands that life isn’t a 100-meter dash, it’s a never-ending marathon and if you go all in the beginning, you will just burn out a couple of kilometers in the race.

Eric Edmeades said, “I do less every single day to do more in a year” and if you can keep doing small everyday actions, they will lead you to achieve mastery in life. The reading habit I started – doing only 20 pages a day – accumulated into 47 books in a year. That is the power of small actions.

3. Self-Awareness

So many books and articles rave about self-awareness today and hail it as one of the strongest meta-skills you can have. When they asked Gary Vaynerchuk what is the one skill people should master today, his response was “Self-Awareness.”

Self-awareness is the ability to consciously understand and know your own character, personality, and feelings. Self-awareness has a couple of layers but it’s best to only go 2 layers deep.
You are on Level 0 when you are so long on autopilot that you forget that you’re on autopilot. Level 0 is a level where you have no self-awareness. On level 1 you have some metacognition (you have thoughts about your thoughts) and you think about the thoughts you have in your head. Level 2 is thinking about your mental models (where your thoughts originate and why).

A good example of this is, a guy who you hate from work just pulled a prank on you in front of the entire office. You became mad and as soon as you came home, you had a fight with your wife. On level 0, you just do it. On Level 1 you think “Maybe I’m not mad at my wife at all- this is just the consequence of the guy from work.”  On Level 2 you realize that you don’t need to answer the prank by hating the guy or being angry, just accept that it was just a prank, smile or laugh, and continue with your day.

Self Awareness will help you get better at anything faster, it will help you professionally, personally, and socially; and as soon as you master it, the sooner you can reap the rewards from it.

“Self awareness is one of the rarest of human commodities. I don’t mean self consciousness where you’re limiting and evaluating yourself. I mean being aware of your own patterns.” – Tony Robbins

In a world where the only constant is change, we need to find and focus on the skills that won’t change. And with that, we have seen 3 meta-skills that we should learn to achieve mastery in our life.

Building habits, taking small actions and being self-aware are the ones that will help us the best. So what are you waiting for? Take control over your life by becoming the master of these 3 meta-skills.

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from
https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/the-3-meta-skills-you-need-to-learn-to-achieve-anything-in-life/

Smarter Than Your Boss? Here’s How You Should Deal With It

There is a lot of talk about how managers should go beyond their egos and hire employees smarter than themselves for the betterment of the company, and to promote continuous learning and development. However, what happens when you find yourself at the receiving end of this thought process and end up reporting to a manager who you feel is not as qualified as you are to do the job?

When we talk about bad manager traits such as lack of leadership skills, being biased, malicious or insensitive come to our minds. However, there is also a type of bad manager who is clueless, incompetent and under-qualified for the role.

So, what do you do when you are the employee who feels superior to their own boss? Here are the 6 ways to deal with this situation:

1. Focus on the job

You have on multiple occasions realized you are indeed smarter than your boss. If this is true, the first step is to eradicate that thought from your mind and look beyond it. If you hold onto it and let it play in your mind every time you interact with your boss, chances are you will be highly distracted.

Instead of whining about it, focus on the larger picture. Focus on what you are really in the company for. Your work is the only thing that matters as it is what will help you succeed. Cherish your time in your present company and do phenomenal work that can add value to your resume.

2. Work collaboratively

No matter how much you hate it, your boss and you are a team. While it’s frustrating to be taking more of the load due to someone else’s incapability, remember that working together as a team will only speak volumes about your work ethic and professionalism. In meetings with external departments, avoid belittling or correcting your boss.

While you need to work together as a unit, it doesn’t mean that you need to own up to all the mistakes he/she makes. If you feel you are getting wrongly accused, you have all the rights to involve the HR department in this discussion.

Look at it this way – this is your time to shine so ensure you maximize this opportunity and make the best of it. There are those who are stuck with bosses who don’t empower their subordinates so feel lucky that you have the opportunity and put your best foot forward.

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” – Henry Ford

3. Look at the positives

There is always something we can learn from everyone we come across in our lives. Yes, your boss is not the most inspiring person, but there certainly ought to be some qualities you can imbibe. Observe closely. Is it their calm nature, positive outlook, delegating abilities or listening skills? What is it that you feel you lack and can learn from them?

Don’t dismiss your boss just because you consider yourself to be better at the job. Find qualities in your boss that are admirable and respect them for it. By doing so, you will be looking on the bright sight of the situation which will certainly help you work better with your boss.

4. Don’t be overconfident

In a situation like this, it is easy to become overconfident. However, you need to make a conscious effort to not turn into an arrogant, overconfident and pompous person at work because no one appreciates that. Before you know it, overconfidence will start getting reflected in your body language which can be highly detrimental to your career.

Always challenge your ideas and surround yourself with people who do so as well. Remember, just because you feel superior to your boss does not make you a know-it-all. There is never a dearth to learning and once you accept that, it can do wonders to your growth curve in the company. So, stay humble and grounded – it will make you a better leader in the future.

“Never be afraid to fail. Failure is only a stepping stone to improvement. Never be overconfident because that will block your improvement.” – Tony Jaa

5. Avoid gossiping

You might be tempted to share your concerns and frustrations with a fellow team member but never resort to gossiping or bad mouthing your manager. Word tends to spread in an office and that never ends well.

Gossiping only reflects badly on you and can lead to severe long-term implications which can affect your career. It’s always a smarter idea to stay on the good side of your boss, however annoyed you may be. There will always be those co-workers who might try and instigate you to get you talking but beware of such people and stay away from office politics.

6. Seek mentors elsewhere

It is important to have a mentor in your workplace – someone who guides you, shows you the right path and helps you move closer to your career goals. Many people seek mentorship in their managers but in such scenarios when you feel that you are clearly better at your work than he/she is, it is best to seek mentors in some other senior resource in the company.

Reach out to seniors in the company who you admire and feel you can learn more from because you need to learn and grow, and having a bad manager should not stop you from doing so.

Being smarter than your boss is a sticky scenario to be in but if approached with positivity and the right attitude, it can work in your favor too. Everyone has flaws and no one is perfect so stop cribbing and work together with your boss, as a unit. This is just one chapter of your career, so focus on the larger picture and be a resourceful, indispensable employee in order to take your career to greater heights!

How do you deal with struggles in your workplace? Let us know your thoughts and advice in the comments below!

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from
https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/smarter-than-your-boss-heres-how-you-should-deal-with-it/

3 Areas You Can Apply the Science of Goal Setting to Improve Its Effectiveness

Did you know there are currently 9,996 results for goal setting on Amazon right now? Crazy, right? By now, goal setting should be something we understand. Every motivational speaker has taught us that the first step to success is setting goals. The process is almost always the same. Figure out what you want, write down your goals and get after it.

But if goal setting is that simple, why do we need almost ten thousand different ways to tell us how to do it? Isn’t there one right way? Fortunately, the world is filled with scientists who don’t really believe in positive self-talk. In fact, they are so skeptical, they performed scientific experiments to figure out whether goal setting works, and how to improve it.

Before you panic, the findings were good. It turns out, if you are setting goals, you are setting yourself up for success. However, we should be interested in that second part. How can we use science to improve the way we set goals?

It turns out there are 3 different areas we can apply the science of goal setting to improve our effectiveness:

1. Setting Intentions

What many of us class as goals are actually intentions. We would like something to happen, but never develop these ideas into fully fledged goals. To create goals, we need to come up with a more defined approach to achieving them. However, the starting point is always intentions.

Understanding how intentions are formed helps you understand why you might be deciding the goals you set for yourself. There are three elements that contribute to intentions:

1. Values – What is important to you will influence your goals. If health is important to you, setting a goal to run a marathon wouldn’t be a surprise. Winning a cheesecake eating competition might be more surprising as it is incongruent with your values. Goals aligned with our values are more likely to be followed up, especially long-term. Goals that fall short of accomplishment often just aren’t that important to us, and at the first sign of resistance, we tend to get frustrated or give up. Clarity around your values will help you identify great goals.

2. Peer Network – The people whose opinions you value will directly impact the challenges you set. If you grew up surrounded by businesspeople, you are far more likely to have them encouraging you to be entrepreneurial. You don’t have to go through with it, but sometimes, peer pressure can be extremely useful. Unfortunately, peer pressure can work in the opposite direction as well. Your friends are all broke? Every relationship in your family ended in divorce? This shouldn’t stop you setting the right goals for yourself, but maybe you also need to think about creating a more supportive peer network.

3. Self Belief – How much do you think you can earn this year? How many more clients could you attract to your business next month? Your self-belief will affect how high you aim your sights. Aim high, but believe in yourself to accomplish these dreams by conditioning and working on your self-efficacy levels. Roger Bannister first broke the 4-minute mile at a time when everyone (other than him) thought it was impossible. As soon as he broke through that glass ceiling, others started to believe too. Your beliefs about yourself will limit how high you set your goals.

“Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” – Bo Jackson

2. Moderating Factors

Once we are clearer on our intentions, additional factors impact how successful we are with our goals. Our commitment level will determine whether we follow through when things get tough. If the goal is important, and we believe in our ability to succeed, we are more resilient and creative when our progress slows. When we start on an important path, there will be hurdles, and it is commitment that keeps us in the game.

Feedback is essential to success. Feedback isn’t always pleasant, but how we react will determine whether we are on track for our goals or falling away from our proper path. Find a way to get external feedback from people you trust, and don’t hide away from it when it gets more constructive.

Finally, ensure the goal is challenging, but not too far out of reach. Extravagant goals are great as long-term ambitions, but we need to break down goals into manageable, yet challenging action steps. If we don’t do this, we will either be overwhelmed by our bigger goals or bored by our smaller goals. Make each step of the journey equally rewarding and challenging.

“Stay focused, go after your dreams and keep moving toward your goals.” – LL Cool J

3. Follow Through Behaviour

Lastly, we will never achieve our goals unless we follow through with the action steps. If you don’t have a defined path to success, it is often easy to appear to be busy, when in reality, your efforts are not focused. Instead, think about how to concentrate your efforts, like a magnifying glass focuses the sun, and stay working hard on that one track.

One thing that reduces follow-through behaviour is lack of self-efficacy. We need to believe in ourselves. We need to know we are destined for success and it will come. For some, that journey is quicker than others, so don’t get disheartened when others around you are crushing it.

You don’t know their journey and the effort they put in behind the scenes. Focus on you. Be better than yesterday, model people, reward your smallest successes, play your favourite music on full volume, then go out and be awesome.

If you read the goal setting science papers, maybe their language is a little less colourful, but ultimately, every single one of the goal setting tips has scientific research to back it up. If you want to read it, drink some strong coffee, head over to Google Scholar and then type in ‘goal setting’. Alternatively, trust these steps, set your goals now, and make today the day you accelerate your success!

How do you use goal setting to find success? Comment below!

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https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/3-areas-you-can-apply-the-science-of-goal-setting-to-improve-its-effectiveness/