6 Habits of Highly Sucessful People

I came across this article on Inc. Magazine this morning about the 6 habits of super successful people.  I think many of these are applicable to a job search:

1. Keep Your Eye on the Ball

Don’t let the obstacles in your path keep you from your goals. View challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. To stay ahead, in business or anything else, you must be able to see situations from all angles and adopt the broadest possible perspective. If your ride has been a smooth one you won’t be prepared for the inevitable bumps.

2. Learn How to Say No

It’s far better to say no to a project you aren’t fully able to take on, rather than say yes and produce poor quality work or lose your focus on what matters most. Learning to say no when it is in your personal best interest, or in the interest of your company, is an extremely valuable skill. Make a list of the things that are most important to you and that you must do yourself, and then delegate the things that can and should be done by someone else. Free yourself from daily busywork and you’ll open up time for new opportunities

3. Keep a Daily Plan of Attack

You know the old saying: “Whatever isn’t written down won’t get done.” As much as we like to think we can remember our most important tasks, when the workday gets busy and meetings run long it’s easy to forget some of the things we need to get done. Each morning write out a detailed plan of attack for the day. Not only will this list keep you more organized, but seeing the list in front of you may help you work harder and ignore distractions.

4. Welcome Criticism

Learn to listen to and absorb the criticism that you get. Hateful and negative criticism should be heard, assessed, and then let go, while constructive criticism should be evaluated and acted upon. Solicit feedback from people whose opinions you value. Remember to be gracious when receiving feedback; when you are, your coworkers and friends will be more likely to give you their support and ideas in the future.

5. Trust Your Instincts

Intuition is very real and something that is never wise to ignore, because it comes from deep within your subconscious and is derived from your previous experiences in similar situations. If your mind is telling you “yes” but your gut is telling you otherwise, it’s usually for a good reason. When faced with difficult decisions, seek out all the information you can find, become as  knowledgeable as you can, and then heed your instincts.

6. Take Risks

It’s impossible to become successful while always playing it safe. Taking well-calculated risks can bring previously unimaginable opportunities to both your career and your personal life. When taking a risk doesn’t pan out the way you had hoped, simply learn from it and keep moving forward. Remember that big dreams-;and great success-;aren’t realized by playing it safe!