5. You’re looking to experience success, not to learn from mistakes.
It might sound like semantics, but it is a different framing that works to keep you going. When you discuss mistakes, make sure you don’t just focus on the what-not-to-do part of it. If you want to head down the path of success, you have to understand what is correct and try the successful behavior until you have a positive outcome.
Scientific Facts about Business Success
6. Get your head positively in the game.
When you make a mistake, don’t allow negativity to rule you. As “new-agey” as it sounds, stay positive. Your attitude should be that you get another chance to make it right. Focus on the next turn. Put in neuroscience terms, when you become mired in negativity, the stressor hormone cortisol bathes your brain and blocks access to the part of the brain that breeds success. You become more and more frustrated and will continue to make mistakes. Take a break! When you can come at the challenge with a new and positive perspective, you are primed to try it again.
7. Nothing replaces practice.
When you achieve success, mimic the very same behavior again relatively quickly after the last success. You’ll build thicker neural pathways for the successful behaviors. In essence, practice and practice and practice the art of success. That’s why you see golfers hit ball after ball on a driving range. Focus on the attempts you get right; ignore the wrong ones.
8. Celebrate.
If you’re trying to teach someone a new skill, celebrate their successes and ignore their mistakes unless the failure is going to be harmful.
9. Positive feedback is like cash in the bank.
The old adage is true: “People have a tendency to become what we encourage them to be, not what we nag them to be.” As a leader, catch people doing things right and make sure they know you’ve witnessed it. Give them on-the-spot feedback on it so that they get a big dopamine hit. Don‘t wait for company meetings or the next time you see them walking down the hall. One of your most important activities as a success chief will be to immediately dole out feedback when someone does something right. Get good and consistent at it.
10. Scientific Facts about Business Success
There are few things as exciting as breeding success,
Especially when you know you can do it deliberately.
If you want to be the titan of your industry and have a high hit rate at success, keep hitting.
Notice when you and others get it right and do it again and again.
We really are like dogs, Sit, Roll over, Good entrepreneur Celebrate.
11. Your IQ doesn’t matter.
More and more research is showing that your IQ is not as big an indicator of success than we previously through. What’s more important than IQ? Grit: the passion and perseverance to keep going for your goals, according to Angela Lee Duckworth
.
Scientific Facts about Business Success
12. The skills you were born with aren‘t your toolbox.
Your innate gifts are just your starting place. They can be hints about the direction your career takes, but by no means do they define your capabilities. In her TED Talk, Carol Dweck talks about the importance of a growth mindset for success; those who believe they can improve and that their skills are not static, are more likely to achieve the success they want.
13. You need a measurement system.
We all set goals, but few of us know that the true key to goal setting is to consistently track and get feedback on your goals. Setting and measuring your progress on goals will ensure your progress.
14. There is no formula.
You may be told at some point that if you do xyz you will be successful. That may have been true in the past but our ever-changing world means that the path to success is a far more creative process. First define what success is for you. That definition can help you determine a path that will lead to personal fulfillment.
Scientific Facts about Business Success
15. Make happiness a priority.
Being happy at work is not just a nice-to-have anymore–it’s a necessity. Recent research has shown that happier people are 12% more productive at work, and work more creatively and collaboratively.
16. Don’t just embrace failure–strive for it.
As Carol Dweck notes in her research, the ability to learn from failure is a key aspect of success. Learning to embrace failure will make you more fearless and steadfast in pursuing the success you crave.
Scientific Facts about Business Success
17. Know your purpose.
Your purpose in life and work is a very personal thing and is linked to a core challenge in your life. Knowing your purpose will lend you a renewed sense of energy and motivation that can’t be replicated by other external factors.
18. Observe your impact on others, and ensure it’s in line with your desired impact.
According to Adam Grant, when you know the impact of your work–the positive benefits it has on other people–you are more happy and productive at work. Take it one step further and think about the ideal impact you want to have on people. How can you make this impact in your work, or with a career change?
19. Stop caring what others think:
Ohio State University psychologist Jennifer Crocker found that making decisions and defining your self-worth based on what others think has both physical and mental health consequences. Instead, focus on building a self-esteem based on internal factors: your virtues and morals.
20. Spend time knowing yourself:
Knowing your core strengths is the key to pinpointing your genius and tapping into how to direct your efforts. According to Amy Cuddy, when you truly believe and trust in yourself, you develop a strong sense of presence that leads to success and achievement across the board.
Scientific Facts about Business Success
21. Get enough sleep.
Trying to power your way through work on little sleep can do more damage than good. Leading the sleep revolution, Arianna Huffington says that the key to success is more sleep. It will make you happier, more productive, and a better decision-maker.
22. Exercise.
A study from the British Journal of Sports Medicine showed that just 10-40 minutes of exercise can help boost brain power. Don‘t wait for the weekends to get your exercise in-–there are so many ways to squeeze in some physical activity at work.
23. Meditation can do wonders on the brain.
When you meditate, you help create better balance and flow across all areas of the brain. This allows for better creative thinking, problem-solving, memory and more. Just meditating for five minutes a day can get some results–so build it into your daily or weekly routine now.
Scientific Facts about Business Success
24. Avoid boredom.
If you‘re bored, you lose momentum at work, and studies have shown that this can lead to depression. If you feel as if your work environment is predictable and is unengaging, it might be time to evaluate how you can fall in love with your work again.
25. Actively build your confidence.
Confidence is what leads to true action-–you may have the skills and expertise to do something, but if you don‘t have confidence, you’ll never go for it. One of the biggest things you can do for your success and achievement is to build a solid foundation of confidence for yourself.
26. Stop asking for advice.
Advice can steer you in the wrong direction, because it’s coming from someone else’s experience and perspective. People who give you advice are simply telling you what they would do in your shoes. They aren’t helping you come to a decision yourself. Instead of asking for advice, ask for support.
Scientific Facts about Business Success
27. Trust your gut.
Trusting your gut is far underrated. We often see trusting our intuition and gut feelings as the opposite of rationality and science, but that’s simply not true. As psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer notes, “Gut feelings are based on lots of experience, an unconscious form of intelligence.“
28. Know your personality type.
Knowing your personality type, like your Myers-Briggs type, can help you understand some key aspects about yourself that can be invaluable in navigating the workplace. These personality assessments reveal your levels of introversion and extroversion, as well as the types of environments you work best in. Leverage this data to create work you love.
29. Focus on intrinsic rewards versus extrinsic.
Intrinsic sources of motivation and metrics for success are exponentially more effective than extrinsic. Start by aligning your personal mission with that of your company. When you have an internal motivation to get up and go to work, you’ll find your engagement skyrocket.
30. Be a giver.
Adam Grant’s research on givers shows the power in being generous to other people without expecting anything in return. What goes around comes around-–being a giver is a long-term strategy that will reward you over time.
