I’ve noticed that there are some common activities that propel them towards success and I'm sharing these observations with you in this article with the intention of helping you to achieve your goals too. 

1. They Get Up Early in the Morning

We feel confident and powerful when we have a sense of control and the feeling of accomplishment. Getting up early helps us to feel both.

By waking up early you gain a sense of control that you might not enjoy if you woke up later.

How many times have you said that you wished you had time to exercise, to meditate, to read, to stretch, to breathe, to say your morning affirmations? If you get up early, you’ll have time to do all this and more! 

That feeling of accomplishment when you’ve had a power walk, or you’ve had a good stretch, or you started the day on a healthy note is worth waking up early for.

Sleeping in is easier – hitting the snooze button several times is tempting – but it doesn’t prepare you well for the day ahead.

If you want to get stuff done, get up early and GET IT DONE! A positive morning routine is a good thing.

Regularly getting up early, making it a habit, will change your mindset, the effectiveness of your morning routine and your productivity. Start your day on a positive note, get good things done early and you’ll set yourself up for a great day.

2. They Plan Their Day in Advance

If you plan for tomorrow, tonight, you will have your roadmap to success. If you don’t have a plan when you go on a trip, how on earth will you know where you’re going? It’s the same when it comes to your business or workday.

All you need are small, efficient action steps that, as you accomplish each, serve to bring you closer and closer to your goal. Know what you goal is in order to plan effectively. If you don’t know where you’re going, or you don’t care, then it won’t matter what you do. But if you want to get SOMEWHERE, then a plan will get you there faster!

Plan your day the night before and when you wake up you’ll know exactly what your priorities are for the day.  

3. They Cut Out the Non-Essential Stuff

Don’t set multiple goals for each day that overwhelm you. I can guarantee that you won’t do any of them! There are probably 100 different things that you need to do. But creating a massive 100-item to-do list will overwhelm you and leave you feeling defeated.  

Keep it simple and focus on the one or two things that will move you closer to your desired outcome at work, in your business or career.

For successful long-term planning, create variable time-frame goals; yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily.  Your DAILY goals are the most important because those daily actions will help you hit your monthly, quarterly and yearly goals. Without the daily goals, nothing else gets done – wouldn’t you agree?

Whatever you goal is, keep it simple and do less to achieve it. Ignore the noise and distractions and most importantly get past the mindless activities that aren't helping you reach your destination. You know what they are … social media, certain emails, and people knocking on your door for things THEY want done. Focus on what’s important to you and get that done every single day. Steven Covey’s First Things First is an excellent book to read – he recommends that we spend our time on the IMPORTANT and NON-URGENT in order to reduce stressful situations and to get stuff done!

4. They Do More to Propel Them Forward

What do I mean? Do less when it comes to mindless activities, but always do more to propel you forward towards your goal. If a little competition creates more urgency for you, think of it as a competition with your self and reach for a personal best each day. Ensure you are better today than you were yesterday.

Learn more. Fix a problem. Create a strategy. Implement your strategy. Create new solutions. Become the best. Go above and beyond. Do more.

To get to where you want in your career, your business and your life, you must do more. If you want a promotion, work for it!  If you want something, work towards it. Be smart and identify what needs to be done to get to where you want to be.

5. They have Tunnel-Vision Focus

Do you know what you really want? And do you know WHY you want it?

Before you take action, give yourself time for self-exploration.  What is it that you really want? Do you want a raise? Why? If so, how much? Do you want a promotion? Why do you want the promotion? Do you want more responsibility? Do you want more money? Do you want to become a leader> Do you want to grow you team? Do you want a new job title? Do you want recognition? What is the REAL reason you want this?

Be specific when it comes to your end goal. If this is something you're willing to work on every day it needs to be clear and to the point. It must be specific enough that you can actually feel what it would be like to reach it. Many people fall by the wayside because they don’t really have a strong enough DESIRE for success. Or are not willing to put in the WORK to achieve success.

If you stay focused on your end goal, you will stay on track to accomplish the one or two things that will propel you towards your destination. Rome wasn’t built in a day, as they say.

Follow these 5 steps that successful people do to advance their careers with dedication and desire, and you will be successful.

Of course there will be distractions and if you find yourself veering away from your goal, acknowledge this has happened and steer yourself back on the path towards success.

I can’t wait to hear how you go! What do you do to stay focused to reach your goals?

And always, believe in yourself, and go and create career MAGIC!

If you'd like to have a chat about your goals, set a time for an exploratory chat here.

If you're in your 20's or 30's you may be concerned about how to find a job. Many of my clients have expressed concern about their age when looking for a new role. The ones who worry the most are those who are over 50. I remind them that there are many professionals over 50 landing good jobs!  The process is similar but there is the challenge of mindset as you get older.

My clients ask me, 'What's the formula for success?'

For my mature-age clients I remind them that: They must not accept fear-based myths as the one-and-only truth

Those who are successful believe in maintaining an open and curious attitude to their job search. Your mindset is a crucial element of the job search process. This article will help you develop a positive mindset so you take control of your job hunt.

It can be tough to find a job for everyone, not just those over 50

To be really honest, it’s tough not only for the over 50’s but for all job seekers. It’s all a matter of attitude and determination and, never giving up! One of my clients in his early 40’s experienced great challenges securing a new role not only because of his seniority but also because of the limited opportunities in Sydney at that point in time. There are many factors at play in the employment process.

In order to uncover more opportunities he had to open up his search to other cities and overseas. He became open to the idea of relocating. He found that the executive search firm consultants were of the opinion that it was a ‘tough market out there’ as they, too, were struggling to find suitable roles for him.

He took matters into his own hands rather than using the common job search methods. He has now moved to Singapore having secured a role at the level he was seeking in the industry of his choice.

What Most People Do

Typical job search methods are to register with recruiters and to send out dozens upon dozens of resumes to get a job.

That used to work when it was an employees’ market. Many of my clients have told me that it used to be so easy for them to get a job ‘back in the day’ however things have changed.

Even though it may be a challenging job market right now, companies are still hiring. They’re just not hiring as freely as they seemed to years ago. There is a natural attrition rate within organisations. Those roles need to be filled – sometimes by internal candidates, sometimes by external candidates.

You must do what is most effective to be the external candidate who is the Chosen One. So, how can you do that?

What is the Hiring Manager looking for?

Consider what the hiring manager needs. His own job security may depend on his people making him look good. He’ll want to find a new team member who will make a significant contribution and fit in.

This makes hiring a very personal matter. Therefore he might not want to leave it to the Human Resources Department to short-list the few people they believe would be the dream candidates. Also, he may prefer not to outsource the process to a recruiter and incur a hefty recruitment cost.

Doing the hard yards himself by placing the perfect job ad and screening online resumes is terribly time consuming.

So what is the hiring manager, to do? Unless it’s against company policy, he turns to people he already knows and trusts and asks for recommendations. His network very likely will understand the type of person who’ll be a good fit.

The single most important thing to understand about job search is that people hire people they know will be a good fit.

LinkedIn is where you must be – so make your profile a good one

There’s another option open to hiring managers. LinkedIn. LinkedIn has made it so easy for anyone to do a key word search to find candidates that match their requirements. They can choose the functional capabilities required, the industry, location and even filter current or past companies to find a suitable candidate with the right experience.

LinkedIn will create a list of candidates matching the required criteria, saving a lot of time. In fact, a recent JobVite survey found that 93% of recruiters use LinkedIn to source for candidates.

What does this tell you? To get a foot in the door, a getting a recommendation or to be easily found via LinkedIn will be your best bet in the current job market.

For help with your LinkedIn profile and your online branding, check out Personal Branding for Career Success

Get out there and Network

Focus on meeting and getting to know decision-makers

The most productive activities for any job seekers are those that lead to creating relationships with potential hiring managers. You also need to create relationships with people whom the decision-makers know and trust (their sphere of influence).

Have some fun with it and become a job search detective. Research the companies where you’d like to work. Identify the decision-makers, and figure out how you might meet them.

If you have no connections who may be able to introduce you, attend events where those decision makers might be. Attend conferences and networking events. Turn up and create your own serendipity.

I encouraged one of my clients who lived a long way south of Sydney to attend his local chamber of commerce meetings when he told me he had a limited network. He made a number of new connections at the first two meetings he attended and also made 2 excellent connections with hiring managers who, by chance, were looking to expand their teams.

As he’d crafted a strong positioning statement, or ‘pitch’, he was able to articulate with ease his relevant areas of expertise. This eventually led to 2 job offers. Those roles never made it on to the online job boards. His networking efforts uncovered two ‘hidden’ jobs

Of course it’s much less confronting to stay in front of the computer and just click ‘Apply’ and send your resume into cyberspace. However, if that is not yielding the desired results, do something different.

Give yourself a chance for success by expanding your connections and developing those relationships. Allow people to find you with ease by creating a powerful LinkedIn profile featuring all of the relevant key words that will help you to turn up in a relevant search.

Develop resilience. Of course you will expose yourself to rejection, perhaps many times before you land the job you want. Keep at it. Frequently it’s a case of: no, no, no, no, no, no, then YES!

A reality check

Are you qualified for what you want to do? Do you have the relevant experience? Do you understand the latest relevant technology and methodology? Do you present yourself as the most up to date and informed professional? Are you willing to learn? Are you open to new ideas? Are you adaptable during changing circumstances? Are you willing to learn from those younger than you?

If you can answer, ‘Yes’ to all of the above then you are giving yourself the best possible chance for success.

Another option

If, despite it all, you don’t secure a new role as an employee, consider other options. Leverage your skills, knowledge and resourcefulness by considering self-employment.  Here's a link to an excellent podcast episode about How to Start a Business

There are several options to consider: Consulting, Buying a Business, Buying a Franchise or setting up your own Business. I’ll discuss the entrepreneurial route in a follow-up article, as there is a lot to consider before launching in this direction.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear how you go in the comments below – share your challenges as well as the successes and where you may need help.