A word on Work Ethic - Monthly Mentor - March 2009

A word on Work Ethic - Monthly Mentor - March 2009

A word on Work Ethic

by JB Hunt

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure." – Colin Powell

Hard work is a basic building block of every achievement. Without it, everything else is pointless. You can start with a dream or an idea or a goal, but before any of your hopes can be realized, you truly must deserve your success.

Hard work is the only way to ensure consistent success.

This may sound old fashioned in this age of instant gratification, but from the Sistine Chapel to today's space shuttle, there's no mystery as to how works of wonder were created. They were created by people who worked incredibly hard over a long period of time.

If you look closely at all great organizations, all great teams, all great people, the one common denominator that runs through them is a second?to?none work ethic. The intense effort to achieve is always there. When it comes to work ethic there can be no compromises. Any other promise of achievement is fool's gold.

We can see the evidence of fool's gold around us every day. It's the people looking for the quick fix. The easy way to lose weight. The no?pain way to have a better body. The instant way to get rich. But shortcuts fail. Nothing meaningful or lasting comes without working hard at it, whether it's in your own life or with people you're trying to influence. Success is not a lucky break, a divine right, or an accident of birth.

Any of us can achieve things we never thought possible because most of us constantly undersell ourselves. We are conditioned to settle for less, to think our dreams are out of reach, and that it's always going to be other people who grab life's brass ring.

But you don't have to be conditioned to fail. You don't have to see your dreams recede in the distance. You can better your performance, reach your potential, and change your life.

The keys are the 10 steps, the actions and behaviors rooted in more than two decades of my experience with success, with failure, and with learning how people's commitment— including my own—to these techniques makes the difference.

1. Build self-esteem. Our self-esteem is the value we put on ourselves. You can build people's self?esteem to the point where they can achieve victory by using four rules:
1 ) Help each person see himself or herself as having a significant role, no matter what it might be;
2) create significance for the group, organization, team, or company;
3) maintain positive reinforcement for the effort people are giving;
4) recognize the people who get less attention in the group because they're not in the glamorous positions. Thank them publicly for their unselfishness.

2. Set demanding goals. Admit your weaknesses, and set short?term goals to overcome them. Don't make your goals unrealistic; keep raising the bar to make sure you're pushing yourself. You always can do more than you think you can do. Use small successes to generate larger successes. The key is to keep creating demanding goals for yourself, goals that will allow you to reach your full potential. Keep your eye on your dream, and tell yourself that your hard work and effort is one day going to be worth it.

3. Always be positive. You can condition yourself to be more positive. Being positive is an attitude. You control both your attitude and your mood. Block out the negativity that's around you. Realize that the negative people around you are an incredible drain on your desire to be more successful. Surround yourself with positive people, and the benefits will rub off on you. The more trying the times, the more positive you must be. Adapt to change, and condition yourself to see it as a chance to improve yourself, not as a window to failure. Learning to live in the present tense—one that's free from the failures of the past and the anxieties of the future—is a wonderful gift, one you should be striving for.

4. Establish good habits. Create good solid habits, then repeat them over and over until they become so natural they become second nature. This is the discipline that's an integral part of deserving victory. This is the only way to sustain excellence. With good habits, success becomes second nature. Don't let bad habits make it easy to fail. Have a purpose for each day. This gives each day a structure and the sense you are controlling the day, not being controlled by it. Purpose establishes your discipline and makes you more focused.

5. Master the art of communication. Communicating clearly is a critical part of your success. Life is about dealing with other people. Communicate your goals and needs to other people. People won't respond to "because I told you so." They need to know they have an important role in the process. Confront problems immediately, head?on. Problems don't disappear in a puff of smoke, nor do they go away if you avoid them. In fact, they usually only get worse. How you relate to people in the workplace—both those above you and those below you—is vital, because you never know who might one day be your boss.

6. Learn from role models. A role model is anyone who has anything to teach you on your journey to success. Learning from others can often help you make up for your own lack of experience. People all around you have things to teach you, and you must be receptive to them. Take advantage of people who have made the journey ahead of you. It's important to pick the right role models. You're not looking for people who entertain you or people who make you feel good. You're looking for people who can help you. The key is to look for traits in people that can help you be more successful. You can learn different approaches to overcoming challenges and select which ones work for you and which ones don't.

7. Thrive on pressure. Recognize the difference between pressure and stress. Pressure makes you more focused and often is the environment for a great performance. Stress is the enemy. It robs you of your focus and inhibits your performance. Don't wait for pressure and the right circumstances to bring out the best in you. If nothing and no one are demanding a superior performance from you, demand it of yourself.

8. Be ferociously persistent. Persistence makes you great. It's persistence that allows you to reach your dreams and enables you to perform at your fullest potential. Paying the price of hard work makes you less willing to surrender. Don't get discouraged by stumbling blocks along the way. Be flexible enough to readjust and move on, without getting sidetracked. Eliminate the word quit from your vocabulary. This is the essence of persistence. People who won't quit, don't.

9. Learn from adversity. As long as you maintain the right attitude and a certain amount of flexibility, you will be able to persist through the ups and downs you face in your day?to?day life. If you're tough and driven and work harder than you ever have before, you'll keep that "damn the torpedoes" approach and focus on what you need to do, not on what's getting in your way. Brace yourself for the predictable challenges and setbacks that crop up every day.

10. Survive success. Never forget what you did right. It's important to carefully examine the steps you took to become more successful. Write them down. You'll be reminded that it wasn't just luck or good fortune that helped you achieve, but hard work and the right methods. The great ones are always fixing what they do. Keep being creative. Keep trying to get better. Keep realizing that striving for excellence, striving for success, is a never?ending process, something that has no end.

This 10-step program is not intended to walk you through a linear progression from a beginning to an end. Once you've taken all these steps to success, you are now ready to enter a cycle of success. This is a blueprint for a lifetime.