‘Self-management’ commandments

To excel in a career, you need good ‘self-management’ techniques. You need to manage ‘you’.

There are people that have good competences and they work very hard, but because they have some other negative personal attributes, their career cannot propel forwards. Avoid being one of such people by following the 10 self-management commandments below.

1.   Thou shall maintain good health: To do well in your job, you first and foremost need good health. If you do not have good health, you will not have the energy to work or to work hard. You may be spending a lot of time nursing your illnesses or attending clinics. You need to have a lifestyle that guarantees good health within the parameters that you can control. Therefore, you need to eat healthy food, exercise for at least 40 minutes and four times a week as well as sleeping seven hours every day.

2.   Thou shall have the right attitude: Some people at work behave like they are at a funeral, every day. Work place is not a funeral home. Relax and be happy. Have a happy and jovial attitude. You cannot be having a ‘NO’ as a default answer or response to questions and requests that come to you. Be happy to do things or to be asked to help. Have the right and positive attitude.

3.   Thou shall organise your work. Most of the people that excel in career and business are very organised, setting the right priorities, wasting little time. They know when to do what. You need to ensure that you are that organised if you want to excel in life.

4.   Thou shall associate with the right people. Avoid interacting with people and friends that add little or no value at all to where you want to go with your career or business. There are associates that may even destroy you. Avoid such bad company. Rather, associate yourself with people that want to excel, people that will help you to achieve your goals and to reach the next steps.

5.   Thou shall dress, walk and talk like people at the next level you want to reach. Presentability matters a lot—never ignore it. Therefore, you need to fit the framework for the next level job. Do not wait until you are promoted for you to behave like a senior person. Start already to be that presentable and respected.

6.   Thou shall not waste time with mediocrity and triviality. Do not waste time on small talk or cheap talk. You cannot be spending most of your time talking about other people or discussing things that don’t help you achieve your goals. Avoid talking about very small items that have little to no impact on your life.

7.   Thou shall focus on major agendas. Focus your mind on big issues that have huge and long-term impact. These are the ideas that will make others come to you to help them to solve problems. This track record will make you more relevant.

8.   Thou shall move with change. Life is dynamic. You need to read the trends and adapt in time. Otherwise, you will remain behind. Move with times and you will remain relevant. When changes come in business or at work, be the early person to embrace, learn the change and ride on it.

9.   Thou shall iteratively discover and work on your weaknesses. Everyone make mistakes. The key is discovering the mistakes and working on them. We also have weaknesses. Successful people identify and work on their weaknesses continuously. Do you conduct the 360 degree feedback survey from time to time? You need to as it is a credible way for discovering your weaknesses objectively. Additionally, be attentive in your interactions with others to pick out areas that come out as weaknesses to others around you. Then have an action plan to close those areas.

10.               Thou shall keep learning. You need to continuously upgrade your knowledge, skills and competences. Keep advancing in knowledge and skill to be able to do the next bigger thing.