28 Things Successful Professionals Do To Become Even More Successful

By Jack J. Kelly

It’s mid-February and highly likely that you haven’t started implementing your New Year’s resolutions yet. Most people will beat themselves up over their proclivity for procrastination, which will only make matters worse. I advise you to stop this negative thought process immediately, accept that you haven’t done anything productive to move your life forward and just start anew.

One of the true beauties of life is that we can have a do-over, reinvent ourselves and keep on trying. In addition to your own personal goals, I’d like to share some tips that I’ve learned from successful corporate executives over the years that you may want to incorporate into your own lives. These are some of the things they do—and avoid doing—to fast track their careers and succeed.

1. This time around, write down your goals and share them with people close to you. Physically write them down in an elementary-school-style notebook. When it’s down on paper in black and white, it all of a sudden becomes real. As you tell others about it, you’ll then have skin in the game and are likely to be even more committed now that people will be tracking your progress.
2. Stop the partying and pursuing short-term highs that distract you from your important goals. Don’t go out on weeknights at all— or at least not too much. While you think you can handle it, your co-workers notice the sneaking in late, the unkempt appearance, the constant nodding off in the afternoon and a whiff of alcohol or weed.
3. Put the phone down and actually take time to read nonfiction books. Try to learn as much as possible about your industry. Reading will help you discover smart management techniques—if you would like to manage. Read about startups if you want to build a business. You won’t go very far if you spend your free time arguing with strangers on Twitter, scrolling through ex-girlfriends on Facebook or looking at everyone else’s supposed glamorous lives on Instagram. These things will suck up most of your time and actually make you feel worse about yourself.
4. Have real conversations with your spouse and children at the dinner table. This is a time to learn about their daily lives and concerns. Pretty soon, they’ll be out of the house and you’ll learn too late that you don’t know them. Having a good solid homelife will give you the support, strength and motivation to work harder. You won’t have additional stress at home on top of what you deal with at the office and will want to work harder for your family.
5. Too many people get caught up with working for the sake of working. The busier they are, the more they brag about how busy they are. Somehow, this is equated with success. Step back and analyze what you are doing. If it is not productive, stop the activity right now and move onto something else that is building your career and moving it forward.
6. Take good care of your health. Go to your doctors for annual check-ups and other needs. Jog, do yoga, ride a bike or participate in competitive sports. If you are not physically healthy, it becomes harder—especially as you get older—to have the strength to work hard and succeed.

1. Surround yourself with people that intellectually challenge you and are different from you on paper. Find hobbies or activities where you can interact with people of all ages, religions, races and economic levels. It will take you outside of your little bubble, open your vistas, widen your network and you’ll learn more, which can be useful in your work.
2. I’m not sure if this is everywhere, but in my suburban New Jersey town, when some people hit a certain age, they’ve completely given up on trying to keep up with fashion and new trends. Their clothes, musical tastes, eyewear and vocabulary are stuck in another time period. While it may sound superficial, people judge you by your appearance and speech. If you look and sound like you are from another bygone era, management will believe that you’re not up to today’s fast-paced and ever-changing landscape.
3. Take some time out to spend with friends and family, sign up for a continuing education class, start a new hobby or adopt a rescue puppy or kitten. These activities will alleviate your stress and make you more human and likable. It will mentally balance out the long and tough days at work.
4. Don’t let negative people bring you down. It’s a weird thing that even your best friends and close family are—at times—happy when you fail. They’re also not overjoyed with your success. You have to reevaluate this type of relationship. Most often, their poor attitude is due to their own internal issues and personal shortcomings.
5. Tell people that you’re ...

Please read the complete article here: Forbes

About the author: Jack Kelly is the founder and CEO of The Compliance Search Group (a leading Executive Search firm that successfully placed thousands of professionals with top-tier Wall Street banks, hedge funds, private equity, FinTech, wealth management, trading, brokerage, and an array of other financial services firms over the last seventeen plus years), ComplianceX (career oriented blog and accompanying newsletter emailed to over one hundred thousand readers every day), and The Wall Street Executive (international job board with thousands of high-end listings). 

Jack has also recently founded a revolutionary new startup, WeCruitr, which will help job seekers easily find and connect with top recruiters. He is a contributor to Forbes.com and writes real and actionable interviewing, career and salary advice.

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