Many of us spend our entire careers enduring many setbacks and ruining relationships before we get to learn vital career lessons. So, to spare you the heartache, we’ve listed 20 essential lessons that you need to learn early on in life to boost your career development.
Regardless your job role, these are the mottos you should follow throughout your professional career.
1. Happiness is key to success
To be successful in life, you must love what you do! So, if you dread going to work, either because of the job itself, a colleague or your boss, you’re going to need to make a shift to ensure that you love your work. You don’t want to get close to retirement and regret your entire career!
According to Tim Sanders, former senior executive at Yahoo!: “People who love what they’re doing, who love to learn new things, to meet new people, and to share what and whom they know with others: these are the people who wind up creating the new economic value and, as a result, moving their companies forward.”
2. Developing strong relationships is vital
The most successful people tend to have strong relationships inside and outside the workplace. They genuinely care about those around them and will offer their assistance without expecting anything in return.
Sergey Solonenko, founder and CMO of Algocentric Digital Consultancy says that, early on, he “learned the significance of genuinely helping others and solving their problems without expecting anything in return. This approach has been instrumental in developing relationships that have later proven invaluable, both professionally and personally.”
So, if you’re at the start of your career, aim to make a bond with those who cross your path — you never know when you’ll need their help or advice!
3. Having a positive mindset is everything
If you haven’t noticed already, Negative Nancys get nowhere in life!
To be successful, you must sport a positive attitude. If you’re having a bad day, don’t let that get in your way of success. You must form a thick skin and push past it and continue with a positive mindset; it’s easy to fall into the negativity trap and think that the grass is always greener elsewhere, but don’t let other people’s opinions bring you down!
4. Learn from your mistakes
Nobody is perfect, and you’re bound to make a mistake at some point in your career.
It’s an essential part of the process for you to learn and develop as a professional, so don’t feel worthless when you’ve made a mistake at work. Instead, learn from it and use it as an opportunity to do better next time.
5. Don’t give up
Similarly to the point above, you shouldn’t give up when the going gets tough. You must believe in yourself, accept the challenge and conquer it.
“If someone wants to be a CEO, they should be tough and see setbacks as chances to learn,” says George Yang, founder of Yanre Fitness. “There are obstacles, chances to grow, and finally success on the way to becoming a great CEO. To become a CEO, you need to be able to see the big picture, be flexible, understand how to work with others, and be strong. By using these lessons, you might be able to turn problems into chances to show leadership.”
So, move outside your comfort zone and push yourself to do something different and succeed! You’ll feel much more satisfied and content in your role once you get past the barrier of fear.
6. Fuel your body to fuel your mind
Success starts from within, so to have a healthy and active mind, you’ll also need to have a healthy and active body. To be successful, you’ll need to take care of your health and be mindful of what you consume!
Although it’s fine to indulge from time to time, you’ll need to eat healthy and balanced meals to ensure you have the energy to work at your maximum capacity.
7. Keep your social life private
If you’re someone who lives to post your successes on social media, then you have it all wrong! Live to make vital connections with others instead of simply living to get a picture for the gram.
Although it’s beneficial to have a strong social presence, you should spend more time forming key relationships before being able to share them to your online platforms.
8. Never stop learning
With such a fast-paced world, it’s essential to continue growing and developing with new and emerging trends. Even if you’re the CEO of a company, you should never stop learning and taking in new information.
As Gerry Poirier, founder and CEO of AngeLink, advises: “Continuously invest in your professional and personal mindset. Engage in lifelong learning and do not be afraid to step outside your comfort zone to attain new skills.”
Take Elon Musk for example: he dedicates a large portion of his day to reading and development to ensure he is one step ahead of the rest, and it has indeed paid off.
9. Small wins deserve to be celebrated
Managed to beat last month’s sales target? No matter how small a figure it is, it deserves to be celebrated!
We often fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to others and convincing ourselves that what we have achieved isn’t good enough and that we should do better! That said, it’s essential to take a step back and give ourselves a little pat on the back from time to time.
10. Teamwork is essential
Succeeding as a team is far more important than individual success. While you might think that you can achieve greatness on your own, you’ll be very mistaken.
Even great artists like Beyoncé have made it to the top because they’ve had a strong network and support unit around them. They have people who inspire them and offer ideas to help push and improve their craft.
11. Don’t be afraid of the setbacks
At some point in your career, you might endure a job that will knock your confidence; whether it’s a bad boss, the wrong role or poor company culture, there will be a reason to make you doubt yourself.
Poirier remarks: “As a CEO, I have faced inevitable setbacks and failures. The only thing that matters is how you respond to the setbacks. Develop a growth-oriented mindset that views failure as a setup towards success. Encourage your team to do the same, and build a culture where innovation is not suppressed by the fear of failure.”
Therefore, it’s important not to be afraid of failure and to welcome it when it does happen. As mentioned above, everything is a learning curve in life, and you should be able to look at your setbacks constructively and use them to your advantage.
12. Nothing is provided for free
Generally speaking, nothing will be handed to you on a silver platter, and you’ll need to work hard to be successful.
If you’re job searching, for example, you shouldn’t expect the jobs to come to you. Instead, you should make an effort to seek out roles at companies that you admire and spend time preparing your application to ensure you have a chance of securing a job there.
13. Don’t burn any bridges
If you’re leaving a job that you hate, it can be easy to let loose and tell your boss what you really think of them on your last day, but you never know when your paths might cross again!
To ensure that you’re on good terms with everyone, bury any grievances with past employers and be kind to everyone you meet!
14. Reinvention is key
In today’s digital world, you’re going to need to roll with the times, which often calls for some form of reinvention.
Stay competitive by adapting to new technologies, trends and expectations to ensure that you’re always on the top of the list when it comes to new opportunities.
15. Create your own story
Your background isn’t important when it comes to success. If you’re determined and motivated, you can create your own success story. Start from the bottom, and work your way up — if you have the drive, you’ll achieve anything that you set your mind to.
16. Diversify your knowledge
Just as it’s important to never stop learning, it’s also crucial to have diverse knowledge. Beyond your industry skills and expertise, branching out to different fields that may seem unrelated to your own can enrich your personal and professional growth.
What is more, beyond what you learn, you should also consider how you learn. Solonenko advises this: “Engaging with diverse sources of knowledge, from books to mentorship, has been crucial in staying ahead and making informed decisions.”
Diversifying the process and means of learning, then, can play a vital role in your career development.
17. Transparency is crucial
Whether you’re a leader, manager or team member, transparency is instrumental for success. Indeed, when you can identify the reason behind everything that you do, you can improve your and your team’s motivation and engagement.
Speaking from experience, Hedy Popson, president and CEO of Productions Plus, says: “Always start with WHY. I have learned that leading by example and with passion, while being as transparent as possible with where you believe the organization can go, is a proven formula for success.”
Transparency can transform how you view your work, as you will have a clearer understanding of the aims and objectives behind it.
18. Learn to delegate
While it might seem impossible to let go of certain tasks and processes, delegation is a valuable skill to have. By reassigning them to your colleagues, you’re allowing yourself to delve deeper into your work and dedicate more time to your remaining tasks.
What is more, it can establish a foundation of trust within your team, as it shows that you have confidence in others’ abilities. In the long run, this can improve team dynamics, better collaboration and higher productivity!
19. Keep a record
Throughout your career, you’re going to make lots of professional contacts, attend various meetings and learn numerous things. This is why keeping a record of the most important interactions and knowledge you come across is a wise practice that could come in handy down the line.
Michael Nemeroff, CEO and cofounder of Rush Order Tees advises: “Keep notes of every professional interaction. Chances are you’ll forget an essential detail as you juggle the millions of tasks on your to-do list. Notes ensure that you capture the important points and they’re available to reference later.”
20. Focus on real problems
In a world where every industry seems oversaturated, it can be challenging to stand out and achieve success.
Michael Shuffett, CEO and founder of Compose AI offers valuable insight into this topic: “My biggest advice from my experience as a CEO is to make sure you are actually trying to solve the real problem. What is typically quoted as the number one reason for a startup’s failure? Lack of product market fit — a special case of not solving the right problem.”
While innovation is vital, you must ensure that your efforts are being invested in addressing real issues. To achieve this, you must remain flexible, accept feedback and adapt where needed to ensure you are building something that can truly contribute to the world.
Final thoughts
Enjoying a successful career requires hard work and determination, but by learning these lessons early on, you’ll definitely be able to avoid a few bumps along the way!
What career lessons have you learnt throughout your career? Share them with us in the comments section below!
This article is a partial update of an earlier version published on January 3, 2018, and contains contributions by Melina Theodorou In the update, we added five more entries, as well as original quotes from industry experts.