Joel Castillo advices against self doubt and distraction in order to promote yourself as a better business man.
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You hear again and again what it means to be a great businessman. There are articles all over the place about what makes someone great, but you rarely hear about the traits which can have the opposite effect. Nobody is perfect, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn how to avoid letting bad habits ruin all you’ve achieved or hope to achieve. Understanding where your faults lie and correcting them is essential for success in not just the business world, but life in general. When you can step back and self-analyze, you give yourself a better vantage point from which to make corrections. Although we are all unique, we possess many of the same bad habits. Here are a few of the worst in the business world to make sure you avoid at all costs.
When You Shed Your Thick Skin
When you’re first starting out in the business world, you’re not going to hear too many compliments. Everyone has an opinion and most of the time they’ll disagree with someone new. Having a thick enough skin to shed those criticisms is vital for success because people tend to dwell on the negatives rather than improving with the positives. When you begin to see success in the business world, you may start to hear the voices of negativity coming at you stronger and stronger. You’ll need your thick skin to continue brushing aside the hate of detractors and make your way to the top spot in your field, wherever that may be. The higher you climb, the thicker your skin needs to be. Businessmen who let the opinions of others get in the way are going nowhere but down.
When You Get Lazy
It’s good to be at the top, but everyone who gets there tends to slack off a little bit while they are enjoying the view. However, as you stare at all those below you, understand that someone else is coming for that top spot. Lazy businessmen forget how hard the climb to the top was and they forget the value of hard work after they’ve achieved success. The fall from the top can be sudden and those who get lazy will never find their way back to success. If you’re committed to your craft and spend every day as a learning experience to get better, you never have to worry about letting laziness get in the way.
When You’re Selfish
Pick your spots with this habit because there are times when being selfish can lend a helping hand to your overall goals. However, there are other times when selflessness is the proper course of action. This doesn’t mean helping out a competitor or giving away business to someone else. Instead just remember back to a time when you were just starting out or in a rough patch and were thankful enough to get help from an unselfish person. Some people call it karma, but the mantra goes good things happen to good people.
When You’re Distracted
Life has plenty of distractions and it’s crucial that those in the business world learn how to avoid them. You never know how a small sidetrack can turn a whole project upside down so it’s better to keep your eye on the prize. When you focus all of your energy on one goal, you can eliminate everything else that doesn’t matter and get down to the business that really matters. That’s the kind of positive work ethic which brings people from ordinary to extraordinary.
When You Have Self-Doubts
It’s natural to have a few doubts about the world you’re living in but when you allow those doubts to cloud your judgement, then you’ve got trouble. Businesses all have ups and downs. When you’re up, nothing in the world could feel better. When you’re down, things may never have seemed so bleak. When you doubt yourself and what you’ve been fighting for, you waste all of that hard work. Never let self-doubt derail your confidence in the road ahead.
When You’re Greedy
Plenty of people only want to take, take, take when really giving every once in a while can be a good thing. Some people like to take advantage of success and make life better for themselves and not others. When you remember that success can be fleeting, it makes more sense to ditch the greed. You never know when you may need a favor from someone else.
When You’re Arrogant
Arrogance is the downfall of many a businessman. A few years of success and all of a sudden you’re untouchable. Until you aren’t anymore, that is. It’s easy to think that success lasts forever, but if you don’t stay on top of your affairs, someone else will overtake you before you know it. Thinking you’re the best is fine, but acting and treating others like you are is not. A humble businessman is a much more desirable seller and won’t risk alienating potential clients.
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