In any economy, the way to success is to take personal responsibility for your work life and your career. As tempting as it may be to complain about the people, the problems, and the seemingly insurmountable work load, it is important to keep your focus on what you can do to improve things.  Look for ways to grow, learn, evolve and master your job and improve career options. Choose to be more effective in your everyday approach. These 21 tips will help you take charge of your own success and happiness at work!

There are so many people in life who spend too much time trying to change others, when they should be investing time working on themselves first. The best way to change your own career and work life and those around you is to work on yourself first. Your world is a reflection of your thinking and behaviors, so the best place to start is always with yourself. Life works when you work on you first.

Most people often downplay their strengths and are always focusing on their weaknesses. However, it is your strengths that drive your success. Why not make a list of your strengths and focus on what you can do to grow them even stronger? When your strengths grow, your success grows.

Next Slide: Give Your Mind a Clear Objective »

Many times we all procrastinate or delay taking action because we haven't created a clear objective in our own minds (of what we want exactly). Take a few minutes to define that clear objective (the what and the why), and you will create the energy inside you to take the action


All success starts with our habits. We can develop fantastic strategies and plans for what we want to accomplish. However, unless we take it down to the habits level and do something different on a daily basis, not even the best strategies and plans can create the success we desire. Take it down to the habits level today and do something different.

Credibility with yourself is always measured by how well you live by your word. Do what you say you will do and you'll not only maintain credibility with yourself, but also have high credibility with others. Remember, not living by your word always has a higher impact on you, than it does on others.


It is a good idea to think about what you do as an investment in your time versus spending your time. An "investment" has a great connotation that you will get a return (something of value) versus spending that has the connotation of time just being used up. Remember to invest your time instead of merely spending it.
Next Slide: From Dreaming to Doing »

A great set of words to remember in getting what we want in life are: Dream, Goal, Plan and Act. Dream first, and dream big. Then, set a goal that takes you forward towards your dream. Next, plan - decide what you will do and stop doing to make room for the "Do." And finally, deliver the plan with ACTION.

Your focus is the single most powerful thing for you to invest time in both creating and maintaining. Wherever your focus goes, so do your energy, drive and action. If you are not focused in what you are doing, your energy is spread all over the place. Think of the image of a light bulb and a laser. Which has the better focus of light? Which is more like you?

Often when we make a mistake we personalize it too much. We believe we become the mistake (or a failure). It is important to embrace the idea that while we make mistakes, the mistakes do not make us. When successful people make a mistake, they review why, understand the lesson, and then move on right away. You can too. Everyone makes mistakes. Just remember to learn from them and leave them behind.

Life is all about making decisions and taking personal responsibility. The more you focus yourself on making decisions and making them faster, the more confidence you grow in yourself. Almost always, your problems only get bigger when you delay the key decisions in your life. Therefore, for a happier and more successful life, get comfortable making decisions


You can look at others and quickly identify the successful from the unsuccessful by observing their approach to problems. Successful people have a positive approach to problems. To them, problems equal opportunities; and the bigger the problems, the bigger the opportunities. Your approach to problems determines what you will accomplish and the success you will achieve.

If you want to grow faster than you are doing today, why not set a goal to learn something from everyone you meet. You'll do more listening and learn more than you would have ever imagined. Everyone brings different talents to the world and you'll uncover them, and then add them to your own.

When someone is disagreeing with what we are saying, we tend to stop listening to them and begin focusing on what arguments to support our side we will bring up next. When others disagree with us, it is the time for us to listen to them as closely as we can. We can never convince others without understanding them well first.

Whenever you see people who have transformed their lives, you suddenly become more interested in them. You would like to know more about how they did it. Also, with their transformation, they have now become more interesting to be around as well. Think of personal transformation as growth, and the more you grow, the more you attract the help of others to grow even more.

A big ego can reduce your success in life. We've seen it in so many people who achieved success quickly and then throw it away. What happened is that their ego grew quickly as well, and they stopped working as hard on their own development. Basically, they threw their potential away. Remember to keep your ego in check.

Everyone would like a life without any hardships. However, hardships are part of life and make our happier times even sweeter. Hardships also help us to strengthen our character and really make us a better person. Remember, there's always a bright side on the other side of any hardships we face.

Many people go through life judging others versus helping others. Why not try this the next time you catch yourself judging others. The minute you find yourself making a judgment about someone, ask yourself this question: "How can I help them"? Everyone achieves more when they help rather than judge others.

Everyone is either a victim or victor of circumstance, and the real thing is that it never depends on the size or nature of the circumstances we encounter. We determine ourselves to be either a victim or victor by how we choose to respond to the circumstances we encounter.

We all hear people making excuses each and every day. Excuses are always the result of not really taking full ownership or making the commitment to things right from the start. Why not create a "no excuses" mindset and determine to take full ownership of and commitment to everything you do

Every person who has achieved great success has had a strong commitment to make it happen. This strong commitment is needed to overcome the challenges that are always in the way of the success you desire. The way through all challenges is commitment, and on the other side is always success.

There's one thing that drives success more than anything else, and it is the faith you have in yourself. It is not ego, but a belief that you can do whatever it takes to succeed, and that you will develop yourself to meet any challenges that are put in your way. Focus on building the faith in yourself, and then nothing will seem impossible.