“She’s a really hard worker!” Ever heard that about yourself and felt a little pride swelling up inside?
“Don’t confuse activity with accomplishment.” Ever heard that and wanted to smack the speaker?
“It’s better to work smarter than harder!” Ever heard that and wondered if it applied to you?
In today’s uncertain and fast changing business times, you cannot afford to be on the wrong side of any of those three attributes. In fact, combining the three should be your goal for developing your productivity brand.
Many of us have realized that developing your personal brand, previously known as your reputation, is important in this marketplace. Here’s my question: Would you rather be known as a hard worker or a hard accomplisher?
To build a hard accomplisher brand, several strategies are worth considering:
1) Thoughtfulness – Accomplishers are thinkers who, more often than most, ask the question “what is the highest and best use of my time RIGHT NOW?” Every fork in the time allocation road is a chance to ask that question. While technology has raised potential in so many areas, these areas are great sources of distraction. Anyone’s cell phone or computer screen buzzed or beeped while reading this?
2) Focus – Accomplishers have written goals. But, unlike most, they just stay on their goals a little longer than the average person in their position. They also tend to be better at saying no to opportunities that take them away from their thoughtful, pre-established goals.
3) Resilience – Accomplishers internalize optimism and externalize setbacks. They see the result before they achieve it and don’t take failure personally. In fact, failure to them is the sugar that makes the achievement pie taste all the sweeter. And they stay hungry!
So set a goal to become known as a hard accomplisher. I promise you it’s a brand that always remains in demand.