Ten Habits of Happy, Successful People

It seems Seven Habits of Highly Effective People was a best seller for an incredibly long time given its relatively simple advice. Yet simplicity has an elegance and logic that far surpasses complicated jargon. Even though most readers have probably already heard of the seven habits, putting them on paper enhances their credibility and charges them with a spark of genius.

With this observation in mind, I offer you Besson's Ten Habits of Happy, Successful People.

#1 Know your mission and pursue it with vigor.

Like Shakespeare, this habit may be interpreted on more than one level. As a philosophy of life, it challenges you to discover the unique role best suited to your talents, interests and values and uses it as a driving force to propel you toward success.

On a more pragmatic level, your mission is represented by your day-to-day job description. The happiest professionals are those who understand their work and perform it with excellence. Part of their savvy comes from technical competence, and part comes from knowing they are doing exactly what their management/clients expect. As quality experts would say, they do the job right the first time.

#2 Competence alone will not get you what you want. You must also make sure management is familiar with the caliber of your work and understands the rewards you expect for it.

All too often employees assume their bosses know the best career paths for them, and they mistakenly think their high-level performance will automatically be acknowledged. Unfortunately, many workers only generate attention when they produce a problem.

Unless you are willing to run the risk of being passed over for a key assignment or promotion, ask for what you want. Your manager isn't a mind reader.

#3 Become an intrepreneur who views his job as a long-term consulting assignment with a valued client company.

Because organizations are no longer willing to give tacit guarantees of lifetime employment, you must perceive yourself as an employee who does excellent work, learns as much as possible from each position and is ready to move should the desire or need arise.

Corporate rightsizing and the trend toward outsourcing are long term structural changes. Employees who recognize this fact and find a way to use it in their favor will prosper now and in the future.

#4 Take some risks.

Seize the responsibility for your own career satisfaction. Don't waste valuable time hoping for the best or waiting for your company to do what's right.

As Auntie Mame says, "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death." If you don't pull your chair to the table, you'll continually feel both hungry and neglected.

#5 Trust your gut.

If a situation doesn't feel right, don't let logic override intuition. Have you ever taken a job your gut warned you against only to find weeks later why your intuition was right?

Certainly logic has its place in the decision making process, but whole brained thinking will give you a balanced perspective that pure analysis cannot.

#6 Network, network, network even when you're very happy in your current position.

Savvy professionals know a well developed support system can be a source of wonderful friendships, mentors and referrals for everything from pediatricians to plumbers. It can also provide objective insights for evaluating opportunities and problems. Mastermind groups, trade organizations, churches, alumni associations, friends of friends, continuing education classes, etc. all offer excellent sources for cultivating relationships with colleagues who are stimulating, fun, resourceful and willing to serve, upon occasion, as human crying towels or a personal cheering section.

#7 Negotiate for a win-win solution.

While it may appeal to our macho instincts to leave opponents bleeding in the dust, unlike Dirty Harry we will probably have to work with them again. Humiliation does not breed long-term relationships. It promotes a long-lasting desire for revenge.

The next time you are in a mood to take no prisoners, put yourself in your opponent's place. Suggest a course of action which you perceive to be genuinely palatable to both parties. Your opponent will respect you for it and probably return the favor the next time around.

#8 Fake it 'til you make it.

No, I'm not suggesting you lie on your resume or present yourself as someone you're not. I'm alluding to those occasional lapses of self confidence we experience when faced with a project that stretches us. Self doubt nibbles around the edges of our consciousness. Can I really pull this off? I asked for what I want and I got it. Now what?

In these moments of rising panic, it's wise to remember that positive behavior can easily overtake negative feelings. And, fortunately, behavior is what others see. Remember that great presentation you gave with your mouth dry and knees knocking? In it you used fear as a source of extra energy. Fear can be your ally if you channel it effectively.

#9 Set only those goals you really want to achieve.

How often have we heard people say in January they plan to lose 25 pounds, yet come December their weight hasn't changed? Goals prefaced by "I should" rather than "I will" are generally doomed by self sabotage.

To test a goal for viability see if it will RUMBA. Decide if it is Reasonable, Understandable, Measurable, Behavioral and Agreed upon. Meeting only the first four conditions aren't enough. You and everyone involved with your goal must genuinely agree it's a great idea, or lack of enthusiasm will scuttle it sooner or later.

#10 Fill your life with a combination of work, education and fun.

According to Richard Bolles in Three Boxes of Life, Americans tend to divide their lives into three discreet time periods, each having a singular purpose. From birth to about 21, we are in our learning box. Our mission is to absorb information and advice from our elders. From about 21 to 65, we are in our working box where we must concentrate on producing worthwhile products and services. Then, at 65 we retire and move into our fun box. Unfortunately, people who buy into this pattern for living lead a pretty stale existence and often die early because they feel useless without their jobs. They've forgotten how to learn and enjoy themselves. For them life without work is meaningless.

Those who have mastered the art of combining education, working and leisure throughout their lives follow the sage advice of Robin Williams in The Dead Poet Society, "Carpe Diem!" They seize each day and make it their own.