5 Business Habits to Dump in 2016

5 Business Habits to Dump in 2016

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By Suzanne Grove

Every year around this time a concept emerges from the exhilarating, exhausting, and beautifully-decorated fog of the holiday season: The New Year’s Resolution. These words shout at us from the front pages of magazine racks at the grocery store checkout. Our friends and family make bold declarations on social media about the changes they plan to make. Radio and television hosts run special segments on willpower and the latest inventions designed to make you more fit, happy, and wealthy for the New Year.

Unfortunately, the focus too often remains solely on revamping your personal life. After the hustle and excitement of the holidays, your business life might also need a makeover. So, rather than slumping back to the office with sugar plum memories dancing in your head, follow the four tips below to dump old work habits and bring about a more invigorating and successful 2016.

  1. Dump: Spreading yourself too thin.

Do for 2016: Focus your time and energy on your passions and activities that utilize your talents.  While you might be tempted to volunteer for five different organizations, emcee a few charity events, attend every fundraiser, and serve on multiple boards, you will build a much stronger professional profile if you’re able to give your best effort to each activity.

  1. Dump: Self-Defeating Beliefs

Do for 2016: Make confidence with a measured amount of realism your new mantra. It’s easy to take on a pessimistic attitude when you’re bogged down with work in the middle of the winter. But negativity and heading into new projects with doubts and self-defeating talk never makes the situation better.

  1. Dump: Thinking in terms of “always” and “never”

Do for 2016: Embrace new ideas and re-examine old habits. All professionals strive to reach a comfortable and familiar groove in their work lives, but you can easily become stagnant if you refuse to shake things up now and then. Stop and take the time to analyze your partnerships, marketing, finances, and the basic processes essential to your business. If you always go in one direction or always turn down certain ideas, take some time to delve deeper into why you operate this way.

4. Dump: Approval-seeking

    Do for 2016: Learn you can make choices that are best for you, your business, and your professional life without needing the approval of everyone around you. Everyone desires to be liked and to earn approval—it’s a common topic in psychological study. But this doesn’t mean you should bend against your instincts or business acumen to make others like you. Sure your business partners or lenders might need to sign off on certain business plans, but don’t be afraid to stand up for your ideas when they come up against opposition.

 

 

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