5 Toxic Beliefs That Destroy Careers

I recently read that an article on Inc.com authored by Geoffrey James that outlines specific beliefs that if held by individuals can inhibit their career success. This article has inspired me to share what I believe to be five beliefs that can destroy career success and some advice on how to change any such beliefs you may hold.

1. Your worth to your organization and self-worth are defined by what co-workers, friends and family think of you.

Self-confidence drives your passion for you work, and that fuels job success. You own your self-confidence and should not let anyone else define it. Yes you need to understand and learn from your mistakes, but don’t let them damage one of you most valuable assets, your self- confidence. In addition, people have often misperceptions about what other think of them. Letting perception define reality can be dangerous. If you feel someone may have issues with your work ask them about this will allow you to separate reality from perception and fix any real issues.

2. Failure is a terrible and affects my future success.

Most great success come from lessons learned from past mistakes. Learning how to fail is one of life’s great lessons, and the earlier people learn it their careers the better. If you are in an environment where you are punished for each and every mistake you make you might want to think about moving to a better working environment. Those who let their failures define them have often stopped learning, trying and lost their passion for work, and that is often what drives less than optimal results.

3. I do not control my own success. There are factors beyond my control that determine my career success, and I just need to accept it.

There certainly can be external factors that can steer the direction of your success. However, you should not sell yourself short and give up if you perceive obstacles you currently can’t control. Often times perceive obstacles that are just not there, and there are those who can help you overcome actual obstacles that drive success who can be motivated to help you achieve your goals. If you define success and determine that no matter what you do you directly and indirectly that you can’t reach it, then it may be time to redefine your definition of success.

4. My goal should be to do everything perfectly.

Being a perfectionist can be paralyzing in allowing you to growing out of your current position and to your career success. You should be the best you can be, but the goal should not be perfection. Improving your job skills both technical and soft skills have a learning curve and learning and perfection just do not jive.

5. I know everything.

Understanding what you don’t know can be more valuable that what you actually do know. The most successful people I have ever met have told me that the key to their success is hiring and working with people that are smarter than them.  You need to be confident, but that does not mean acting like you know everything, and not actively listening to others thoughts and opinions. Even when you know you are right there is an art to communicating that the right way to people.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Note that you can find much more relevant content around effective career management by visting Proformative's Career Advancement Webinar Series Homepage which contains past Proformative career webinar Powerpoint presentations, webinar recordings, and information on future career management webinars.

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