I’m a great believer in having goals, dreams and vision for your life, personally and professionally. Good ideas are essential. Having positive expectations, faith and trust are also important. None of these things bears fruit however, without doing the human homework to make things happen. And no one can do your human homework for you.

If you want to get promoted, you first have to add value and prove your worth.

If you want to start your own business, you need more than a good idea, you need to do the work.

If you want to write a book, best you start with writing blogs and getting lots of hours of writing under the belt.

If you want to meet someone you have to get out of the house and make an effort, sitting on the couch is not going to work (unless you are relying on Tinder and the like, of course!).

Those who are not prepared to put in the work usually don’t achieve the success they seek. They also don’t seem to take responsibility for it either, choosing to name, blame or shame other people or circumstances for not reaching their goals. As a major recession bites in a post-Covid world, that could see more than a quarter of a billion people unemployed, according to Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice at London Business School, lifelong learning it will become ever more crucial.

Increasingly as the world of work changes, each of us, whether employed or self-employed, will have to take greater personal responsibility for managing our:

  • Attitude
  • Output
  • Performance
  • Learning journey
  • How we package and market ourselves
  • How we continue to remain relevant and add value
  • How we manage our marketability and employability

All of the above takes a combination of thought, work and effort. It doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Wishful thinking won’t cut it. You have to do the human homework to make things happen. And no one can do your human homework for you.

TAKEAWAYS FOR WINNING AT WORK

  • Micromanagement is out and self-management and self-leadership are in
  • Embrace the challenges of disruption
  • Developing and packaging your brand of one is going to be extremely important and it’s not something that’s easy to do if you have been in the comfort of a safe corporate job for many years
  • Read my book Future-proof Yourself for more insights 
  • Be ahead of the game in watching the trends that are going to impact on, or reshape your industry
  • Think about how you may need to reinvent yourself
  • Take yourself on a voluntary learning journey to learn more about things you need to know about to progress in these changing times, or that interest you
  • Try saying yes and stop playing small

TAKEAWAYS FOR WINNING AT HOME AND LIFE

  • Teach your kids that effort reaps a return
  • Help them to feel a sense of satisfaction from investing time and effort in themselves, their interests and abilities
  • Role-model  adaptability and reinvention

As a business and motivational speaker I help leaders and teams to raise human potential; their own, of those around them, and their children, who all form part of the human economic ecosystem.

Much love,
Nikki Bush
Human Potential and Parenting Expert helping you to win at work and life

Enjoy the insight offered by this interview on Morning Live on SABC, where I discuss how to Future-Proof Youself