5 WORKPLACE MISTAKES TO AVOID

Wondering why your career isn’t going as well as you’d like? Maybe you’re self-sabotaging…

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You’ve been loyal to your company for years, worked the hours and then some – and yet that promotion eludes you. Sound familiar? Are we sabotaging ourselves and our careers because of our behaviours and systems of belief? Osvaldo Nhaca, a business consultant, mental health expert and human behaviour researcher based in Johannesburg, looks at five of the top career blunders that are affecting our way forward and how we can overcome them.

NOT KNOWING YOURSELF
‘Without the knowledge of the true person within, you cannot be yourself or make decisions that are inspired towards fulfilling your goals,’ says Nhaca.*

STANDING IN OTHERS’ SHADOWS
‘This happens when we accept the desires and expectations of others into our lives. We believe them to be authority figures or to have something that we do not have,’ explains Nhaca. This prevents us from reaching our true potential as we underestimate our own abilities and importance.



JUDGING SUCCESS AND FAILURE BY WHAT SOCIETY SAYS
Nhaca says that believing what society sees as success and failure keeps us from taking action. For example, when you go to school you are told what a pass mark is and immediately you judge success to be achieving that pass mark and failure to be not achieving it. The reality is that whether you achieve the pass mark or not, you still grow in your learning.

NOT SETTING GOALS OBJECTIVELY
A clear example of this is the New Year resolution goal-setting trend. ‘Setting goals based on emotional decisions just means you are driven by the euphoria of being happy and motivated. As soon as it becomes hard or boring to achieve something, we quit because the goal was driven by an emotion,’ Nhaca adds.



TRY THIS EXERCISE

• Write down your top five goals in each area of your life for 2021 – financial, physical, social, family, spiritual, mental/personal and career.
• List all the positives and the negatives that each goal will bring. This exercise will allow you to think objectively and act on strategies rather than emotions.
• Make a daily list of six priorities that are linked to your goals. For instance, if one of your goals involves learning about money and investing, a daily action can be to set aside half an hour – or more if you have more time available – for reading books, researching online or watching YouTube videos about money management.

Nhaca suggests that you look up a great tool called the Demartini Method, that will help you unlock your truest and highest values and aid in your journey to self-discovery.

Go to www.drdemartini.com for more information.

Related article: How to find your true calling.

Related article: Work smarter not harder.

NOT PRIORITISING DAILY ACTIONS
Time is the most important commodity available to us. Everyone is given the same 24 hours. The difference between being productive, happy and fulfilled or frustrated, discontent and unfulfilled, lies in what we do with those hours. Nhaca says to break the chains that are holding us back and preventing us from reaching our full potential, we need to understand what truly inspires us on a personal, individual level, instead of worrying about what our parents, teachers, mentors, influencers or any other ‘authority’ figures might think.

‘Goals are what make us unique,’ he says. ‘Designing and prioritising goals across all seven areas of life – mental/personal, career, financial, family, social, physical and spiritual – gives you a unique advantage.’ So do a little soul-searching, then go after your very own dreams!

For great tips on how to develop self-knowledge and self-awareness go to nickwignall.com.

Related article: Career tips from experts.

Related article: What is your workplace personality.