Getting that new promotion or landing that dream job doesn’t have to be as hard as you think. No, you don’t have to suck up to your boss or outwork everyone else around you. You don’t even need to go to networking events or send out hundreds of applications.
There are simple hacks that you can use to advance in your professional life and stand out. Want to hack your career? Try these out:
- Don’t ask for permission, beg for forgiveness. Most people play it too safe in the working world. They don’t take risks. They don’t push the limits. They don’t experiment with new things. Don’t you think you would stand out if you are in the 1% that goes for it when everyone else is afraid to try? Go for it, and beg for forgiveness later. Don’t be the one asking for permission.
- Get coffee with a new person once a week. As Tony Robbins says, “proximity is power.” If you are in close proximity to other powerful people, you will naturally advance and be successful. A great way to exercise the power of proximity is to build a massive network. The best way to do that? Coffee. Everyone drinks coffee.
- Accomplish one BIG goal every single month. Most people set annual goals or life goals. The problem? It’s too far away. You can’t actually grasp it. Instead, you should go for monthly goals. This allows you to set BIG goals that are actually reachable.
- Take a weekend and send emails to 100 people you dream of meeting. Have you ever wondered what could happen if you spoke to the likes of Gary Vaynerchuk, Richard Branson, or any other famous person you look up to? The truth is if you send 100 emails and make them personal, you will reach at least 5 people. Imagine being able to speak to 5 people you look up to! It’s possible.
- Hire a virtual assistant. Don’t do work that sucks up your time and is easy to outsource. Manual data input? Get a VA and outsource it. Have to do research for hours and hours? Get a VA and outsource it. Even if you take a paycut in the short term by using your hard earned money to hire someone else, it will free you up to work on the bigger things that will eventually lead you to the biggest pay raises.
- Learn to understand what your boss and coworkers really want. Do they want to make more money? Do they care about their family? Do they have a sick mother that they are constantly worrying about? If you figure out what your boss and coworkers truly want and you can then help them get it, the power is in your hands.
- Negotiate a work from home schedule. Most people spend hundreds of hours of their lives commuting to work. If you can negotiate so that you can work from home at least 2–3 days per week, it will give you hours and hours of your life back in the long run. Even if it’s just 1–2 hours per day, that frees you up to read 30 pages a day and exercise for 45 minutes! Imagine if you could do that every single day.
- Get a mentor who is out of your league. Find someone who is miles and miles ahead of you and convince them to be your mentor. If you can pull this off, then you will be able to tap into their network, their knowledge, and their success. It’s one of the ultimate hacks to advancing in life.
- Hang out with people that are where you want to be in 5 years. You know how people say, “you are the 5 people you spend the most amount of time with?” Find people that are where you want to be 5 years from now, and leverage that simple principle. It will take you far.
- Give before you take. Add value, add value, and then add more value. Become so valuable to others so that the day you ask them for something, they will take out their credit cards in a heartbeat and give you what you want. Give, give, give, and then take.
Many people think that the best way to advancing professionally is through hard work. While that might be true, there are many hacks out there to help you speed up the process and stand out. Give any of these a try and you will take your career to the next level.
