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How to Succeed: 32 Build Your Dream Suggestions

By July 10, 2018January 17th, 2019No Comments
J. Kelly Hoey - Build Your Dream Network

How to succeed at life, connect with others, aka network or just get sh#t done, build community, find meaning, contribute, live decently and authentically in this world, find your tribe, get more sh#t done and so on and so forth:

  1. Don’t just proclaim you’re an expert, Build Your Expertise!
  2. Practice. Try. Discover.
  3. Research.
  4. Dedicate yourself to your chosen craft (read Stephen King’s “On Writing” for inspiration).
  5. Study. Observe. Then inquire.
  6. Stay curious. Truly be a life long learner.
  7. Do the work required and then some.
  8. Work beyond the corners of your job description.
  9. Invest the time to become the expert, because after all, you are your own best investment.
  10. Build Your Network, Community, Tribe.
  11. Don’t be a jerk (yes, it is that simple!).
  12. Mentor.
  13. Be an outstanding mentee.
  14. Lend your talents. Donate your skills. Yes, give away the skills you’ve worked SO hard to master!
  15. Train your assassins (aka train and empower those you lead or manage to be better than you).
  16. Promote others.
  17. Celebrate success.
  18. Admit failure. Sweat the small stuff.
  19. Let others know what you need.
  20. Invest your time in the ventures, dreams, ambitions, goals and aspirations of others.
  21. Volunteer.
  22. Bring others into conversations.
  23. Hire people who don’t look or think like you.
  24. Move aside to create space at the table for someone else.
  25. Build your YES ME! Fund.
  26. Contribute so you can barter, trade, exchange, swap.
  27. Don’t just hope, build your reserves (’cause you may need them and you’ll have more options if you do!).
  28. Have resources (real dollars or in-kind ideas) as THIS fuels fearlessness aka career ambitions.
  29. Stay focused.
  30. Trust your gut — it is after all the sum feeling of all your experiences, contributions and interactions.
  31. Spend wisely.
  32. Invest with your hopes, values and vision in mind.

Bonus success points if you hummed Ani DiFranco’s 32 Flavors while reading this.

If you need more network building get sh#t done without being a jerk tips to fuel your career success, you can find them in #BYDN.

 

This post originally appeared in BUILD YOUR DREAM (my weekly newsletter). Don’t miss my next musing by signing up to get BUILD YOUR DREAM in your inbox.

J. Kelly Hoey

J. Kelly Hoey is a problem solver who believes that most professional challenges—whether funding, landing a board position or getting a new job—are solved by tapping into networks.Kelly is a popular speaker on networking, community building and investing issues, especially as they relate to women, and has worked with the IEEE, PGA, Bank of America, Apple and countless others. Follow Kelly on Twitter @jkhoey and on Instagram @jkellyhoey and join the #BYDN community at www.buildyourdreamnetwork.com