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PayScale’s VIP Blog Roundup: Avoid These 7 Toxic Thoughts and Save Your Career

Topics: Career Advice
toxic thoughts
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Are you your own worst enemy at work? The way you think about yourself and your career has a huge effect on your professional success. Positive thoughts will set you up for achievement, while negative ones will squander your resources, undermine your confidence and possibly become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In this week’s roundup, we look at advice on identifying toxic thoughts, plus networking tips for people who don’t love networking and the seven things that all great leaders have in common.

Lolly Daskal at Inc: 7 Toxic Thoughts That Are Sabotaging Your Success

“Even successful people find the wrong thoughts can lead to derailed plans and stalled momentum, and they learn to steer clear of toxic zones,” Daskal writes.

Here’s one of her examples of thoughts to nip in the bud:

Not being good enough. Everyone at one time or another has moments of self-doubt. But if it becomes a constant state of mind or something that weaves through a lot of your thoughts–if you’re spending a lot of time thinking you’re not good enough, smart enough, talented enough, or skilled enough–you’re not taking responsibility for working on yourself to improve the value of what you have to offer. Successful people identify their strongest skills and talents and use them to reach their highest potential.

Learn about other toxic thoughts that might be sabotaging your success, here.

Do You Know What You're Worth?

Hannah Morgan at Career Sherpa: 5 Networking Tips To Help You Do It Better

Do you hate informational interviews? It’s possible that you’re going about them in the wrong way.

“The truth is, you aren’t looking for a job. You’re seeking information. And let’s agree to stop calling it an informational interview. It isn’t an interview at all,” Morgan says. “It’s a conversation. It’s a meeting.”

Calling it an “informational interview” can scare off contacts, she says, because it sounds like a job interview — and “reeks of, ‘hire me, I’m looking for a job.’”

Want to be better at all of this? Morgan’s tips will get you thinking about networking more organically and constructively. You might even start to enjoy it.

Douglas Conant at LinkedIn: What Do Great Leaders Have in Common?

“At a high-level, in a nutshell, I’ve observed that the very best leaders approach their work in a way that is tough-minded on standards and tender-hearted with people,” Conant writes. “They are experts at doing both; they deftly marry the ‘head’ and the ‘heart.’ Masterfully, they can simultaneously prioritize people and performance — and do so in a way that is humble, brave, and authentic to who they really are.”

Conant says that great leaders have these seven things in common. He also provides insight for would-be great leaders on how to get there.

Tell Us What You Think

What’s the best career advice you’ve read this week? We want to hear from you. Share your tips in the comments or join the conversation on Twitter.

Jen Hubley Luckwaldt
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