People love to complain about the fact that they aren’t earning enough money or that they haven’t gotten a raise in forever. However, more often than not, it is their own fault.
If you have been stuck in the same job for years and you haven’t earned a raise in so long that inflation is taking the little money you do earn then you might consider that it could be your own fault.
Instead of pointing fingers to your boss or your go-getter colleague who gets promoted every time the leaves change, you might have to look in the mirror in order to find the problem. Chances are that you are holding yourself back from reaching your income goals.
Whether you blame it on a lack of motivation of pure laziness, you will have to make some changes. With the constant rise in inflation, you need to learn how to manage your money and become a better employee in order to move up in your career.
If you want to get somewhere in life then you are going to have to make some serious changes and take charge of your own life and success. The first step is admitting the problem so read on to find out which of your habits are holding you back from reaching your income goals.
Table of Contents
- Social Media
- Listening to Music
- Checking Websites
- Taking Long Lunches
- Communicating Poorly
- Sleeping In
- Waiting For the Right Moment to Ask For A Raise
- Thinking You Are Superior
- Not Having Reachable Goals
- Waiting For The “Perfect Job”
1. Social Media
If you are one of the 64% of employees who admitted to spending their work hours on non-work related websites, then we have already identified a part of the problem.
Social media is by far the biggest distraction among office workers. Having the World Wide Web right at your fingertips while you should be typing up a credit report is a heavenly escape. Most people visit their Facebook pages every day while they should be working – and if it is not Instagram or Pinterest. When it comes to the internet it is an endless distraction to a bored office worker.
Most people also do not spend a mere 15 minutes a week browsing these sites, they spend roughly between 2 and 10 hours a week wasting time online when they should be working – not even to mention the time they spend after work.
If you are guilty of doing this then why not rather spend that time impressing your boss by working hard or perhaps even building up your own business. There are so many productive things you could rather do with all those wasted hours.
After all, Mark Zuckerberg did not waste his time browsing through his MySpace page, he decided to make Facebook.
2. Listening to music
While music can help some people concentrate while they are surrounded by the bustling office sounds, it can also be a huge distraction.
If you are trying to focus or you are in the process of learning something then music can often do more harm than good. This is especially the case when your favourite song comes on and you start mentally singing along. Instead of focusing on the task at hand, your brain automatically switches focus to the music and lyrics.
If you have to listen to music in order to get away from your arguing colleagues and the persistent typing, rather try some classical music.
3. Checking Websites
On top of constantly checking social media, employees love to visit their favourite sites.
Whether you are checking for flash sales, watching the latest PewDiePie video or seeing what’s new on 9gag posts, you are wasting your time. Doing these things add no value to your life or your career. They are simply holding you back from being successful and getting promoted.
You might think that your boss does not notice, but even if he does not know exactly what you are wasting your time on, he will be able to see the difference between your work and the go-getter sitting next to you.
So take a break from all the distractions and work on your productivity.
4. Taking Long Lunches
Taking long lunches and constant smoke breaks won’t get you anywhere.
This is a terrible habit that you definitely need to kick. The harder you work, the more you will earn and taking a smoke break every hour is doing nothing but killing your lungs.
Also, don’t be that guy who always takes extra-long lunches simply because nobody is timing him. Your employer invested in you when he decided to employ you. Do not be selfish and lazy by skipping out on work every second you get and then complain because your life isn’t going anywhere.
You have to work for 8 hours a day. Use that 33% of your day and give it your all. You might be surprised to see what happens.
5. Communicating Poorly
If you want to get anywhere in life then you need to lose the attitude and start talking to the people around you.
You might like to think that you are so cool because you don’t care about what other people think of you but honestly, that is dumb. You especially need to care about what you colleagues and your boss thinks about you.
Often people are successful thanks to the connections they manage to make. So perhaps it would be smart to smile and talk to the people around you. Networking might just get you everywhere.
6. Sleeping In
You can sleep when you are dead.
Along with this one, you will find many similar sayings, including “sleep is for the weak”. If you do a little research, you will notice that many successful CEO’s, including Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square and founder of Twitter, work so hard that they do not leave any time for sleep. Perhaps this is why they are so successful.
When you get up early, you have more time to get things done and thus more time to make a success of yourself. While it might be healthy to sleep 8 hours a night, many successful men and women only sleep 4 to 5 hours a night. And I for one would rather be rich than well-rested.
7. Waiting For the Right Moment to Ask For A Raise
There will never be a right moment.
People love to “wait for the right moment” to do things and honestly, there usually is no such time. There is especially never a right time to ask for a raise.
So get your tail out from between your legs and arrange that meeting. The worst thing that can happen is your boss will say no, he won’t scream at you and he certainly won’t fire you.
Perhaps he likes that you are going after what you want and gives you the promotion you want so badly.
But sitting around doesn’t get anybody anywhere.
8. Thinking You Are Superior
If you walk around thinking yourself to be smarter than everybody else, you won’t get very far.
Everybody hates that one guy who walks around the office acting all superior and correcting everybody else’s work. You know, the guy who likes to make everybody else feel stupid even though the last time he got a promotion was when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Just make sure that you are not that guy. Rather than acting superior, and commenting on other people’s work, focus on your own and you might make some actual progress.
9. Not Having Reachable Goals
“Become rich” is not a goal.
You get what you work for and far too many people want to become rich and successful by doing the minimum amount of work. This is not in any way realistic and you need to set some attainable goals rather than waste your time dreaming about everything you want but never actually doing anything about it.
The only way you will ever stand a chance of being something is by making something of yourself. And that does not simply happen by itself.
Also, do not rush it. You aren’t going to become a success overnight. Work hard and keep working hard – eventually, it will happen.
10. Waiting For The “Perfect Job”
The perfect job isn’t just going to fall into your lap. You are going to have to work for it. And it might take a really long time. The key is simply to keep at it and never give up. It will happen when the time is right and it will feel so good when you know that you have earned it.
You should want a job that you love but before you get it, you should be willing to work your fingers to the bone at a job probably won’t enjoy.
Sitting around, waiting for the “perfect job” to come to you will just stop you from ever getting it.