I have been in corporate for several years now. I have seen the good and the bad. I have seen successes and failures. Above all, I believe I have picked up life skills that I want to share. These are skills I feel are relevant no matter where you are in life. Whether you are a professional, an entrepreneur, or a student.
Time management is key
There are 24 hours a day. These hours remain the same for each day. Two things are true for each day. You must have hours of sleep and hours to be awake. For the hours you are awake, you need to complete all your tasks, have personal time, bond with your family, and maybe even nurture your hobbies/passions. You cannot however be awake for the entire 24 hours because the body also needs rest. If you can manage your time, you will have a better chance of achieving your goals while enjoying the gift called life. Blocking out the day and having specific goals for each day could be the first step to time management. It is always important to remember that bricks build a house. For each day there can be 5 bricks that need to be laid for the house.
Mental health is physical health
Generally, many corporate people work into the night and wake up to work. They even take the work to bed. So much that there is no mental rest time, all for the deadline. I find that if I am mentally drained, I cannot think straight, and it even affects my speech. That means performing work duties becomes hard and completing them, impossible. Even more, if my mental state is disturbed and my stress levels up, my body pays the price. Mental weakness can cause you to experience body sickness. It is important to figure out what usually drains your power and then figure out how to solve it. Creating boundaries in any part of your life can be the first step. Learning how to manage waves of anxiety and stress is the second step.
Emotional intelligence is golden
As people, we do not come from the same families or backgrounds. We, therefore, fight differently and react differently. This also feeds into how we treat ourselves and other people. In the work environment, many individuals lead with emotion even when it is unnecessary. If you do not like an individual's personality, that should not be a reason to critique their work when there are no errors. Some people believe that your gender and personality should be the only criteria to grant you a promotion. If I do not like you I can make sure you never experience growth in the workplace. I for one do not think it is fair for a person to mistreat others because they are having a bad day.
Smiling does not equal a friendship
A few people understand that not all colleagues are your friend. Not all classmates are your friend. Not all friends are truly your friend. It is important to remember that most human beings will think about themselves before they consider you. If two people are working towards a promotion, they can backstab the other to win. I find this to be too obvious in the work environment. People can laugh and hug each other, but the moment the clock hits 5, they don’t know you. Let me convince you. In the office, individuals will get new opportunities and not share them with you. True friendships are open, not fake and they lift each other.
A mouthful, but I think these are a few of the many lessons worth knowing.
