Part Two
IN last week’s PR Matters, we featured the letter of Louisa C., a young professional who had been following our previous columns on PR trends. While she is not in the industry, she found the columns interesting, and wrote to find out how we can improve ourselves in 2017.
We mentioned that self-improvement is a work in progress, continues as we move on and, in fact, my Ipra colleagues and I look at ways in which we can make ourselves better people and professionals.
To answer her questions, we shared an article by Silverback Social CEO Chris Dessi—“17 Bad Habits You Need to Kill to Be More Successful in 2017”—published in Inc. Com. He suggested we remove the negative habits that have been holding us back to get ahead.
We listed the first seven habits we should get rid of in last week’s column:
- Kill the habit of checking social media during the workday.
- Kill your habit of thinking it’s all about you.
- Kill your habit of multitasking.
- Kill your habit of comparing yourself to everyone.
- Kill your habit of complaining.
- Kill your habit of wasting time with negative people.
- Kill your habit of taking or organizing long and unnecessary meetings.
We will continue with the last eight habits Dessi suggested we slay for our own good in 2017 in this column:
- Kill your habit of saying yes. “You may think you don’t have enough time,” Dessi said. “You do. You just spend your time doing the wrong things.” One of these is “saying ‘yes’ to everything. Embrace no. Love no. No is your word for 2017. Love it, live it, and use it.”
- Kill your habit of self-loathing thoughts and beliefs. Negativity has its way of bringing our spirits down, and with that, goes our ability to do things that matter. The world and people can sometimes have their way of shattering our self-esteem, destroying our confidence and bringing us down.
But “enough is enough,” Dessi said. “You are good at what you do. You have it in you. If you can’t silence that voice in your head, begin a regimen of meditation.” Stepping back, prayer and meditation can help us look at things differently. And then we are ready to face the world with a lot of optimism.
- Kill your habit of sitting. “Get off your backside,” Dessi said. “Run, exercise, move. But stop sitting. Oh, and get a standing desk while you are at it.” When your body gets in motion, so will your mind and your spirit.
- Kill your habit of underachieving. It’s important to put a lot of passion in the things we do. Why be “okay lang” when you can actually be the best?
This is Dessi’s take: “You’re better than this. You have more in you, and you’re not getting any younger. Start that business. Do it now. The only thing stopping you is you. Not your family, not your bank account.”
- Kill your habit of bragging about your resolutions before they happen. Most great work happens quietly and quickly. Bragging about things that haven’t happened is counterproductive. Besides, “your brain thinks you’ve accomplished them when you announce them to the world. Stop that.”
- Kill your habit of creating excuses. Excuses are things that hold us back. “Kill the habit of creating reasons,” Dessi said. “They’re just excuses with lipstick on.”
- Kill the habit of reality TV, celebrity gossip, etc. “You’re an adult,” Dessi reminded us. “This shouldn’t be part of your entertainment. It’s junk food for your brain. Feels great at first, but there is always a negative mental consequence.”
- Kill your habit of obsessing over doomsday scenarios. Pessimists “don’t change the world, motivate people, or come up with innovative ideas. They only bring the people around them down.”
While some healthy skepticism is good, it’s best not to dwell on them.
- Kill your habit of obsessing over things outside of your control. Definitely, there are things bigger than we are that we have no control over. Instead of thinking too much about these things, “focus your time, energy and resources on improving yourself. You can control everything you put in your body, think about, and do. Master yourself and become ruler of your universe.”
- Kill your habit of making sure everything is perfect. We all dream of perfection, but it is an illusion far, far from reality. “It ain’t happening,” Dessi said. “Ever. This is just a complicated form of procrastination, which is a deeper manifestation of your fear. Get out of your own way and let it rip.”
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the UK-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the senior vice president for marketing and communications of SM, is the local chairman.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.