Two Important Qualities of High Achievers in the Workplace
This is a common path to early retirement:
Start your career at an above average salary.
Live in a high cost city (because the pay is higher) but live at a low price (with roommates).
Save a high percentage of your salary.
Work hard, improve your skills, advance.
Repeat until you hit your FI (financial independence) number.
But this isn’t the only way to retire early.
Some people do it through house hacking.
Others do it through rental properties.
Some people build a business that throws off passive income – or a business that they sell.
Regardless of how you do it, there are a couple bullets above that apply to any path:
Save a high percentage of your salary.
Work hard, improve your skills,advance.
I’ve already talked at length about saving money. You can read more in:
This article where I discuss budgeting and living below your means.
Or this one,where I teach you how to pay less for everything.
Since we have the money saving part down, Iwant to talk more about working hard, improving your skills, and advancing.
Prepare
Before you’re hired
Any time I’ve found myself sitting across from an interviewer, I’ve always faced the question, “Why do you want to work here?”
This is the first time your research pays off.
Before you walk into an interview, you should know something about the company. If it’s a smaller company, you should probably know something about the owner/founder, or maybe even about the person interviewing you.
Providing a well thought out and rehearsed answer shows you’re smart enough to prepare.
Often at big companies, the interviewer doesn’t actually care why you want to work there – they know it’s about the paycheck.
But they want to know you’re smart enough to play the game.
I’ve interviewed people who answered that question with something to the effect of:
“Well I need to make money.”
Or, “I know so and so (who happens to be high up at the company).”
Those are both the wrong answer – every time. Those candidates didn’t get the thumbs up from me.
Preparing can also mean learning about the person who might interview you. Any job I’ve had resulted from a referral of a current employee.
If somebody refers you, ask him who will interview you and if he has any information about that person.
For one interview I had, I learned the manager was into running. This was perfect because running is also one of my hobbies. I found a way to bring it up during an answer to one of his questions, which led us away from interview talk and into a conversation about running.
I got the job.
Rapport building is important. The people interviewing you will be managing you or sitting next to you every day. They want to know you’re not some weirdo who will make them uncomfortable.
Sometimes doing the research is hard work, but it pays off big time.
After you’re hired
The homework doesn’t end once you’re in the door.
You need to learn constantly to continue performing your job at higher levels – which leads to promotions.
You also need to perform better than your co-workers.
This may sound cutthroat, but it’s true.The better the employee, the better chance of getting promoted.
Promotion means more money, which means more savings, which means less time to reach FI.
If your manager mentions something in conversation, and you don’t know what it is, jot it down. Go home, look it up, and read or YouTube as much as you can.
Learn enough to be able to have a conversation.
Then next time the subject comes up, you’ll look prepared and competent, not stupid and ineffective.
In my job, we commonly work with clients who are under consent orders. When I’m assigned to one of those clients, I search online for the consent order and read it.
They’re usually between 30 and 50 pages and take less than two hours to read. But they outline exactly why that client is in trouble and the steps the client must take to get out of trouble.
This is an easy way to be prepared and look good – and most people don’t take the time to do it.
If you do your homework – some basic preparation – you will standout among your peers. You’ll know more, be capable of getting things done (quickly and correctly), and put yourself in a position to advance.
Learn quickly
“But I’m not a quick learner – it takes me longer to pick things up!”
Bullshit.
What you mean is you’re not a naturally quick learner.
This article is about working hard to advance. If you’re willing to work hard, you can become a quick learner.
Take notes
Any time you’re being trained on anything,take as many notes as possible. Even if it’s something you think is useless,write it down.
If you can’t write it down, take a picture.
If you can’t take a picture, repeat it out loud.
Do whatever you need to do to remember.
The person training you is doing it so he or she doesn’t have to do that job anymore. The quicker you learn it, the easier you make the life of the trainer (probably your boss).
Most people won’t pick up a task 100% the first time they’re trained. Your boss expects you will have questions.
But the more detailed your notes, the fewer questions you will have, which saves your boss time and makes you look better.
Your notes won’t be able to answer the detailed, one-off, nuanced questions.
But don’t come back to your boss ten minutes after he trained you and ask something like,
“Hey, you know that spreadsheet I’m supposed to use? The one we just spent four hours working in? Where is that saved? I can’t find it.”
Or “Umm, I know I’m supposed to drive around and empty all the garbages. Where did you say the garbage bags were?”
You should’ve written it down. And you will look like an idiot.
If you take good notes, you’ll stand out
A lot of people take notes. But they might just be doing it to make a good impression. When the “for show” note taker gets back to his desk after training, he will find few or no answers to the questions he encounters.
Don’t believe me? Here’s an example:
A friend (let’s call him Tom) told me a story recently about an employee he trained (let’s call him Bob).
Tom was sitting at the computer, walking Bob through a step by step process. It wasn’t a difficult process, but it was detailed.
As Tom talked, he could hear Bob writing feverishly on his notepad. After every couple minutes, Tom would pause to let Bob catch up with his notes.
By the third or fourth time this happened, Tom was a little suspicious.
“This isn’t a complicated process,” Tom thought. “What the hell could he be writing?”
Tom glanced over his shoulder to sneak a peak at Bob’s notepad. To his disbelief, Bob wasn’t taking notes, he was furiously scribbling lines of circles across the notepad.
The page didn’t have a single word on it.
This is a true story.
It’s a glance through the window at your competition. If you’re willing to work hard, more than half of that “competition” won’t exist.
FI or no FI, these will serve you well
Working hard, improving your skills, and advancing in your career is not a progression that is exclusive to those pursuing financial independence.
Maybe you have no desire to leave the workforce early – that’s fine.
But if you love your career, you have even more reason to excel.
If you over prepare for most things, and do some basic prep for the rest, you will stand out.
If you teach yourself to be a quick learner, you will stand out.
If you only ask good questions (because your notes answered the rest) you will stand out.
You will improve your skills, prove to bean asset, and advance faster than your peers.
Who doesn’t want that?
