6 Ways You’re Setting Yourself Up to Fail at Work
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No one wants to disappoint a colleague or manager. No one wants to be bad at their job. No one wants to fail.



Nevertheless, people do these things every day, and more often than not, they bring the problems on themselves. In the event that you may be unknowingly sabotaging your productivity and success, here are six things to make certain you aren’t doing:



You set unrealistic expectations



You’re a can-do person, so it’s in your nature to automatically say yes every time you are asked to do something. The trouble is, some things – like three meetings in one time slot and a handful of heavy-lifting projects with the same short deadline – are just not doable. It is better to take a step back and assess what’s logically possible than to let people down who trust you.



You insist that you don’t need any help



As my grandmother used to say, no one is going to give you a gold star for being a martyr. Trying to be superman or superwoman is a surefire way to lose track of something important or make a mistake that costs big time. Be a better leader by recognizing that at times, other people may have more bandwidth and/or expertise than you – and let them in.



You expect projects to be perfect



Perfectionists spend so much time stewing about irrelevant details that they often lose sight of the big picture, which is project completion and strong (but not perfect) results. A project that never gets off the ground because its owner won’t leave the weeds and move on will fail. Also, if you encourage others to believe that your end product will be perfect, they will naturally assume that anything less is not good enough.



Your work/life balance is out of whack



Are you the type of person who works 70 hours a week, eats all meals in the office, and never sees friends or family or does anything fun? Realize that no one can sustain this type of schedule for very long, and when you do burn out, it will be spectacular. We’re talking physical and psychological problems, ruined relationships, and a damaged career. Please start cutting back now before the situation becomes dire.



You depend too much on others



Last year, I said that it’s not always the best idea to rely too much on other people at the office. If colleagues or partners need to be involved in a project, try to retain oversight responsibility. This means that even if your colleagues aren’t as excited about the project as you are, you can still make things happen. Because your likelihood of being successful depends on your results, you must always be in a position to improve them.



You have set too many goals



Trying to do too much leads to unfocused and mediocre work. It’s much better to determine your three top priorities for the year and put all of your energy toward knocking those out of the park. Remember, you have decades left in which to work and there will be time enough for all of the things you want to achieve!