The Best Career Advice You'll Ever Receive

1. Be AuthenticBring your whole self to work! You'd be surprised at how many people appreciate real, meaningful connections at work. You don't need to be a corporate robot. Sheryl Sandberg has a great quote about this: "Motivation comes from working on things we care about, but it also comes from working with people we care about, and in order to care about someone, you have to know them. You have to know what they love and hate, what they feelnot just what they think. If you want to win hearts and minds, you have to lead with your heart as well as your mind. I dont believe we have a professional self from Mondays through Fridays and a real self the rest of the time. That kind of division probably never worked, but in todays world it makes even less sense. It is all professional and it is all personal, all at the very same time.

2. Be Passionate You care. You want to make a difference. People can hear that in your voice and see it in the way you move. And guess what? Passion is contagious. It can inspire your staff. It can make your customers your champions. It can carry you through the journey.If you treat work like a grind, it will feel like a grind. If you're passionate about what you do and how you can make a difference, work will no longer feel like work. It'll feel like a mission. And that changes everything.

3. Be FocusedAt some point, you're going to have a list of things at work that you can't get to. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and giving up, focus on what's really truly important to accomplish that day. Each day, I try to create a list of three really critical things I need to work on that can have a huge impact at work. Focus drives results.

4. Look ForwardIt's easy to get caught up in your mistakes. You look back, dwell on the issues, and suddenly can't focus on the task at hand. This can have a huge impact on your present performance. Here's what I'd suggestit's called the "10 years test." Ask yourselfis this a big issue in 10 days, 10 weeks, 10 months? What about 10 years? Will this issue matter in 10 years? About 99% of the time, the answer is no. So stop dwelling on it, lift your head up high, and look forward.

5. Own ItYou're going to be successful at some things, and you'll fail at others. One of the best things you can do through it all is to own it. People will respect you for that. Why? Because you're willing to show them that you'll own it through both the good and the bad. Most people are only willing to own it when things are good. #truth.

6. Be an artist."Are you an artist or just following instructions?" Seth GodinFollowing instructions is safe. It's easy. It's also usually less likely to add a huge amount of value to the company. You create value by challenging the status quo. By pushing the limits of what can be done. And often times, this involves a huge amount of creativity and out of the box thinking. Don't be afraid of being an artist at work.

7. Stay persistent.Most people cannot handle rejection or adversity well. No one said solving tough and important problems was easy! The ones who remain persistent are the ones that persevere. Stay the course. AirBnB did (it took over 1,000 days) and look where it got them!

8. Embrace your fears.Afraid you might not be good at a potential job that you're looking at? Afraid of speaking up at work for the promotion you know that you deserve? Afraid of trying out a new business idea?Here's a better question you should ask. If you never try, how will you ever know? You know what you should really fear? The fear of having a huge amount of regret many years from now, because you never really tried. Hustle is the antidote to fear. Go and make it happen.

9. Don't make excuses. Just go and make it happen. I'd talk more about thisbut this Holstee Manifesto below sums it up perfectly.

10. Enjoy the moment. Life is short. Make the best of it. Smile. Inspire someone. Laugh until your stomach hurts. Do a fist pump. Yell out "WOOO!" when you close a big deal. Tell your coworkers how awesome they are. Go out there and have fun. Because you know what, awesomeness is contagious.