Raising Your Personal Standards

Destiny is not a matter of chance
It is a matter of choice

~William Jennings Bryan

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Stagnation and slacking at work is very common. Few of us are ambitious and self-motivated enough to maintain an optimum level of performance at all times.
However, to develop and mature at our jobs, we need to periodically raise our personal standards. Otherwise, our work will in time begin to feel mundane and our attitude will begin to look sloppy. This in turn affects job satisfaction and career prospects.

Our personal standards are benchmarks we set for ourselves. They're related to how we treat and perceive ourselves, how we interact with others, the words we use, the attitudes and values we project, and our behavioural patterns. They can be reviewed and changed as we mature as human beings.

Here are some simple tips for raising your personal standards at work or at home:

- Make a list of the people you admire. The traits you have a high regard for could be patience, the ability to persuade others to see their point, being punctual, or kind. So these people could be your peers, your superiors, your subordinates, the mailman or the cleaning lady. Observe them and emulate how they handle tough situations.

- Try to be "unconditionally-constructive" each time you speak while still saying all you need to say. Most people criticise without being able to come up with solutions, or only see the negative in everything. Practice being constructive about as many things as you can and you'll increase your self-worth and your value as a worker. You'll also inspire others to be more optimistic and cheerful.

- When mistakes or mishaps occur in your "space" or your sphere of work, learn to accept the responsibility, but not the blame. Deal with the situation and raise your standards so it doesn't happen again.

- In the corporate world, it seems like a good idea to make results and goals number one on your list of priorities. But ask any successful and influential manager or supervisor, and he or she will tell you that putting people and relationships above results is the key to long term job satisfaction and corporate success.

- What are the things around your office that you tolerate but which continue to drain your energy? It could be an aspect of your work that is time-consuming or menial, but ultimately contributes little or nothing to the quality of your work. Do them, delegate them or discard them if you think they cannot be changed to benefit you or your company.
And those are a few ways you can raise your personal standards and in turn increase your value at work.

A Slice of Life is written, produced and presented by Eugene Loh unless otherwise stated. If you wish to share the scripts with others, please credit 'Eugene Loh, 938LIVE, a station of MediaCorp Radio'.