Ten career-damaging behaviours to avoid

"O, how full of briers is this working-day world!" is the famous Shakespearean quotes from `As You Like It'. External pressures, thorns, obstacles and difficulties aside, how many of us are responsible for unwittingly hampering our chances of career success through our own misplaced and misguided attitudes and behaviours.

Below are ten common faux-pas that can ruin a career and should be avoided at all costs.  

1. Poor Time Management

Missing deadlines, failing to abide by agreed timelines, arriving to meetings late and generally disrespecting approved schedules is a surefire way to lose credibility and professional respect.

Try to value each and every minute on the job and recognize the inefficiencies that arise from procrastination and slovenly time management and the impact these have on the organisation as a whole.

2. Failure to Deliver on Promises

A promise made should be a promise kept if your professional credibility is to remain intact. Avoid making promises you cannot deliver on. Unless you are known as someone who can be strictly depended on to follow through and deliver on time you are likely to be passed over for promotions and key assignments. When you do need more time or resources for an assignment communicate the requirement formally and professionally and manage the situation to show you are in control and will not be sacrificing on quality of delivery.

3. Poor Accountability

Accountability, a close reactive of honesty is an essential character trait in today's workplace. Avoid becoming known as the sour apple who usurps all credit and circumvents all blame. If you have made an error, admitting to it in a timely manner avoids an unnecessary escalation, earns you the confidence and respect of those around you, and indicates professionalism, honesty and maturity.

4. Poor interpersonal skills

All research indicates that emotional intelligence and people skills are an essential ingredients for success in life and at work. Whether it is suppliers, clients, superiors, colleagues or subordinates you are dealing with the quality and success of that relationship will be largely predicated by how personable you are and how pleasant you are to interact with. If you have a reputation as someone who is difficult to work or interact with, chances are people will start to avoid you and your success at mobilizing people or resources to further your goals will be severely diminished.

5. Poor team skills

A good team-player is able to work cohesively within a team framework and contribute, collaborate, communicate and challenge to meet specific goals within that framework.
Inability to see beyond one's self, work well with everyone, find the good qualities of others in the team, communicate persuasively and effectively, listen actively and attentively, give and welcome input, offer encouragement and assistance where needed and show respect, patience and courtesy inevitably leads to marginalization and failure to meet personal and professional goals.

6. Lack of ethics or professionalism

Conducting personal business on the job and any other activities that show flagrant disrespect for company time, resources and property are both unethical and unprofessional. Chatting endlessly on the job, office gossip, wasting office supplies, laying about important work-related matters, back-biting the boss, spreading office secrets, routinely bringing personal matters to the workplace all fall under this category.

7. Lack of initiative

Complacency is a surefire road to professional mediocrity. 

To succeed it is essential that you continue to show enthusiasm, stretch the limits, be proactive and test the boundaries in the interest of innovation. Take responsibility for your personal and professional growth and continue to build momentum in your training and profession development activities.
If you chose to simply lie low and casually bide your time while others race ahead in their careers you will most probably be overlooked for promotions and plum assignments and your skills may well eventually become redundant.

8. Inability to Handle Pressure

Every job entails a certain amount of stress and pressure and failure to recognize and handle the strain may lead to a pronounced and sustained decline in performance.

Learn to recognize stress and cope with it professionally and effectively.

Take breaks and holidays when needed, learn to manage stress and cope with pressure so that it is not an ongoing problem for you. It may be that the pressures mounting on you are due to poor time management or delegation skills or weakness in a certain area
in which case developing your skills in these areas is highly advisable.

9. Lone Ranger Syndrome

Team skills are essential in today's marketplace as is getting along with others and communicating your accomplishments regularly and professionally.

Do not try to isolate yourself and excel quietly in private as chances are your performance will not get the exposure and credit it deserves.

Personal marketing and effective relationship management are key to career success.

Aim to regularly and professionally communicate your private coups to your manager and others in a position to help your career advancement and do not assume your great work and personal victories will automatically get noticed and given the credit they deserve.

10. Stasis

You may well be in your comfort zone and doing very well there but if you don't challenge yourself in pursuit of further growth and development and continuously move forward and upward you may lose your equilibrium sooner than you expected.

Have a vision in mind as pertains to your career and formulate a clear strategy and timeline for getting there which you can regularly benchmark and measure yourself against. Continuous learning, development and self-improvement is a necessity not a luxury for today's ambitious professional and it is imperative that you keep abreast of the latest trends, tools and technologies in your field and not risk losing ground
to the star performers who take personal growth more seriously.

Stunning places To See

Hike the Haiku Stairs in Oahu, Hawaii — also known as "The Stairway to Heaven" — a steep trail with a wooden ladder spiked into the side of a cliff. Technically it's not open for public use, but people still climb it, and rave about the views from the top.

Dive into the clear blue water of the Hinatuan River on the Philippine island of Mindanao. The saltwater river is nicknamed the "Enchanted River" because it appears to run from the middle of nowhere, and is ideal for snorkelers and divers.

Explore the mysterious "crooked forest" of Western Poland, with 400 pine trees all growing with a 90-degree bend at the base. The reason behind the curved trees remains unknown to this day.

Clamber through Jiuzhaigou Valley, a remote region of northern Sichuan, China that stretches over 180,000 acres. It's best known for its Tibetan villages and multi-level waterfalls with colorful lakes that let you see perfectly to the bottom.

Travel to Pangong Tso Lake, a narrow saline lake in the Himalayas between India and Tibet. The bright blue water, contrasted by the mountains, is absolutely breathtaking.

Stroll through Hitachi Seaside Park in Ibaraki, Japan, a 470-acre reserve filled with gorgeous flowers that bloom year-round. It's especially known for its burning bush plants and daffodils.

Soak your feet in the hot springs of Rotorua, a New Zealand city known for its geysers, thermal springs, and bubbling mud pools. It's nicknamed the "Sulphur City," and visitors can also partake in water sports in the region's 17 lakes.

Visit the world's largest deepwater coral reef in the Lofoten Islands, an archipelago off the coast of Norway that lies within the Arctic circle. It's home to wildlife like otters, moose, puffins, and more.

Kayak through the Apostle Islands, off the Wisconsin shore of Lake Superior. The group of 22 islands is riddled with caves, and during the winter visitors can see frozen waterfalls and icicle-filled chambers.

Partake in a festival with the Kalash, an indigenous people who live in Pakistan's Rumbur Valley. They live without electricity, phones, and newspapers, and are known for throwing harvest celebrations that draw foreign and domestic tourists alike.

See the sea life in Rangiroa, a ring-shaped atoll in French Polynesia that is known for oysters that produce black pearls. It also has some of the world's best scuba diving, and visitors can see dolphins, manta rays, green sea turtles, and hammerhead sharks.

Journey to Namaqualand, an arid region in Namibia and South Africa that stretches over some 600 miles. Every spring, the barren area suddenly fills with orange and white daisies, creating one of the most surreal landscapes in the world.

Hop a ferry to the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington state. The gorgeous islands are great for activities like sea kayaking and whale watching.

Behold the marble Jain temple of Ranakpur, India, said to be one of the most spectacular temples of its kind. It contains more than 1,440 marble pillars, and no two are the same.

Peer into "the door to hell," a burning crater in Derweze, Turkmenistan that Soviet geologists accidentally created when drilling for natural gas in 1971. They expected the fire to last for only a few days, but it burns on four decades later.

Take a dune buggy ride in Huacachina, a literal oasis in the Peruvian desert. The resort town was built around a small, natural lake in the Southwestern Ica Region, and is popular for tourists who want to try "sandboarding" on the massive dunes surrounding the lake.

Discover hidden Jericoacoara Beach in Brazil's northeastern state of Ceará. It's considered to be one of the world's most beautiful beaches, isolated by sand dunes. It has gorgeous blue lagoons, white sand, and calm waters.

Escape to the Tianzi Mountain Nature Reserve in Wulingyuan, China, which consists of "stone towers" surrounded by thick clouds. It is one of the country's most scenic spots, and is almost never overrun with tourists.

Head under a Roman church to the Capuchin Crypt, perhaps the creepiest attraction in all of Italy. Located beneath a 400-year-old church, it contains the skeletal remains of 3,700 bodies with bones nailed into the walls in intricate patterns.

Marvel at the glaciers of Svalbard, an archipelago between Norway and the North Pole. Its whaling and fishing villages have become major tourist destinations for foreigners to see polar bears, reindeer, and marine mammals.

Fly to Saint Pierre et Miquelon, an island off the coast of Canada that is the last vestige of French control in North America. The colorful islands' inhabitants all speak French, and its towns are a wonderful mash-up of French and Canadian culture.

Relax on the shores of Ölüdeniz — literally "Dead Sea" — one of the most photographed beaches in the Mediterranean. The small village in Turkey that surrounds it is known for paragliding, hiking, and kayaking.

Enter Salina Turda, a salt mine in Transylvania, Romania that has been a popular tourist attraction since the '90s. Dating back to the 17th century, the mine now even has a carousel ride and amphitheater deep in the cavern.

Test gravity at Magnetic Hill in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Locals say if you stop your car at the hill and put it in neutral, it will move uphill by itself. It's really just an optical illusion, but it's still a fun place to take a video and show your gullible friends.

Get close to the wildlife at the Selous Game Reserve in southern Tanzania. At 21,000 square miles, it is the second largest game reserve in Africa, and nearly twice the size of Denmark. It's also largely unexplored, with only 20% of the park open to tourists.