Accelerate Your Career With These 15 Unbeatable Skills

What if we told you that how far you climb up the corporate ladder has nothing to do with your competency? Your boss proves it. And although you can't fake your way all the way to the top, the majority of competent people get stuck much lower in the hierarchy than they're supposed to.

And by the end of this video, you'll learn exactly what it takes to have an exponential professional career and what mistakes to avoid along the way. Here are 15 skills that fast track your career.

First up: Make people feel important. That's how you make yourself be liked. If you're liked, people will default to positive opinions about you and your work. The workplace is ruled by social dynamics. Those who are able to play nice together outlive the lone wolves. Apes together, strong type of mentality. Making people feel important is a cheat code to every social interaction—from your partner to your parents, to your kids, to your friends, to your workmates and bosses.

You show up for them, and because you do, you want to win as well. You make them feel important. You do it by celebrating their achievements. Clap when they win, give them credit, and acknowledge the value they bring to the table publicly. You encourage them and provide support. You troubleshoot together and find a way where everyone wins. These three will cement your relationship, and everyone will want to work or be around you in the future. Some will respond in kind.

Pay attention to how you present yourself. Look, okay? Don't give people an easy reason to despise you. From the basics of taking care of yourself, of your teeth, your body, grooming, clean clothes, applying deodorant, and dressing the part to matching their expectations of the position you're shooting for. We know you don't like collared shirts, but look, okay? People who wear them out-earn those in hoodies and sweats. People's trust in your ability to perform more often than not falls on how you present yourself.

Not necessarily your looks, although they do play a part, but how prepared you seem, how smart you sound, the kind of questions you ask during meetings, the types of observations and insights that you bring forth. And here's how to do just that: Run the simulation and do the homework.

Here's something for you to remember for the rest of your life: People underestimate just how much smarter you can seem if you have only 20 minutes of preparation. Run the simulation beforehand. What questions will you ask if it's an interview? What answers are they looking for? What are they looking for overall? How can you tailor your presentation to fit their vision? Meeting an important client? Look them up; see what you can learn about them.

Running this simulation puts you ahead of everyone else in the room. Not only will you be able to crush all of their expectations because you just solved the problem ahead of time, but they'll see you as someone who's able to look ahead. The further you're able to look into the future, the more people will trust you to be able to make it a reality. That's why some of the richer people in the world are labeled as visionaries.

Doing the homework allows you, if nothing else, to identify the big no-no that you should avoid or else your journey will be cut short. Once people notice that you've got a good head on your shoulders, they'll test your performance. And here is how to win at it: The four bullet update. So the four bullet update is a secret weapon of the most proficient high-level managers.

Managers who do this out-earn all other managers. And here's how it works: Once you're given a task, do your best to execute. People want to be able to measure results. And once you're ready to report, follow this four-bullet formula: Here is what was asked of me. Here's what I did. Here are the roadblocks or risks I've encountered, and then given more time or resources, this is what I would do.

You hit them with the four bullet update and their jaw drops. Not only does this clearly define the specifics of the task, it gives you the opportunity to show your work. It shines a spotlight on the blockers that would make this a knockout of the park win, as well as letting them know you understand how the task could have been done better if you weren't feeling constrained. The four bullet update ticks all the boxes anyone above you looks for in talent to be promoted.

If you're an entrepreneur, require it of your employees. And while you're at it, invest in yourself at the company's expense. They can take away your job title, but they can never take away what you've learned. We are always surprised when people scoff at company-sponsored seminars or training because on a long time horizon these are way more valuable than the paycheck you take home. Do them right, take notes, and get your qualifications.

If you have the opportunity, pitch to your superior about educational products or training that will help you to be better at your job. Go through sales training. Get certified in specific technology or processes. Knowledge opens up doors, my friend, and open doors lead to more money and fulfillment. Every company has a budget set aside for professional development of their workforce, and they're eager to spend it because it's a deductible expense. Anything you can get the company to pay for that you can benefit from is a win in your book: gym memberships, professional coaching. Pitch everything that makes sense.

We built the ALUX APP as a tool that helps professionals accelerate their progress. If you go to alux.com/app right now, download it and use the company credit card to pay for the subscription. This will count as a deductible expense, so the company actually saves money on the amount of taxes they were going to pay. And what's more, later this year, we'll be launching the B2B segment of the ALUX App, where a company will be able to purchase multiple subscriptions for their employees at a preferred rate.

We're just letting you know that it's coming. So either do it for your people or let your superior know that you need them to pay for it for you.

Commission work equals accelerated skill growth. The fastest way to get good at something is to tie your reward to your performance. From a skill set perspective, most people are mediocre because they get paid the same amount no matter how well they perform at their tasks. So there's no real incentive to be efficient or to over-deliver. And this is one of the hidden traps of corporate culture. Everything will stay the same until everything changes all of a sudden, and you find it hard to maintain relevance.

If you care about your intrinsic value, you want to maximize your ability to impact the market, as there will always be demand for people who can generate value, either somewhere else or for themselves. The easiest way to get paid more than you currently are is to earn a bounty if you go beyond what is minimally expected from you. If you're paid per sale, not only do you want to hit your quota, but ask for a sliding scale if you go beyond your target. If you're a conversion optimization expert, set a regular target and then an "I'm going to blow you away" target, and these will be priced differently.

For you to give it your all and grow your skill set, you will require some skin in the outcome. Nobody wants to work harder than they have to, especially if they won't be the ones enjoying the reward.

Monday morning targets. Remember that four bullet point update we mentioned a couple of minutes ago and how valuable you thought that was? Well, here's another gem. We call it the Monday morning targets. Every Monday morning, communicate to your superior the following four targets:

1. Say what your to-dos are. This allows them to know you're actually working.
2. State how you prioritize. This allows them to change the order based on what they believe is of the highest importance.
3. Ask if there is anything of higher importance. This gives them the opportunity to insert new tasks without just dropping them in your lap all of a sudden, as well as to understand that when you take on a new priority, everything else will be deprioritized. So the decision on what actually gets done falls on them.
4. Send updates as you tick boxes off and progress through your tasks. Just keep them in the loop with the progress you're making so that they're aware of things moving forward.

These four targets take just a couple of minutes, but once again, separate the professionals from the pretenders. It also adds predictability to your interactions and keeps your bosses in check. It's a game changer.

Never be a victim. Small and medium-sized companies, which make up the majority of the workforce, pay you to problem-solve. Small problems might occur now and then, and your job is to keep the business going undisturbed. Businesses hate hearing, "I wish you could only see what I'm capable of, but this... [insert whatever excuse you use to justify your lack of real performance] has kept me away from greatness."

Look, okay, that is bullshit. If you use the four bullet update and the Monday morning targets, there should never be a situation in which you're the victim that can't clearly be mapped out by the higher-ups. When it comes to your career, you only get away with being the victim once. And even then, you'll be flagged as someone who's unreliable over the long term or who simply can't care enough to solve a problem that they had the ability to solve.

Most businesses like to think of themselves as professional sports teams. If you're a victim or under-performing, you'll be swapped out with someone who can actually score when you pass them the ball. Remember, it's all a numbers game. Business is about numbers because numbers can be measured and thus improved. If your performance can be measured, you have to have a direct impact on the numbers on the scoreboard. You might not realize it, but most businesses are keeping score on your performance, even if you are not.

How many sales? How many customers? How many complaints? Your cost, your cost per unit, and especially how much it would cost to replace you. If you can tie your performance to numbers, specifically, you can show that you are a profitable investment to the company. Your job is safe.

Be willing to move and make lateral shifts. You will get paid for the same amount of work if you simply change location. You will get paid more if you take the time to apply to other companies for the same position you currently hold or hire. Even if you don't change jobs, the company you currently work for will try to match whatever offer you have on the table from a competitor.

To keep it 100 with you, there are only two ways for you to see a ramp-up in your earnings. One is the safe route: negotiate and change jobs as often as you can. Like a pinball, go from one job to the next, making sure every time you get either more money or a better title, or preferably both. You do that with companies, and you do that with location. If you follow everything else mentioned in this video, in 5 to 10 years, you'll see a higher return from your career than the previous generation saw in their entire 40 years.

If you're educated, the American corporation is the safest route to slow, boring financial freedom. If you know how to play the game, just put in your hours and you're good. Now the second, more trickier route: be one of the first employees at a company with extreme, seemingly high potential.

A) Either the company gets acquired and you get a nice slice of the sale price, or B) the appeal of someone who's thrived in such an environment to the big players is asymmetric, meaning that if you do decide to move to a larger company at a later date, you will have practical skills you can monetize, meaning you'll earn 3 to 10 times as much and do half the work you're currently doing.

Now both of these open you up to the ability to start your own thing or to act as a consultant for other businesses. This is called freelance work. And if you go to alux.com/freelance, we have a step-by-step course that walks you through how to go from employee to freelancer. Use the promo code ALUXER for 25% off at checkout.

If you're simply looking to make a change, go to alux.com/reinvent and add your name to the waitlist for Reinvent Mastery, which will reopen this March. The first cohort of students have already moved across the world and are loving it.

But let's get back to how you'll crush the corporate game. Remember people's names and relevant details. The simplest way to show people that you give a damn is to remember the little things. Most people forget someone's name immediately after they shake hands. Having someone remember the little things about you makes you feel amazing and that they did pay attention.

It immediately shifts the balance. It might sound kind of lame to younger folks because generations change, but having a business partner remember and send a small gift when it's your birthday, your kid's birthday, your wedding anniversary, your kid's graduation, or any sort of big event actually works. It builds loyalty. As much as business is a numbers game, the people running the businesses are social creatures. We prefer spending time with those who show signs of interest in our lives.

So remember people's special dates. 20 bucks for flowers might mean a client will renew their service with you for tens of thousands of dollars. People want to do life with people who are willing to go the extra mile, and it all starts with information.

Try not to burn bridges. Life is a long ride. It's complex, and very few things are personal enough to burn bridges. Unless you live your life in a little bubble, the likelihood of you running into these people again is pretty high. There's no real benefit to you to cut ties with anyone in the business world.

We've seen people go at each other's throats, people who swore they would never do business again, and simply wait and hug it out less than a year later. If there's cheese on the table, they told us, "Everybody wants to win," and at least you know who you're dealing with. People will sabotage others if it gives them a leg up, but very rarely will people sabotage themselves.

This point here is also the reputation-building point. The biggest career opportunities come from recommendations. It's never a cold call. Someone mentions they've worked with you in the past. That's your capable and willing to work hard, and you get offered the job that other people have to audition for. At the end of the day, burning bridges with someone gives that person the power to sabotage your journey if they're ever in a position to do so.

Present solution runs or cost savings. Once your boss loves you, present solutions, not problems. Problems just add to their workload. It means they now have something else to deal with. If you're the person who identifies the problem and has the ability to provide and execute the solution, you're everything they could ask for in an employee.

These are the kinds of people you want to keep around and happy. Every business is trying to optimize for costs and time. If you figure out a way to get the same thing done at the same level of quality with less money or less time, you will be promoted.

Find the similarities. Birds of a feather flock together. As humans, we like to surround ourselves with people who behave in the way that we do, who think similarly, because we know what to expect of them. The more you can signal that you're a part of the same crowd as they are, the safer you are and the more opportunity will be presented to you.

Jim Burrows like to hang out with other Jim Burrows the same way Griffin Doors gravitate toward each other. Pay attention and find the similarities. It's one of the most underrated shortcuts in life.

And understand what the measurement for success is and optimize for that. This is the most important point that most people fail to take into account, and it's the key to winning your professional career. So pay attention. Your company has a goal, your superior has a goal, and you have your own goal. So how does your goal tie into theirs?

How do you optimize for that? What is the single metric that you need to pay attention to for all three of you to get what you want? Because if the company gets what they want and you don't, you have to leave. If you get what you want, but the company doesn't, you'll be fired. You see how all this ties together? If you don't know the answer, push your supervisor to pinpoint the exact metric you should optimize for because they should have it.

Are you optimizing for followers, for views, for sales, for new clients, for cost per delivery? Each one will require you to focus your efforts in different ways. Once the Northstar metric is identified, everyone knows what they have to do.

This will be valuable for everyone in our community. What do you think is the key to winning the career game? Let us know in the comments.

And since we couldn't end this video without rewarding those of you who stick with us until the very end, here is your bonus: Lifestyle versus payout. Would you be okay with twice the money if you got half the free time that you do right now? If so, for how long would that make sense to you? How long would you make that trade for?

More often than not, we meet people who optimize for payout instead of lifestyle, and we think they've got it wrong. Sure, if survival is the issue, do what you must. But once you have your basics covered, optimize for what you want out of life. Pick the lifestyle first and then find the job that allows you to do it.

Once you do find it, commit to it; you'll get a higher ROI following the lifestyle than following the money. Earning 35k a year in Spain grants you the same lifestyle as 100k in salary in the States. And it's never been easier to work remotely. Earn in dollars or euros but enjoy a lifestyle somewhere around the world where you can get more bang for your buck.

This single idea is the reason why a lot is structured the way it is as a business. Every single one of our employees can get their work done from a laptop from anywhere in the world without affecting their delivery schedule. This kind of freedom to move was at the center of our company culture.

You just have to keep an open mind. That's you! Write the word "mind" in the comments. We'll personally reply to the first 20 comments that we see using the word "mind." See you soon, my friend.