How excited do you get about going to your job every morning? Are you feeling stuck at your job?

There is this select group of people who feel very satisfied about their job and would never  trade their job for another. If you belong to this group please stop reading now.

Supposing that you do not belong to this select group please keep reading. You are not alone.  Conference Board reported that more than half of Americans -52.3%- surveyed in 2014 are unhappy at work.

Why are most people dissatisfied with their job?

Glassdoor survey in 2014 indicated that salary and compensation ranked as the top reason why 78% of software engineers would leave their job.  Over three million Americans quit their jobs in March 2017 based on news release from Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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 “In general, people leave their jobs because they don’t like their boss, don’t see opportunities for promotion or growth, or are offered a better gig (and often higher pay); these reasons have held steady for years.” – Harvard Business Review

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Perhaps you are already in the right career and now seeking more pay or growth; keep reading to discover what questions you need to be asking and why you need to be asking yourself these secret but powerful questions that only the highest-ranking employees ask.

What 3 questions separate the highest-ranking employees from you?

• Do I know my Craft?

Take an assessment of your skills. Then search yourself to find out how much you know and determine what new skills you need to achieve to become a star at what you do. If you are a designer, do you spend time outside of work hours each day thinking of the latest trends and methodologies that you could apply to sharpen your design skills? Top-ranking performers spend extra time and energy on a daily basis to ensure that they are good at the technical side of  what they do.

• Am I focusing on the right stuff?

The highest performing employees who get all the promotions and huge pay bumps are very adept at focusing on the right stuff. They know where they are going, why they are going there and what they need to be doing to get there.

If you want to advance in your career and get top level compensation you need to differentiate noise from signal. Not every call is worth your time, not every project is the right fit for you and not every task should be your cup of tea. Focus gives you energy and eliminates burnouts. Know your mission and be laser-focused on the right assignments. Study your team or department, discover their direction and get their before they arrive.

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“You can have anything you want… But not everything you want.” – Susan R. Fussell

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• How much service and help do I offer to others?

The average person focuses on just getting their job done. Even if you are getting your job done well and tackling the biggest challenges on your team, you still need to worry about one more thing.

Your need to be known as an individual who contributes your time to helping others can never be over emphasized if you want to be join the ‘highly valued employees’ club.  This club makes you one of the go-to members of your company in times of need.

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“You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”- Zig Ziglar

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Helping more people at work expands you network of cheerleaders as well as supporters in your work place. And remember the more people you help the more valuable you become and the more reward you receive -pay increases and promotions.

Feel free to leave your comments sharing your experiences, grievances and expressing your concerns regarding this post.

Also do not forget to share this with your network or that person you have on your mind that needs to know about this.