Occasional errors in thinking make us form an inaccurate view of reality and stick with it, thereby impacting our behaviors and actions — In part 1 on cognitive distortions, I wrote about the five cognitive distortions that impact your decision-making by impairing your ability to think clearly. In this article, I will cover five cognitive distortions that impact communication: Heaven’s reward fallacy

An important factor to work with others is to not only care about your own needs but also what the other person wants — What kind of relationship do you have with your manager? Is it a thriving one or are you barely surviving? Most people attribute a poor relationship with their manager to be the manager’s fault. If the relationship isn’t working, the manager must either be bad, uncaring, or downright incompetent.

Not everything you say will stand out. But you can’t make a difference unless you’re also willing to risk voicing your opinion — For every step forward you take in your career, how many steps are you taking back? Do you actively recognize and pay attention to mistakes that limit your career? Those who succeed at work do not have special skills and abilities. They aren’t more intelligent or talented than others. What…

Get over nonsense and start putting some sense into your work — Too many meetings. I had said those three words way too many times that month. Sometimes as a fleeting comment to myself. Other times in the form of self-pity as this excessive, self-absorbed unhappiness over the current state of my work. Instead of shouting at the top of my lungs…

How can you be good at anything without doing it enough, and how can you love it when you are not even good at it? — What’s the difference between people who end up loving what they do and those on an endless pursuit looking for the one thing that will fulfill them, only to be left disheartened, dissatisfied, and unhappy? I thought passion was the answer. If you are passionate about something, you will enjoy…

When I shifted from an individual contributor to a manager role, it appeared like a natural part of my career progression. I was moving forward in my career, getting bigger and better responsibilities. What was there to say no? I was playing a lead role, working with stakeholders and co-ordinating…

Where the head goes, the body follows. Perception precedes action. Right action follows the right perspective. — When you’re having a bad day at work, your mind spirals into all sad things. It’s like someone dimmed the light around you and everything appears dark and gloomy. You’re more likely to lose your nerve or react poorly to even minor inconveniences. It may appear that others are out…

Staying silent makes you invisible while speaking up is powerful as it gives you a voice — Are you bold enough to say what you need to say in a meeting, or do you feel knots in your stomach and refuse to speak up? You may find it hard to share your voice in a meeting because of these limiting beliefs: What if they think my idea…

Instead of a to-do list, you need a success list — a list that is purposefully created around extraordinary results. — I got introduced to the concept of todo lists early in my career. The idea sounded simple and interesting, so I decided to give it a try. I started putting everything on my mind into a todo list. It worked well initially. After all, I had only a few responsibilities…