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People tend to have more drive when they do something they ‘want’ to do. The passion they have for this want takes them a long way. Doing something you need, well, who wants to do that? A success oriented individual will be able to transfer and change something they want, into a need — and if this is the case, more can be accomplished! The key is to career success is to actually create a passionate ‘need’ based on what you really ‘want’.

Establish your wants, and make them into a passionate need. More will be accomplished, and motivation in the workplace will increase incredibly. This leads to career success (or any other goal oriented success you are trying to achieve).

Three important needs to focus on for career success and how to turn them into ‘wants’:

1. The need to go to work
2. The need to perform above expectations
3. The need to love your work

“If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results.” Jack Dixon

Focusing on your needs may not get you anywhere in your career unless there is value, a real ‘why’ and that ‘why’ stems from a desire to have career success and motivation in the workplace. This comes from changing the above three needs into passionate wants. If a person does this there is no limit to their growth!

1. The need to go to work.

You need to go to work in order to earn that paycheck. Your salary is a big reason why you have to get up every day and go to work. At times, this is an incredibly difficult task due to lack of motivation in the workplace, and/or a job you do not want to do. The contradiction is that you need to do the job in order to progress your career oriented goals. Change this thought — make it a ‘want’ to go to work and need and want will be interchangeable!

The two keys to changing this need into a passionate want is to 1) take ownership and 2) be accountable of your current job — love it or hate it. Once this ownership and accountability for what you do on a daily basis becomes how you approach your work day, motivation in the workplace, and eventually success, will reveal itself in real opportunities.

These 2 keys to career success may be the most difficult thing to do, but they are the most important things to do with your current position. It prepares you for success, and the habits learned will help you progress in your career. The need to go to work now becomes a ‘want’ to go to work. Your want will be more passionate and more real than just ‘having’ to do it every day!

2. The need to perform above expectations

We need money. Money leads to happiness. Does it really? Of course. Find a man with a million dollars and he is happier with the million than he would be with absolutely nothing. Okay, money may not lead to happiness, but it surely brings job satisfaction, and that is why we accept the job offer.

That being said, success oriented people believe in working hard to achieve goals. They inherently exceed expectations because that is in their nature. By doing so, the ‘normal’ rewards are bigger raises, larger bonuses, and upward mobility in the corporate ladder, and career success.

You ‘need’ to perform above the call of duty. But turn that need into a want. You should want to exceed expectations. Those that do not want to exceed expectations rarely achieve levels of success they think they deserve.

3. The need to love your work

The first two needs: (1) The need to go to work and (2) The need to exceed expectations, feed into the last need. By wanting to go to work every day, by wanting to exceed expectations, it leads to loving your work. It is not a need, nor a want anymore, it just is the love of your work.

Career success is not always about skills, it is not always about knowledge! But it is about passion, a clear cut ‘why’ you want success, and turning your needs into wants! By doing so, it will develop into opportunities of success on a grand scale.

Notice those around that need to go to work but hate it. They need to exceed expectations but they perform at the average level. And they hate their job. Is career success over the horizon? No, it’s not even in sight.

By focusing on these neglected, yet incredibly important needs, you can turn them into wants, by turning them into wants, career success suddenly looms just around the corner.