There is no alternative to hardwork, and Malcolm Gladwell provides good argument for it in his works. If you want to be successful, then you need to work for it, and be prepared to talk about it. What have you accomplished at work and life? Start taking note of it.

There is an ancient Indian saying “य: क्रियावान् स पण्डितः” – one who is industrious is the knowledgeable one. It does not matter what qualifications you have, what certifications you have completed. What matters is what you have done with it and can do with it. You may claim 100 things in your resume but what people care to know about are your accomplishments. You are paid to produce results, and what results have you produced in the past is a good indicator of what you can potentially produce. If you cannot show that you can produce results you have no place in the workplace.

So, in whatever capacity you are working in begin to measure your results and outcomes, and start documenting your accomplishments. Most people assume that accomplishments need to be large. No. Very rarely do people have significant accomplishments, but there are many milestones (and occasional breakthroughs) that happen in one’s work life. So, ask yourself these simple questions:

1) What have I accomplished (done) in the past 2 years that made a difference in the workplace? Have I received recognition or promotion or appreciations from colleagues, customers, managers or others?

2) Have I done anything outside my job description?

3) Am I replaceable? Why not? What unique value do I bring to the workplace? Why should the company continue to pay me?

4) What are top three areas that I have improved significantly in the past 3 years? Will these help me scale to higher levels of performance and responsibilities?

5) What have I done in the recent past that makes me deserving of a promotion or greater