The One Essential Habit Practiced by People Who Naturally Attract Work

Hello. I am Kengo Shibata, and I share ideas on entrepreneurship and side businesses, focusing on how to create stable income.

Many people aspire to a way of working where work naturally comes to them without having to actively solicit it. However, this is not something that happens just by waiting. It requires a certain 'power' that everyone possesses.

In this article, I will talk about the 'first step' that is essential for creating a state where work comes to you even if you don't say a word.

Sales are important, but there is something you should value even more

As I mentioned in my past articles, sales ability is a very important skill in business.

Taking the initiative to go out and seize opportunities is the initial trigger.

However, there are aspects where relying solely on that makes it difficult to build a stable business.

Ending up with one-time connections. Relationships ending once the contract period is over. In such a cycle, you may find yourself mentally and physically exhausted before you know it.

The ideal is to be someone people say, 'I want to ask you specifically.' If you can achieve that, work will naturally become continuous.

What is essential to create that state? It is 'proactivity'.

Work tends to gather around people who are proactive

Proactivity is the attitude of taking responsibility for your own actions. In 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People', it is introduced as the first habit.

Not blaming the environment or others, but tackling things with your own will and judgment. That is the fundamental way of being for a proactive person.

Whether or not you have this attitude determines whether you can become someone who gets repeat business.

For example, when you ask someone to do a job, how would you feel if they responded like this?

• 'I don't know if I can do it.'

• 'Because of [Name], this happened...'

• 'What should I do?'

• 'Which one is correct?'

• “Are you saying it’s my fault?”

• “Going silent when things get disadvantageous”

It might sound a bit exaggerated, but these kinds of behaviors are surprisingly common in daily life. And what they have in common is the tendency to “not try to think for oneself” and “leave the judgment to the other person.”

If you ask whether one would want to continue giving work to such people, it is unlikely to be the case.

Behavior lacking initiative erodes trust

There is another common point in behavior that lacks initiative. It is that it “steals the other person’s time.”

When asked, “What should I do?”, the other person has to think on your behalf. Making remarks that shift responsibility, such as “It’s because of so-and-so…,” cracks the foundation of a trusting relationship.

In other words, such interactions end up being like “chipping away at trust.”

That is why I avoid working with people who lack initiative, no matter how high their skills may be.

Whether we can grow together in the future—if I cannot see that possibility, the relationship inevitably cannot continue.

“I feel like I could work with this person again.” To build a relationship where people think that, an attitude of acting with initiative is essential.

Initiative can start with a small step

So, how can one develop initiative?

This is not a special skill. You can start with a small step.

For example,

• “I thought about it this way, so I chose this.”

• “As a result of researching this, Plan A seems best.”

• “This was my error in judgment. I will improve it this way next time.”

Such words reflect an attitude of thinking for oneself and acting with responsibility.

There is no need to be perfect. In fact, even if there are failures or hesitations, an attitude of not hiding them and trying to act based on your own judgment makes you more likely to be trusted.

Proactivity is not about whether you can or cannot do something, but about choosing how you act. Accumulating these choices becomes the foundation of trust.

Summary

The first step to creating a state where work naturally comes to you is to possess proactivity.

To be approached for work without having to sell yourself, the major prerequisite is to be a person who is trusted. That trust is born from an attitude of thinking for yourself and acting on your own.

As introduced in "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", proactivity is the foundation of everything. Please try to consciously incorporate it into your daily life.

Thank you for reading until the end.
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