This post is in partnership withThe Muse. The article below was originally published on The Muse.

People tend to be quite talented at explaining away, ignoring, or, frankly, being completely oblivious of their shortcomings. Sigmund Freud and his daughter, Anna, identified a whole list of ways humans do this, which they calleddefense mechanisms. You may be familiar with some of these mechanisms, such as denial (e.g., “I certainly do not have an attitude problem!”) or rationalization (e.g., “I’m not unorganized; I was late to the meeting because my co-worker didn’t tell me what time it was!”).

In fact, you may use some of these excuses yourself. But what you don’t realize is how these defense mechanisms could be harming your career by holding you back from promotions, successful relationships, and skill building.

With so many ways to avoid facing or make excuses for your flaws, how do you know when you are your own worst enemy? Look for the following red flags.

1. You Struggle to Maintain Professional Relationships

We all have people we don’t exactly click with. We tolerate them, limit our interaction with them, and go on about our business. That’s simply part of the fabric of life. But if you find yourself alienated from a growing string of colleagues and supervisors, well, that’s a problem.

If you pay attention to people who have tenure and status with your organization, you’ll see they have healthy relationships with other people in the company. They may not always agree with their colleagues. They may even argue and get angry, but they don’t stay that way. They don’t make rash decisions in anger or throw away years-long relationships over a disagreement. They work through it and move forward.

2. You Feel Angry More Often Than Not

I once interviewed a gentleman who was angry with his current employer, previous employer, another company to which he applied, and the universe in general. His resentment was practically palpable. Guess what? That’s not the energy that any employer wants on his or her team.

You can probably all think of someone you’ve worked with whocriticizes every single thing about his or her job. Or maybe, you have a tendency to do that. Maybe you’re constantly irritated by the things your boss asks you to do or your co-workers’ input during meetings. Everyone has bad days every so often, but the warning sign comes when you have a bad day everyday.

People who advance in their careers don’t wallow in anger. They focus on their ultimate goals—like advancing up the career ladder—using their anger as a catalyst to accomplish something or make a change. Then they get back to being curious, energized, happy, creative, thoughtful, and productive.

3. You’ve Officially—and Repeatedly—Been in Trouble

Getting in trouble once doesn’t necessarily mean you have a problem. But being in trouble repeatedly—like receiving verbal warnings or write-ups or getting fired—is a fairly reliable indication that you’re ignoring significant issues in your career and therefore aren’t advancing as you should.

People who get ahead aren’t immune from running into some trouble, but each time they experience an issue, they learn from it so the problem doesn’t repeat itself.

4. You Find Yourself Making a Lot of Excuses

You may recognize those defense mechanisms I mentioned earlier. For example, you may rationalize things away. You may blame everyone and everything around you—this person’s lack of experience, that person’s failure to follow through, another person’s attitude, or even the bad weather—for your shortcomings.

But really, what’s the likelihood that it’s always someone else’s fault that you don’t follow through, finish on time, stick to a budget,meet your deadline, or otherwise meet your responsibilities?

When things go awry—as they often will—people who are successful in their careers are solution-focused, rather than problem-focused. They examine what went wrong and figure out how to improve the next time. They see challenges as opportunities, and they dive in with enthusiasm to tackle them.

What to Do Next

Maybe you recognize yourself in one or more of these descriptions. Now what? The answer is both simple and complex: Ask for help. Successful people don’t gain success alone. They know they are as imperfect as the next person. They work on improving. When they need help, they ask for it. Consider the following suggestions:

Seek Feedback

Ask your supervisor and colleagues what they see as your greatest strengths and weaknesses. Ask how you can improve. Some of these conversations may be uncomfortable, and you may get feedback that is difficult to hear, but that discomfort can lead to growth. If you don’t realize, for example, that you frequently interrupt people when you disagree with them, then you’ll probably continue to be argumentative and disruptive.

Find a Mentor

A mentor who is advanced in his or her career can offer guidance on how you can advance. A good mentor will help you build your strengths and manage your weaknesses. He or she will challenge you to stretch your potential and achieve more than you thought possible.

Seek Counseling From a Licensed Provider

Counseling is an often-overlooked resource that can help you identify areas for improvement and, ultimately, thrive. Where else can you get an hour of individual attention from an objective perspective, all geared toward helping you be the best version of yourself? Whether your reason for seeking counseling is something large that’s been weighing you down or something as straightforward as learning to communicate, counseling can help you make progress toward your goals.

Once you reach out for help, don’t stop there. Take the next step and use that help. Will it be hard? Probably. If changing was easy, we would all be perfect. But you and your career success are worth this investment—so do the work and get ready to enjoy the payoff!

Consciousness is when you look behind to see your shadow and not when you look forward to see your reflection in the mirror. DP

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Greatness is not measured by your financial status alone. It takes wisdom to be a great individual. You've always heard "knowledge is power ", what about wisdom? The simple truth and answer is "Wisdom is greatness" have no doubt about it. If. You want to be great, you've got to be wise.

This post is in partnership with Inc., which offers useful advice, resources and insights to entrepreneurs and business owners. The article below was originally published at Inc.com.

It’s hard to think differently and be able to dream new dreams. We’d all like to be visionary thinkers like Bezos, Buffett, and Branson (the Three B’s of Bold Thinking) and achieve great things.

But most of us aren’t bold visionaries. (I’m definitely not.)

And that’s OK, because while you and I might never come up with the next big thing, we can decide to think differently from other people–and in the process, achieve differently from other people.

Here are five things people think that ruin their chances for success… and more importantly how you can think differently:

1. “I never get the right opportunities.”

Hey, join the (very large) club. No matter how it looks from the outside, no one is given opportunities they don’t deserve. Opportunities are earned. (And even if someone else did get an opportunity you feel you deserved, you can’t change that fact, so why dwell on it?)

Maybe, years ago, you did have to wait: To be accepted, to be promoted, to be selected… to somehow be “discovered.”

Even if that was once, true it’s not true anymore. Access to opportunity is nearly unlimited. You can connect with nearly anyone through social media. You can create and sell your own products, develop and distribute your own applications, find your own funding….

You don’t need to wait for someone else to give you the opportunity. You can give yourself the opportunity–which, by the way, is what successful people have done for centuries.

The only thing holding you back from seizing an opportunity isyou–and your willingness to try.

Don’t think about opportunities you need to be given; think about opportunities you need to take.

2. “Someone is always holding me back.”

Maybe someone else has ruined opportunities or blocked ideas or taken what was rightfully yours. Maybe suppliers didn’t come through. Maybe your partner wasn’t committed. Maybe potential customers weren’t smart enough to recognize the value you provide.

Doesn’t matter. You can’t control other people. You can only control yourself.

When you fail, always decide it was your fault. Not only is that a smart way to think, but it’s also almost always true as well. While occasionally something completely outside your control will cause you to fail, most of the time it really is you.

And that’s OK. Every successful person has failed numerous times. Most have failed a lot more often than you have; that’s one reason why they’re so successful today.

Embrace every failure. Own it, learn from it, and take full responsibility for making sure that next time you’ll do what it takes to make sure things turn out differently.

Never think it’s another person’s fault; when you do, you’re guaranteeing it always will be.

3. “I just don’t have enough time.”

Sure you do. You have the same amount of time as everyone else. The key is to decide how you will fill your time.

For example, anyone can create a schedule. But most people don’t ensure that every task takes only as long as it needs to take. Most people fill a block of time, either given or self-determined, simply because that is the time allotted.

Don’t adjust your effort so it fills a time frame. Instead, do everything as quickly and effectively as you can. Then use your “free” time to get other things done…just as quickly and effectively.

Never think about how time controls you–instead, think of how you can best control your time.

When you do, you’ll quickly realize you have a lot more time than you think.

4. “Sure, I would do that… if I knew it would be worth it.”

Ever heard someone say, “If I knew I would get a raise, then I would be willing to work a lot harder”? Or, “If I knew my start-up would succeed, then I would definitely be willing to put in more hours”? Or, “If I knew there would be a bigger payoff, then I would be willing to sacrifice more”?

Successful employees earn promotions and higher pay by first working harder; in other words, they earn their success. Successful businesses earn higher revenue by delivering greater value first; they earn their success.

Successful people, in all areas of life, earn bigger “payoffs” by working incredibly hard well before any potential return is in sight; they earn their success through effort and sacrifice.

Most people expect to get more before they will ever consider doing more.

To succeed, think of compensation not as the driver or requirement for exceptional effort, but as the deserved reward.

5. “But there’s just nothing special about me.”

It’s easy, and tempting, to assume successful people have some intangible entrepreneurial something–ideas, talent, drive, skills, creativity, etc.–that you simply don’t have.

That’s rarely true. Talents typically reveal themselves only in hindsight. Success is never assured; it only looks that way after it is achieved.

Sure, other people may have skills you don’t have (at least not yet), but you have skills other people don’t have. You don’t need a gift. You just need yourself–and a willingness to put in a tremendous amount of hard work, effort, and perseverance–because that is where talent comes from.

Never think about what you don’t have. Focus on what you do have–and more importantly, what you are willing to do that others are not.

That is your true gift–and it’s a gift we’ve all been given.

We all have visions, goals and standards that influence our daily actions. The effort exerted becomes powerful if only we believe in our selves. We've got potential that ignites and burns down our fears if we think positive. The power of positivity makes leaders, influencers, great men and women. Think positive if you want to achieve your goals.