Successful people follow the career advice in Tweet 123 in Success Tweets. “Use every social interaction to build and strengthen relationships. Strong relationships are your ticket to success.” Build and strengthen relationships by sweating the small stuff. T H I N K before you speak. Focus sending positive micro messages – the small things that show another person that you value him or her. Avoid “micro-inequities” – behaviors that demean people in small ways. Instead, focus on “micro-affirmations” – behaviors that encourage others and build their self-esteem.

Van Horsley of First Citizens Bank says that there are seven things he’s done over the course of his career to create his success. 1) Always act with integrity. 2) Show up early. 3) Work harder than your peers. 4) Learn your company’s business. 5) Get engaged in your company’s business. 6) Understand how what you do contributes to your company’s business success. 7) Make yourself indispensable to your boss. If you apply these common sense ideas in your career you’ll be on your way to the life and career success you want and deserve.

Your appearance says a lot about you. Dress in a manner that shows you respect yourself – and the people you will meet during your day. Take the time to show that you care – and people will respond positively to you. Dress one level up from what is expected and you will stand out from the crowd.

Creating positive personal impact is one of the competencies all successful people possess. You create positive personal impact by developing and nurturing your unique personal brand, being impeccable in your presentation of self, and knowing and following the basic rules of etiquette. Your personal brand should be uniquely you, but it should be built on integrity. Follow the advice in Tweet 62 in Success Tweets. “Your personal brand should be uniquely you, but built on integrity. Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking.” As the sad ending to Joe Paterno’s career and life demonstrates, even a momentary lapse in your integrity can lead to serious consequences for a carefully crafted brand.

Your happiness in life and your career success begins with a clear idea of how you define success for you personally. As research being done at Colorado State University indicates, a life and career filled with personal meaning, is likely to be a happier, more successful life and career. If you haven’t already done so, I suggest you take some time and think about your clarity of purpose. How do you define life and career success for yourself? Keep that purpose and definition of career success in mind as you move forward in your life and career.

Successful people create positive personal impact. People who create positive personal impact develop and nurture their unique personal brand. The best personal brands are authentic. Peggy Williams, retired president of Ithaca College, has a unique personal brand. She doesn’t take herself too seriously. And, believe me that is a truly unique personal brand in higher education. She is true to her brand. She is authentic. If you follow Peggy’s model, you too, will create positive personal impact and be on your way to a successful life and career.

Just as mentors can help you create the life and career success you want and deserve. You can help others create their life and career success by becoming a mentor. It’s never too early to begin mentoring others. There is always someone who needs your career advice; someone who needs to know what you’ve already learned. Take some of your time to share what you know. Be a positive person. Help others achieve the life and career success they want and deserve.

If you want to create you career success, you have to be seen by others as a person who cares. You need to be responsive to the needs and requests of others. You have to gain the trust of people with whom you come into contact. And you need to demonstrate that you understand their needs and issues. Miriam Chisala, by her actions, provides a great example of someone who is responsive, someone who is trustworthy, and someone with loads of empathy. Don’t be like Mike. Be like Miriam and you’ll be on your way to the life and career success you want and deserve.

Like Martin Luther King, whose legacy we celebrate today, successful people think big. They ground themselves in a mighty purpose. Tweet 4 in Success Tweets says, “The mightier your purpose, the more likely you are to succeed. It will give you a strong foundation when the winds of change shift.” Be like Dr. King. Take this advice to heart. Ground yourself with a mighty purpose. It’s better to aim too high and fall a little short than it is to aim too low and reach your goal. Dare to have a dream – and make it a big, powerful dream. What is your dream for your life and career success? Please share it with us in a comment.

Mentors can help you create the life and career success you want and deserve. You can create acknowledged mentoring relationships by asking people you respect and admire to mentor you. You can also gain the benefits of a mentoring relationship just by observing people who embody the skills and characteristics you admire and acting like they do. The important point is that you don’t want to go it alone. Working with a mentor can accelerate your progress towards the life and career success you want and deserve.