Success secrets

10 SUCCESS SECRETS BOSSES NEVER TELL YOU BUT SHOULD
(Cosmopolitan)

Playing It Safe Can Backfire: Most people see taking risks as opening themselves up to unnecessary, maybe even dangerous chances. In fact, the opposite is often true. You may think you're playing it safe by holding on to what you have, but in reality, you're just hindering your own progress.
Failing = Success: The consequences of failure -- just like the potential consequences of taking risks -- are almost never as terrible as they seem. Just about anyone you can think of who's a huge success has overcome failure to get where they are today -- think of Michael Jordan, who was cut from his high school team.
Give Up Control... Sometimes: In any office environment, there are many factors you can't control -- the trickiest of which are often interpersonal. People get on each other's nerves, step on each other's toes, vie for each other's jobs, and sometimes, at the other end of the spectrum, get inappropriately involved with each other. The only thing you can do is accept what you can't change and work around it.
Show Your Ignorance: The act of asking is one of the most important elements of success. All too often, people fear that asking questions reveals ignorance, yet the opposite is true. The minute you ask about something, you've taken a step toward understanding it.
If You Think You Know the Answer, Check Again: There's an old saying among journalists: "If your mother says she loves you, check it." And in fact, you can be sure that the minute you take something for granted, it won't be what you thought it was.
Have a No-Surprises Policy: Never surprise your boss. If you have bad news, tell it. If you have good news, share it. For one thing, no one likes to feel out of the loop. And for another, hiding a crisis from someone who needs to know virtually guarantees the problem will be compounded.
Be a Little Naughty: Rule breaking is an underappreciated and underutilized skill. If you look at any list of highly successful people, it's invariably populated with rule breakers -- from college dropouts like Bill Gates to female trailblazers like eBay's Meg Whitman.
It's Not PC, But Looks Count: The way you present yourself makes a huge difference in how people perceive you, and not just in a superficial way. People make judgments about your abilities, self-confidence, and savvy based in part on what you choose to wear and how you choose to carry yourself.