Anxiety Can Be Your Friend!

Surprise, surprise. Anxiety is not only a career buster -- it can be a career booster!

In a new book due out in March, called "Just Enough Anxiety: The Hidden Driver of Business Success," Dr. Robert Rosen insists anxiety is a double-edged sword that cuts both ways. Too much or too little can keep your career from taking off or destroy it in mid-flight. But then again -- just enough anxiety can send you soaring to new heights.

Indeed, Dr. Rosen insists that your ability to create just enough anxiety -- more than any other leadership quality -- will take you to the top.

Dr. Rosen's conclusions are based on lots of research. He interviewed and advised more than 250 leaders in organizations worldwide, including PepsiCo, Ford, Intel, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Boeing, and ING.

So, are you harnessing the right level of anxiety to propel you forward and upward?

You can find out by checking out the signs below.

You are creating too much anxiety if you...
*think you can do most things better than anyone else
*strive for perfection and are quick to point out errors and mistakes
*experience and express many different emotions at work
*are wary of others motives and intentions most of the time

You are creating too little anxiety if you...
*only see the bright side of things
*do whatever it takes to get the job done without relying on others
*skillfully avoid conflict and try to make everyone happy
*always ask others for their opinion before making a decision

To develop just enough anxiety, you can...
*embrace uncertainty and change as part of life
*learn to recognize what you can and cannot control
*candidly assess your strengths and shortcomings
*get comfortable feeling and expressing competing emotions
*be empathetic and compassionate toward others accept and learn from life’s experiences, both positive and negative