7 things successful people never say

Flickr/Sebastiaan ter Burg

Whether you are running a small business, growing a fast-paced tech startup, or just working for the man, everyone wants to be successful, and we all think we know what it takes to get there.

But there are things you may not be thinking about which can undermine your chances of success.

Little things like your choice of words can have big effects.

You may be unintentionally putting up roadblocks on the path to your own success by carelessly uttering seemingly harmless negative phrases.

Be careful, your career is important! Don't let yourself be derailed by a poor choice of words.

To help achieve the success you have worked hard for, make a point to strike the following negative phrases from your workplace vocabulary:

1. "I can't do that."

This is basically the same as "I give up." It's not unreasonable to tell a boss or a client that his or her request cannot be fulfilled, but how you do so and how you approach the problem means everything.

Very few things in life and business are truly impossible, and most employers and customers want forward-thinking problem solvers on their team, even if the solution requires more time and effort.

If you offer your employer and your customers solutions instead of "no," you will be seen as a problem solver, as someone who gets things done no matter what, and that will make you immeasurably valuable in their eyes.

2. "This is how I've always done it."

This is really a continuation of the first statement — it's two different applications of the same dead-end mentality. It says "I am not comfortable thinking outside of the box. I'm not doing it." Not a good strategy.

Insisting on doing things the way they've always been done is one of the best ways to get left behind by your competition. Adapting to an ever-changing marketplace and the ever-changing needs of employers is really the only way to survive in an economy constantly being disrupted by the next big thing.

You don't have to be a slave to the trends, but you also can't stick your head in the sand and hope things go back to normal. New problems will present themselves as surely as the sun will rise, and your ability to come up with new or better solutions is what will ultimately put you in front of the pack.

3. "This will just take a minute."

A minute goes by quickly, there is very little you can do in one minute. You can't even cook a Hot Pocket in one minute. This dangerous phrase is one of the worst "over-promise, under-deliver" statements there is.

Be very careful with this one. Saying something will only take "a minute" suggests that it is not difficult, and in doing so undermines your effort. Even if you can do it very quickly, don't say it.

More likely than not, the reason it can be done quickly is because you are skilled and very good at what you do. When you say it will "just" take a minute, you're shortchanging what you bring to the table. As a rule, if it takes 61 seconds or longer (seriously) to do something, do not say "this will just take a minute."