So said out grandparents and our parents. Boy were they wrong!

Maybe in jobs-for-life mentality of era before 1980's such attitudes were laudable. Keep your nose clean, put in a good day's work and retire after 40 years with a pension and a hacking cough.

The business world is very different today. Nowadays, your performance isn't measured against your own personal best, you are measured against your peers.

Who cares if you wrote best report of your life, or just gave best presentation of your career? Nobody. All that matters is result. If Joe can write a better report or Sam can give a better presentation, they will pretty soon have your job.

Is that cut-throat? You bet it is. Since Regan years in U.S. and Thatcher years in U.K., business has changed from corporate family to Darwinian evolution. Only fittest survive.

Now, it isn't enough to just turn up and put in a good day's work. You have to make a 'positive contribution' as well.

How can you do that without suffering fate of so many rising stars: executive burnout?

Stress was curse of nineties and is getting worse in noughts. But stress is just an inability to deal with a situation. It can be beaten. You just have to have right tools in your armory to fight it back.

Here are five tools that you can use right now. They are not industry or job-specific. Anyone can use them, but you do have to put in effort to learn.

Any tool, in any job, feels awkward and unwieldy when you first pick it up. These are no different. But practice and application will pretty soon make them all old friends. They will keep you sane and light your way to success.

1. Time and self management.

This is an old chestnut, but in truth, time management has never been so important. The person who can effectively complete six jobs in a day will always rise higher than one who can only complete five.

Often time management is a misnomer. What needs managing is ourselves. Our attitudes are time wasters, not time itself.

Read books, learn skills and make every second of your life count.

2. Positive mental attitude.

"Whether you believe you can, or believe you can't, you are right."

What is point in self-doubt? It is a self- fulfilling prophesy. Far better to believe in yourself and push yourself to achieve higher and greater things, than to fail for lack of trying.

There are two words you should erase from your vocabulary: can't and might.

'I can't do it' and 'I might do it' both usually mean 'I won't do it.'

You can. you should and you will.

3. Insatiable curiosity.

MY CAREER IS IN THE DOLDRUMS…Do I need a Coach or a Therapist? By Nina Ham

Is Monday worst day of your week? Can you hardly remember when you enjoyed going to work? Do friends ask why you seem so down? Maybe this has been going on awhile, and you’re realizing it’s time to do something. But where do you turn? At one moment you tell yourself “It’s just my career…Change that, and everything will be OK”. Another moment, you acknowledge you’re living under a cloud and a lot of old emotional ghosts are returning. Your friend who’s recommending you consult her therapist may be right.

Your uncertainty is understandable. Work itself is never “just work” but can reach deep into our attitudes toward us and into our sense of belonging in world. Furthermore, therapy and coaching have much in common and differ primarily in emphasis each places on action and understanding. Whether you decide to deal with your work issues through a practical approach or a psychological approach is a matter of choice. The questions posed below should help you make that choice.

•Are you an action person or an insight person? Most people are both, in some mix, but instinctively approach change either by setting it in motion with action or by first assessing and preparing for its impact. A shy mid-level manager, for example, who has taken on new responsibilities that involve public speaking, may gravitate toward a Toastmasters group for help. She would be a candidate for coaching if she wanted to develop her mastery further. Or she might prefer to look toward therapy as a setting in which she could explore her anxieties about being in spotlight.