There are always times in our careers when we feel as though we are standing still, losing momentum, or just have a sense of being stuck. Try these suggestions to help you move forward.
1. Shift your focus from where you feel stuck, to what “gets you going”.
We can all be very good at identifying what we don’t like about our work, our roles, our companies. However, to get out of a career rut, we need to reframe and think carefully about what inspires, motivates or gets us excited! When was the last time you had some fun at work? What gives you the biggest buzz in your work?
2. Identify three things that are working well in your career.
List three things where you are succeeding, and happy in work, even in small ways. Be grateful for them. Think about ways that you can grow, develop and expand these areas. Shift from trying to eliminate what you don't want, to creating more of what you do want.
3. Ask yourself what is missing from your work.
For your list of what is “missing”, we need you now to turn this into a positive list to recognise what it is you do want. Be as specific as possible and identify small actions that would improve your current working life.
4. Write a list of positive things you would do or start if you felt completely fearless.
Often we limit ourselves through fear, so bypass this fear to discover what you really want. Be honest about where you do know what you want, but you are afraid. It is powerful to know what you want, even if you experience anxiety.
5. Build a list of strategies to eliminate what might be holding you back.
Develop an attitude of fear busting - create some strategies for dealing with your fear, like action, get support, take a risk, ask for what you want. Think about what’s worked for you in the past, we have all overcome fears (big and small) previously. Identify what works for you and then do more of it. A funny thing happens to the fear when we start taking action! From a distance things can frighten us, but as we take a series of small steps those fears don’t seem half so bad as we get closer to our goals.
6. Motivate yourself by thinking of the cost of staying stuck in a rut.
How are you going to feel about yourself if you are still in this situation in another two years time? We often underestimate the risks of “standing still” in our careers – the risk of doing nothing far outweighs the risks associated with our fear-busting activities identified above.
7. Design your ideal job.
If you could do anything you wanted, without constraints, what would that ideal job look like? What would the financial rewards be? Write a list of what activities you would want in your ideal working life and of what the environment would look like. Those who commit their goals and personal vision to paper are nearly ten times more likely to achieve their goals than those who merely think about it.
8. Think long, medium and short term
Once you know where you want to head, you can work out the steps you need to take today, next week and next month.
9. Ask yourself what you are holding back?
What are you not giving? Where can you add further value in your current job? Fulfilment comes from what we give, and the more you “add value” in your current role the better that people will speak of you, and the more opportunities that will come your way.
10. Move from fantasy to action
Do some of the things you may have been avoiding. Get a friend or a career coach to make yourself accountable to, who will push you to take action and follow up to see how you get on.
For more help on moving forward with your career, contact Jo Mills at Career Analysts on 09 356 9758 or visit our website at www.careeranalysts.co.nz