Jump start your career journey
Tips for a successful career
Most of us, right from childhood, idolize, dream and aim to create a niche for ourselves in this world. We idolize ourselves in that role and try our best to educate ourselves, learn and develop appropriate skills and to do all that can give us an extra edge to push ourselves ahead of others in the race to achieve our goal; to get into a place where we feel satisfied and proud of all the hard work that has finally paid off. Here are my easy yet practical tips to achieve what you aspire in your career and life.
Nine steps to a successful career
Boost your career progression by imbibing and inculcating the following suggestions and tips that would surely assist in your career advancement:
1. Introspect and conquer your fears
Uncertainty leads to apprehension and fear of the unknown. When you set on the path of fulfilling your professional ambition, you might be afraid of failure and fall. You may wonder, what if the career plan that you have visualized, might not prove to be a successful one. But the only way to know if you can advance and move forward with your career choice is by giving it a try. So what you have to do is to give wings to the uneasy feeling of failure and fear and allow it to fly away and let self-confidence and determination to prove your worth, take its place.
2. Prioritize your daily tasks and activities
Commitment, dedication, focus, time management, organization and planning are some of the big words coming out from the mouth of some successful people. These are the words that if considered and followed seriously by anyone, have the power to make anyone achieve one's goals in no time. So you need to discard all distractions, set your daily action points and keep a track of our daily activities. Remember, each small step adds and leads up to how much we can achieve during the day, the week, in a month and finally during that year.
3. Identify your talents
Each one of us has one or more skills or talents that we can leverage to impress others. Identify the talent/s that you are most comfortable with. It can be as simple as a talent that comes naturally to you like socializing, convincing, listening, storytelling, reading organizing, planning and problem-solving skills to more advanced ones that need some training and experience like your computer usage skills, blogging, designing skills, financial skills managing skills, leadership skills etc. You are the best judge to analyze it and then channelize it. For example, for me, writing comes naturally.
4. Convince yourself
If you are unsure of the areas where your identified skills and talents are a perfect fit, simply research online where can your skills be beneficial and be in demand. Type your keyword and there comes a long list of unthought-of avenues where you can venture. This is the quickest and easiest way to identify the old and new career fields which you should focus on.
5. Identify and segregate professions/jobs
The online list is very crude and comprehensive. You need to identify and shortlist what profession and sector would be best suited for you. Match your skills with the professional competencies and try to shortlist the job where you can leverage most of your skills. That will undoubtedly help you in your career advancement.
6. Give proof of your competencies
Once you are sure of what is the perfect match for you, one wonders how to get others to see and appreciate your skills. Convincing others to see your potential and entrusting you with a job is the most difficult but not unachievable part. One simple way to attain it is by giving live proof of your potential. People believe what they see. For example, if you are a good photographer, show your portfolio, if a writer, show your writing skills, if a good presenter, show a recording of yourself in your portfolio or profile.
7. Build a professional network
Invest your time in building a network with the people who can guide, assist, advise you in your career progression and even recommend you to a company. Always surround yourself with the people who motivate and inspire you to move ahead.
8. Don’t stop to read and research
While you wait for your dream job, make it a point to read and research the latest developments in the market. Do not limit your reading to just your profession. Having a holistic perspective about the market would refine your opinions and make you look smarter than the rest.
9. Never stop to believe in yourself
During the struggling phase of our life, you might feel low, insecure and unconfident. But it is only you who can motivate yourself that if others can do it, surely can you. Analyze your fears and weaknesses. Try to work on them rather than letting them drag you behind.
Having said that, let us admit, failures have a big part to play in our learning and growing process. Failures help us meet the real and make us realize how we can improve ourselves. All the great inventors of the world failed over and over again. After each failure, they improved further. Their failures brought them closer and closer to their success. And finally, a day came when the whole world was astounded by what they achieved out of their failures and incessant trials. They gained name, fame, success and prosperity. They became immortal mortals of this world. But few know the number of rejections and objections they had to face, the clarifications and justifications they had to give to reach where they finally did. So the key to success is to believe in your potential and be determined to never give up.
Aditi Mahajan
Content writer, Poetess & Blogger
