Refuel your career

“I find that a man is as old as his work. If his work keeps him

     from moving forward, he will look forward with the work.”                                                              

----- William Ernest

The vision of a career ladder differs from person to person. If your career needs a boost, there are ways and means to recharge it. You have to adopt a practical and hands-on approach to address the issue.

Are you keen to fuel your career? What is the best way to get into a more dynamic mode? You have to alter your settings to experience newer feelings with every dawn. Here’s how you can do so:

·  Play down negativity:  Research has shown that people who are afflicted with negativity invariably are critical of everything.  If your workplace atmosphere is plagued with malignance, you will never be able to better your career conditions. Instead, you are more likely to get into disparaging activities. Hence you need to rely on your own attainments to push yourself forward.  

·   Pursue something different:  Though it will be a difficult proposition to influence your employers that you can switch roles, you can still productively do so with your ingenuity. Keeping your aim in mind, you will have to improve your skills and practical knowledge; and enlarge your network.

·   Acquire new qualifications:  If you have to get out of your career pothole, the best way is to upgrade your qualifications as distinct from piling up diplomas and certificates. Attending evening classes to a post-graduate degree or an MBA is worth the effort and will pay you rich dividends in the long run.

·   Switching jobs is no solution:  If you cannot derive contentment in your job, it is likely that you may not be trying enough. While some say that the grass on the other side is greener, the fact is that it is greenest wherever you hose it. But if you have to, you must move to a place with superior career prospects. 

·   Have mentors & guides:  Major decisions related to a career are confounding and perplexing, particularly when you take them sans any organizational support from your current company. Thus, you need to reach out to others. You should have a team of friends, philosophers and guides who can guide you; the support they offer will be monumental.

Time moves on, technology changes and companies either grow or fall. If that be so, occupations are bound to go through difficult periods. Hence, you should take control of your career. The following habits, if inculcated can be in your interests;

·   Regular evaluation of your career: You must review your career periodically – what you have learnt, what you intend to learn and how you will progress as an individual.

·   Having a watchful eye: You must keep your wits about to identify places where you can fit in. Remember that lateral movement is also a route for vertical promotion. Also, do not ignore opportunities. You must be watchful enough to make certain that you do not miss out on new jobs.

·   Keeping abreast of developments: You have to stay up-to-date in all spheres of activities, including those that are not your direct domain. Being knowledgeable is an important criterion to improve and safeguard your interests in this world.

Remember that you are an outcome of your surroundings. Hence it is essential that you choose a surrounding that will optimally advance you towards whatever you aspire for. You need to evaluate your life in terms of its surroundings. And since life is a series of adjustments, you can make changes as you move forward. So, the crux point is that if you do not move forward, you will never get to reach anywhere. Are the things around you helping you toward success - or are they holding you back?