Create your career vision

Your career span extends to about five decades. By any standards, this period is not small. Without enfeebling your today and without endangering your future, what should you be doing? You should take some time off and create a mental picture of your future. You need to craft a career vision.

What do you seek?

If you do not know where you want go, there will never be any wind that will blow in your favour.  Should you not know what you want, you will move around aimlessly; and likely to end up being highly dissatisfied. It is essential that you are also clear about what you do not want because its opposite will indicate to you what you want.

Don’t be scared

The procedure to identify and enunciate your career vision is a simple affair. People stay away from it because of misplaced ideas and lack of confidence. They are apprehensive of failure. But can you ever get to achieve anything if you do not know what that ‘anything’ is? If you can create a picture of it, you can live in accordance with it.

Look within

That you have embarked upon your journey towards your career objectives, you need to be ready to build your career vision. You should start by jotting down your reflections about it on a paper and perusing it on a day-to-day basis. This will cause you to start working for its fructification, willfully or otherwise.

You should ask yourself the following questions:

·   “What would I seek to be special in my career?”  You would have a picture of what you want to be and do, your dreams and aspirations – something that will make you stand out. You could perhaps also be thinking of trudging an unbeaten path so that you are not a part of the crowd but distinct from it.

·   “What type of a job suits me best?”  You know your robustness level and the type of pressure that you can withstand. Accordingly, you would like to work either indoors or outdoors. Or, you may prefer a static job vis-à-vis a touring one.

·   “What are those special duties that I can shoulder?” If you want to be different in your career, you would definitely like to accomplish differently. No accomplishment comes without shouldering responsibilities.

·   “What type of people would I like to work with?” You understand yourself better than anybody else. Gelling with people is one aspect, working with them is another.

·   “What kind of work schedule will go well with me?” You will have your own priorities and obligations. There will also be your hobbies and leisure pastimes; and a busy schedule will not suit you.

·   “Which organization would I like to join?” Depending upon what you aspire for, you may like to work in a new but progressive organization. On the other hand, it is likely that you wish to join a well-established one. It is your choice that you will have to exercise.

·   “What is the environment that I would like to work in?”  Again, depending upon your personality and preference, you could be casual or serious in your approach. You should be clear about the milieu that you want to be working in.

·   “What is the town do I want to be working in?” You could be willing to relocate anywhere in the country or the world. Or you may prefer to be located in a metropolis. Whatever be your choice, you need to be clear about it.

·   “What is the pay packet that I am yearning for?” Money could be an important consideration for you and hence you would take remuneration seriously. It is likely that you do not regard pecuniary factors above anything else and hence like to see yourself progressing in life gradually.

·   “What should my precedence be?” You should be clear about your priorities in life and work alike. Accordingly, you should enunciate them and decide on what issues need to be accentuated and the timeframe for their attainment.

Once you have created a career vision, you should get into an active mode to look for new opportunities that would offer you at least some facets of it. This may demand of you to change jobs or even a career, but then if you seek contentment, there is no other option. Remember that the empires of the future are nothing but empires of the mind.