Methods to invest in your career

It is your responsibility to unearth your strengths to be able to enjoy a vanguard position over other competitors in your career race. And unless you harbour a sincere commitment to invest in your career and superintend it, you will reach nowhere. If you do not invest in your career, you will be like a person who is on a boat but with no oars – you will keep drifting. Your career journey will be one that will leave you guessing at every stage about what is to follow.

Investing in your career is a long drawn-out process and calls for farsightedness. Its end result should not be lost sight of – it could well be increase in performance levels, prospects for promotions, increase in income and even change to everyday life standards. Career investments should be in harmony with your ardent hunts and eventual career aspirations. You need to be on the lookout for various opportunities and clutch them for your personal growth.

The important point to guard against is any inclination to be swayed by what others are doing for their careers to an extent that you become disengaged from yourself. If you get carried away, you may suffer from ‘career unease syndrome’ and which will make you detest your job and become discontented. Therefore, you should know yourself well – what motivates you, to be precise. Getting to know yourself may take time, but when you do have a fair idea about yourself, you can decide on the investments required to be made in a prudent manner.

When you invest in your career, the returns that accrue consequent to improvement in you that is brought about are exceedingly high vis-à-vis any financial investment. From increased lifetime earning power and unimagined opportunities, to protecting yourself from unemployment and the satisfaction that comes from personal growth and success, the returns are enormous.

What are the areas that you feel are worth investing? Have you already made any investment; if yes, what has been the return? What are your present attention spaces? If you are willing to give the matter serious consideration, you need to:

· Invest in your fortes: This implies utilising them more than ever before. You should become more and more alert to your intrinsic strong suit that permits your abilities to flourish and prompt you to invest in them. You should keep your wits about and note how others are going about investing in their careers; a cognizance of such dynamics will help you take better decisions. However, the bottom line should be to get happiness in your career by giving wings to your fervencies and strong points.

· Invest in your brain power: If you invest in your brain power, the implication is that you apply your knowledge to situations on ground. The start point is acquisition of appropriate savoir faire that will catapult your career forward; remember that learning is an eternal process. You cannot afford to harbour a presumptuous approach and discard any initiative to superintend your career vigorously. The foregoing calls for remaining abreast with all developments and building good associations with pioneers. It will be in all fairness to seek outside help to identify what and how your competitors are striving to get to the place that you also want to be in.

· Invest in appropriate associations & connections: Whatever relationships and networking you may enjoy, it is important that you remain responsive to them. The best way is to have your own advice-giving panel. You must discern your sphere of sway – their individual position today, the manner in which you are being directed and if your investment in them is apt to serve your career interests. On the top of your agenda should be efforts to widen your contact base, nurture it appropriately and keep it dynamic continually.

· Invest in a mentor: You need to keep your initiative going. Given the likelihood of having to manage multifarious responsibilities, it will be difficult to maintain focus. Your career management procedures should form a part and parcel of your objectives and daily schedule as well. A mentor will help you strengthen your sense of obligations and provide you with various tools to be steadfast.

· Invest in your domestic sphere: This entails creating a good work-life balance. You simply cannot afford to disregard your domestic obligations and concentrate only on your career imperatives. Your family and friends has a significant role to play in your career success; at times when you get stuck, they will come to your rescue. It will be your own kith and kin who will always stand by you and hence investing in your domestic sphere is worth the effort.

  All careers are dynamic and require intentionality. You could be at the start point of your career or could have travelled some part of your career journey. Whatever stage be it, you need to generate meaningful metrics - the skill to categorize the most important parts of your job and then transform them into measures of progress that can steer your efforts. In essence, you need to assess and leverage your strengths; develop practical plans; and accelerate your progress. That is what career investment seeks to attain.