Mistakes that can cost your career dear

Do you ever have a feeling that despite working satisfactorily, you simply are not moving forward?

If the answer to the above question is in the affirmative, you need to mull over specific areas where you could be faltering. You could be indulging in conducts that are not appreciated by your colleagues and management alike. Perhaps it is high time to recognise your appalling habits and keep your aspirations on the correct course.

It is possible that you could be habitually doing any of the following detrimental activities:

· Ignoring dealings & contacts: You may be of the opinion that a person should simply do his work and disregard everything else. Well, doing your work is obligatory and hence it is no great favour that you may be bestowing on anybody. You should also be focussing your thoughtfulness and responsiveness to your dealings, associations and interactions with your colleagues. Though it may seem normal to believe that an individual ought to be evaluated solely on the basis of his or her performance at work, the actuality is that inter-personal relationships are equally vital at work.

· Attiring unimposingly: You may or may not subscribe to this philosophy, but the truth is that your outwardly appearance is of great significance. Therefore, it is essential that you focus on your outfits, hair and accoutrements. You need to understand that at work, you do not symbolise just yourself; you characterize and personify your company too. Since you exemplify your company’s brand, any wrong dressing will imply that you are deliberately not thoughtful of yourself and your professional objectives; and that you are purposely disregarding your organisation and its interests.   

· Muddling the contours of individuality and professionalism: Your seniors and management will be cognisant of the fact that your personal preferences are linked with your own settings and situations. However, that does not necessitate that you highlight that correlation at your workplace, particularly if you are in assignments that call for mediations and discussions. Your boss and others will generally appreciate that your actions will impact you, but then they would like to see positive impacts on the company too. Remember that if you direct your efforts only on yourself, your career can take a severe beating. There is no denying the fact that developments on your personal front have a major effect on how you conduct yourself at work; the reverse is also true. Therefore when you seek to negotiate any issue related to your work, you have to make certain that your personal and professional lines are demarcated well.

· According higher precedence to pecuniary issues vis-à-vis prospects: You cannot afford to concentrate excessively on money matters and be unable to picture various other gratifying involvements and your overall delight and contentment. If you do so, you will culminate in detesting your very work. It has been seen that when people tend to hold money as more significant than tangible prospects, their career derails. The reason for this that you will fail to clutch opportunities that come knocking at your door and also be unsuccessful in impressing those who can help you in your career progress. Any excessive weightage to financial benefits or additional perks will never stand you in good stead anytime – job interview onwards – in your career journey. 

· Displaying an absence of dynamism and enterprise at work: Exhibiting inventiveness, creativity and ingenuity at work implies ensuring that things do happen or fructify. You simply cannot hope for an apple to fall into your hands, that is, you cannot wait for an incitement or opportunity to come to you on its own. You will have to make serious efforts to make that happen. Remember that taking initiative is the foundation of your career advancement. You will get noticed for your initiative alright, but a lack of it will make you noticed more. Therefore you should not wait for directions and guidance at every step. It is also important that you prioritise your tasks so that you meet all deadlines and are not singled out for any reminders. And if you are unable to create such circumstances for yourself, you are bound to get side-lined and branded as a slow doer.

 Remember that your purpose and calling is not a matter of stake; in fact, it is an option that you exercise. And you just cannot keep waiting for it. You have to get out and achieve it.  You simply cannot afford to restrict yourself by committing acts of blunder. Since no road to success runs downhill, it is essential that you should be prepared to get dripping wet in your work, much beyond the capability of a mediocre person. You have to hold faithfulness and sincerity as your first principles. Sans such a resolution, you will never move up in your career.

Brass tacks of career planning

When people start planning their career, they often encounter a snag in the initial stages itself. A multitude of options lie in front of them that apparently offer money, name, amenities and even security. The list of career options could be endless and which will tend to be very mystifying. It is quite natural that given the uncertainty that is spawned in their minds, feelings of self-loathing will also get generated. However, the state of bewilderment can be overcome by proper career planning.

You have two methods to take off. The first one is to discover what your passions are and go in for a line that is in harmony with them without having any worries about what the achievements and advancement prospects that exist in it. The second method is to find out what really impels you and select a career that offers you whatever you seek. Of course, you will have to acquire the necessary qualitative requirements for them. Whichever method you decide to adopt, you will accomplish whatever you desire. The first method will roll out before you a path that by itself will be a type of a gift or bonus. It is a different matter that many people will not encourage you take recourse to this option. History is replete with examples of how people trudged this path and achieved fame and job satisfaction. And the second method evidently is one wherein you gradually move forward towards your objectives that invariably could be enunciated as an outcome of your hard slog as also the career line in question. 

Choosing any of the above paths is immaterial; what is of prime significance is being able to discern your fortes and shortcomings. You need to do some introspection with a cool mind and ponder over various successes, big or small, that you may have had and how they enthused you to do better. It is essential that you make a note of all such occasions. You will find, much to your surprise though, that as you catalogue your past successes, a definite design will unfold before you. You will see in your mind's eye activities that you excel at and are at ease with. Every such activity is symbolic of a career option and accentuates your specific uniqueness and attributes that can prove to be real strengths in all career options that you may exercise in times to come.

What you need to do next is to find out issues and aspects that inspire you and which you seek to have. It is something like giving shape to your dreams. You need to discover where you fit in – your position has to be between your current position and the position that you eventually aspire to be in. When this image gets distinct and obvious, you will discover yourself as a more alert, self-assured and focused individual – these qualities will for certain place you in advantageous positions all through your career journey. What you have actually achieved is a well-defined and distinct image of yourself with definite marketable attributes.

Depending upon the intensity of your expectations and also your propensity, you can also look for careers that provide you adequate compensation for a way of life that you seek to lead. Suppose you want to go in for an outdoor routine with plenty of sporting and adventure activities, you could well opt for armed forces as a career. Likewise, if you have a penchant for travelling and meeting people, a career in sales will be a good fit for you. Quite a few men and women get carried away by glitzy fallacies related to some careers but are subsequently required to change their decisions. Remember that appreciation, advancement, benefits, job contentment and excellent lifestyle all stem from only one single thing – you have to be passionate and adoring towards the work that you do.

Once you set your bearings, you need to build know-hows and abilities. Different careers call for different qualitative requirements and standards. Your aim should be to stamp your individual label on it. All this makes it inescapable for you to gather maximum information, learn the financial sides of the job and take on apprenticeships or informational interviews. You will also need to undergo specialised training courses and acquire exclusive proficiencies. There is no career line that does not call for good communication skills and you need to possess them to be able to adhere to workplace ethics and maintain good relationships there.

The crux of the matter is to have well defined objectives before you set out on your career journey per se. The journey by itself will be a learning experience and you will get to have practical acquaintances with professional matters as you keep moving. But the uppermost item on your agenda should be to take your first step, more importantly take your best foot forward.  

Facts & whoppers about temporary jobs

Temporary jobs refer to situations where employees are expected to leave their employment at short notice. People who take up temporary jobs could well be contractual, seasonal and casual; even freelancers fall in this category. In some cases, temporary professional employees holding white-collar jobs refer to themselves as consultants. While all temporary workers can elect to work part-time or full-time, but when it comes to pay and allowances, they generally do not get paid certain perks and incentives like their permanent counterparts.

Temporary jobs are a career option exercised by innumerable professionals regularly. They can offer you a plush assortment of trysts that allow you to improve your existing knowledge and knowhow as also develop fresh ones. Since a temporary job is for a limited time, you get exposed to different categories of people – something that is very vital critical for widening your contact base.

A temporary job can also ease your pecuniary worries. Notwithstanding that it is ad hoc, nevertheless, you can afford to be more selective with regard to permanent jobs because you have some source of income. People who are inclined to pursue leisure activities seriously or who for whatever reasons seek to devote time for domestic affairs invariably find a temporary job perfectly suited. However, there are many professionals who are unable to exercise an option of going for temporary jobs. This is generally prompted by several figments about what they involve and do not involve.

Some fallacies about temporary jobs are:

· Temporary jobs entail low-quality & inferior work: Temporary jobs have surfaced in the employment market because of alterations brought about in the basic requirements of people. Current trends indicate that professional and technical occupations are witnessing high-level progress because of an increasing perception vis-à-vis flexibility across people of all background and companies of different types. Today, people have accepted consulting routines because through them they feel confident of securing varied stimulating projects and getting paid well for them. Concurrently, they are able to maintain control over the timings, place and quantum of their efforts.

· Temporary jobs preclude prospects of full-time jobs: Nothing can be farther from truth than this. Many companies regard temporary recruitments as a means to assess candidates for permanent jobs. And the fact that they realise that an understaffed workplace will affect productivity, they are inclined to appoint temporary employees who have done well to permanent posts. All along, the skills and outlook of such people are monitored.

· Temporary jobs are transitory, patchy and get paid less: If you get into consulting jobs, you will definitely work for less number of hours vis-à-vis permanent employees. But there is nothing that stops you from working for more time. Most temporary appointments get paid as much as their permanent counterparts; and if you happen to be more qualified or skilful, you are likely to be compensated better. After all, when companies hire employees, they always have productivity in mind and will thus never compromise on the quality of employees. 

· Temporary jobs cannot be mentioned in your CV: Over the last two or three decades, the number of temporary jobs and temporary workers have grown manifold throughout the world. The very nature of their work has changed; temporary employees are no more referred to as casual employees, but regarded as equal players. At work, be it temporary or permanent, you are required to work and demonstrate your capabilities. Such demonstration of capabilities is a valuable work experience that stands to project your image better. Temporary jobs are an ideal way to add skills and experience to your resume. Therefore, where is the harm in including your temporary assignments in your resume?

· Temporary jobs hold back job hunting efforts: It all depends on how much you decide to work. If you are in a part-time job, you can well make some changes to your work schedule so that adequate and appropriate time-slots can be earmarked for your job search efforts. You should remember your temporary job can actually serve to facilitate your job search. You simply cannot predict when an opening for a permanent job comes up in your present company or somebody in it recommends your name for an opening in your company or even outside it.

  Temporary jobs are available in just about every career field and location. They can offer you experience in industries and careers you might not have otherwise thought of trying. And if you are not thrilled with the assignment or the employer, you can always move on to your next position and start afresh. Besides being a good way to have a regular income, they are evidently a resume building experience and a path to permanent employment.

Is your career dream big & great?

“When you choose to do what you love and follow your dream, the sun shines even on the rainy days”

-Rodger Halston

Big dreams are marathons. And passionate actions are marathons of marathons. People who hold their fire are not worthy of it and those go give up evidently do not get it. Do you dream big and great for your future? Well, all successful people do so.

Do you have a passion that you would like to give wings to? Does that passion appear enormously mammoth that you are apprehensive to start off with it? In other words, you tend to abandon it even before the any initiative to even consider it. You can give it some shape through backdoor enterprise by talking about your career plans in the context of potentials and prospects that are a knock-on effect of your achievements so far.

The above may sound rational and workable at first thought, however, different thoughts and inklings may follow once you confer and deliberate. That is perhaps the time when you will discern and acknowledge what you in point of fact want to do in your career and achieve in your life. The big dream that you have been harbouring may appear to be lofty and cumbersome; and perhaps compel you to forget about it and come to terms with ground actualities.

It is rather intriguing to ponder over how actualities have come to be regarded as the be all and end all of everything. If you are practical and realistic, does it mean that you should be contended with everything small and ignore aspects that stimulate and motivate you? Your dreams and ground actualities do not have to necessarily be downright contrary. You should never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it; the time will pass anyway.

The big question, therefore, is “What is it that you must initiate with regard to your big dream so that it becomes matter-of-fact, within reach and attainable?” You need to engage yourself with something known as the likelihood continuum. Here is what it is:

· On a sheet of paper scale a line from 1 to 10.

· Whatever is your big dream should be reduced to writing alongside 10. Your big dream is what you would be doing had you been living your life king-size – it could be travelling the world, occupying the CEO’s chair of a multinational company with its office on the top floor of a skyscraper or even having your own business empire – something that really enthuses you.

· At Serial 1, you should write down the most trivial contribution that you can make or the least that you can do to bring some element of your big dream into your life. It could be going on excursions, visiting your dream workplace or working with any ancillary of a progressive organisation. In case you dream to have your own business empire, you could well fabricate an idea or an item and sell it to anybody in your social or domestic circle.

· Finally, you have to fill in all the interceding steps at Serials 2 to 10 with actions that you manifest your ascending levels of dedication and obligation towards your big dream. Each successive step ought to entail a higher degree of engrossment and not necessarily through work that offers you remuneration.

You will realise that your big career dream need not be all-inclusive or a zilch. There will certainly be some actions that you can initiate straight away that will facilitate bringing your big dream to a state of being. And yet, you will also realise that attaining your big dream may not be possible, at least in the immediate future. So does that imply that you should walk out on it? The answer is “No” because if you start taking some actions towards it today, you simply cannot prognosticate the prospects that will unfold as years roll by. Who knows that the future you see today will be the future that you will get?  

Remember that if you are unable to build your dream, someone else will employ you to help build for him and her. And that you should never truncate your dreams. When all your efforts are channelled through a common conduit for advancement, no condition can alter a single sentence of your success story! So, dream big and dream great; and make use of the likelihood continuum to puzzle out how you can begin to transform your passion into reality. Most importantly, remember that any dream worth dreaming, is worth the effort to make it come true.

Use your inspirational atlas to discover a great career

"Life is a game, you live so you play. Follow your dreams and win what your happy heart desires.”

― Roel van Sleeuwen

All of us struggle to find a solution to the vexed issue of what we should do in our life. Some amongst us tend to describe ourselves through our work and the solution lies in finding a career that gels with our inherent inclinations – something that inspires and is delightful. All successful careerists are self-conscious and self-responsive and hence it is necessary to have a laconic inspirational atlas. Such an atlas will help to serve as a pragmatic master-plan against which you can gauge the suitability of any job opening or career bearing.

The entire idea of inspiration may appear to be rather hypothetical or speculative and transforming it into an actual life option could also appear to be difficult. But yet, that is what is inescapable. A portfolio of your profoundest, all-encompassing and deep-seated principles and standards lies at the very core of your inspirational atlas. These standards vary for different people, but nevertheless embrace various approvals and gratifications that all of us determinedly look for, including encounters that tend to put people off.

Your principles and standards are characteristically what can be termed as your alignments. They manifest a belief, precedence, contentment, abhorrence or interactive outlook. Whatsoever be echoed, the principles and standards are describable results like accomplishment, allegiance, steadiness, self-worth, progress and understanding, etc. Most of your impelling forces generally take shape when you are young and get to be concretised with the passage of time as profoundly entrenched life issues. These life issues are nothing but fervently propelled enthusiasms; and can have both short and long term implications.

In order to conduct an assessment of what our inspirations are, your principles and standards need to be accorded a precedence. You will have to identify those facets about you that are truer and germane, including your aspirations. You will have to sift amongst them to segregate could-be, should-be and must-be categories. This will help you to discern which principles and standards are crucial or relatively unimportant. Having done so, you need to know your actions that facilitate articulation and realisation of your principles and standards. Depending upon your outlook, you make seek challenges, foster affiliations or simply play safe.

Impelling factors that cause you to act in a particular way manifest in the form of your conduct and deeds, but concurrently representing your principles and standards. It has been proven that individual mentalities invariably want to recurrently go through actions and feelings that please them the most. Therefore, if you can catalogue, accord precedence and knock down a couple of your most rewarding attainments, your most potent inducers will repeatedly emerge and re-emerge. In the process, you will also be able to see the primary principles and standards that they shore up. In other words, you will discern if you are inventive, imaginative, venturesome or independent, etc.

The crux of the matter is that every single principle and standard of yours should manifest continually in your work and life. In case, such a thing does not happen, your inspiration level is bound to plummet. There are many people who fail to differentiate their capabilities and aptitudes; they tend to swap inspiration for competency and then have misgivings about their lacklustre life. There are others who undertake to do what others tell them to do and in the process disregard their own principles and standards. 

In the light of the above, when you conduct any self-awareness, you must mull over all earlier life decisions or life-altering events. You should seek out the impelling factors that went to make those decisions; and find out if they truly represented your principles and standards as also whether they were gratifying or not. Having done so, you need to scout around for definite designs and contours in your principles and standards as also impelling agents. Such designs and contours, because of repeated usage become richer, intense and refined. The outcome is that your inspirational atlas assumes a concrete form and you become distinguishable vis-à-vis others. Your profile penchants and conduct thus mature. You can now transform your hitherto for abstract inspirations into an actual life inducements.  

The bottom line of all your efforts is prioritising your principles and standards so that your true inspirations come to the fore. And when you utilise your inspirations, you give wings to your passions. When you take a step towards your dreams, there will be problems and obstacles, but as you move ahead, you will overcome them naturally. There is no way now that you will falter in embarking upon a great career. 

Script your own success account

“The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.”

 ~Mark Caine

It is your motivation that will get you moving, but it is your habits that will keep you moving. And in this journey forward, you must accept all challenges that you encounter; you cannot be selective in facing some and avoiding others. After all, fortune always sides with a person who dares and defies. That is the recipe for success – in your life and career alike. 

You should remember that you cannot connect dots looking forward. You have to look backwards too and have faith that the dots will come hell or high water, connect in your future. It is this optimism that will make you successful. If you are resolute, there will be no chance, destiny or fate that will ever subdue you.

Like many other successful persons, you too can author your own success story. You need to subscribe to the following philosophies:

· A journey per se is more thrilling than the destination: You need to dispel any quick-action and quick-result disposition. It is essential that you direct your efforts towards building a viable career. And that can be possible only if you work hard, are venturesome and display ingenuity. It is important that you take pleasure in whatever you do, despite associated impediments because your actions are meaningful for you.

· A person is the architect of his own fortune: It is only sheer hard slog and your outlook that makes your luck shine. Luck and fortune are not coincidences. You have to continually exert yourself and do something exceptional on a daily basis to be better poised to gain luck and then utilise it for further growth.

· Self-awareness & self-confidence are the keys to be a winner: You should strive to lead yourself and others with sureness and poise. Towards this, you need to envision things and undertake a quest to realise whatever you set out for. It is essential that you know yourself well so that you do not unnecessarily fritter away time and resources on issues that are not your cup of tea.

· Setting attainable objectives is a prerequisite for success: If you aspire to be successful, you cannot afford to grope in the dark about what you ought to be doing. In its simplest form, this implies that you should be well-organised for every day, week and month. Your objectives have to be highly fixated and reasonably big but attainable. They should be in harmony with your fortes so that you can move towards them with confidence.

· One should not be afraid to walk the extra mile: You may have a specific charter of responsibilities. But it should not refrain you from doing something extra. You should volunteer for additional tasks that are challenging or monotonous and which others are reluctant to undertake.

· Failures are stepping stones to success: It is a known fact that success is no cake-walk and that failures are inevitable in life. It is important to see failures as learning experiences so that better decision-making is facilitated. Many of life's failures are people who do not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Perseverance is not a marathon but several shorts races in quick succession.

· Learning is an eternal process plagued with inconvenience: The earlier you understand the truth of this axiom, the better it will be. To be successful, you have to be a life-long learner. More importantly, you should not be apprehensive of experimenting, even if you

· Answerability & accountability are prime attributes of a successful person: Since you cannot outright depend on others to complete tasks, you will have to play a major role yourself. And in the process, if you make mistakes, you should accept it as your doing. A mistake ceases to be a mistake if corrective actions are initiated to offset their negative fallout and preclude their recurrence.

· Changes are a part of life & one has to flexible: While there will be changes taking place around you, waiting to be influenced by them is not done. In fact, all successful people instigate changes and cause things to materialise.  You have to reinvent yourself to stay significant, otherwise you will miss the bus. It is necessary that you regularly offer new ideas, continually search for great phenomena and make efforts to stay updated. 

· Brevity is the soul of wit: You will be required to interact with people and make them believe you. In all your conversations, you have to be brief and concise so that you are perceived as confident and assertive.

Remember that if you have to be successful, your own craving for success has to far exceed any apprehension of failure that you may have. Action is the foundational key to all success; if you adhere to this, there is no reason why you will not have success touching your feet. 

Have a fulfilling career

There is nobody who does not aspire to be successful – both in life and career. And why not? Nearly one-third of the major part of our life is spent devoted to work and career.

The pertinent question, therefore, is “Why your career shouldn’t be rewarding and gratifying?” Of course, it should be and you can make it so. The following tips will be of use:

· Your career selection has to be prudent & independent: Your career could well span three decades and even more. Prior to any decision about taking up a career, you need to ask yourself if you will be happy doing what it entails for the ensuing several years. You cannot embark on a career and repent later wishing that you could have exercised another option. There will be several people who will tend to speak about different growth prospects in a particular career. Often they will tell you that the money that generate will compensate for all the detestation that you may develop for it. Well, there is no connection between income and job contentment at all. Remember that your career choice is an exclusive decision by you because anything that happens subsequently will impact your life. 

· Gauge your success & its meaning: You need to know well what success means for you. Different people have different perceptions about success and the factors could well be remuneration, acknowledgement, recognition, work-life balance and reputation, to name just a few. And hence, nobody else can define it for you. Your satisfaction vis-à-vis your career is contingent on how best you are able to connect it with how successfully you have accomplished your own definition.

· Seek & acknowledge assistance: It is a fallacy when people believe and say that they know everything. There are always people who are better than you in terms of knowledge and experience. To be able to access knowledge and experience that you do not have, it is essential that you have people other than your colleagues in your network. And when somebody does help you out in any manner whatsoever, you must express your gratefulness for it. Remember that the time spared for you for the process could be small in your perception, but highly valuable for him. Therefore, it is necessary that you convey that the assistance rendered was indeed great and consequential. And if at all, you have an opportunity to reciprocate, you must do so willingly.

· Have courage to own your faults & slipups: There is nobody in this world who does not err and everybody strives to not commit them. But if they have to occur, they will and nothing can be done about them. You cannot escape from them and screen yourself; that is the vilest thing that you would be doing. You must have courage to own up your mistakes, take appropriate action to reduce their adverse consequences and take all precautions to preclude their recurrence. Doing so will aid in re-establishing your name and repute.

· Be your own spur & stimulus: You need to cheer and applaud yourself. It is essential that you catalogue all your achievements and upbeat qualities; and feel great about them. While people may commend you, but if you cogitate over your own accomplishments, you will be inspired to work hard and attain much more. Occasionally, you may feel that you are not as great as you think, but you should not take it seriously. There will be many others who will try to let you down. So when you blunder, take actions to prevent its recurrence, including those related to self-improvement.

· Always remain upbeat: Despite all the caution you may have exercised while selecting your career, sometimes down the line, you will be disenchanted. You must allow yourself to discover fresh alternatives. With a positive attitude, you will be able to resolve problems and difficult situations. The point to note is that under no circumstances, you should allow yourself to be subdued by disillusionment. An outlook that smacks of unconstructiveness, pessimism and unhelpfulness will drain out everybody’s vim and verve, including yours.

· Keep your ears more open than your mouth: We talk very frequently of communication skills, but do not highlight the importance of their important constituent – listening skills. Listening helps you in gaining on every front. You understand the viewpoints of others and hence building bonds is facilitated. If you listen well to others, you will not miss out on vital points being made. Remember that God gave us two ears and one mouth; and hence we ought to speak less and listen more.

Making your career rewarding and satisfying is contingent on your commitment – a resolution to always excel, have mutual confidence and total determination to face all odds. It is your attitude and not aptitude that will determine your altitude. Therefore, you have to be more willing to take risks and capitalize on opportunities to experience the highest index of a satisfying and gratifying career.

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Grow in your career while in your present job

A widespread belief persists in the working world that career advancement entails changing jobs after every three or four years. There can be nothing more fabricated than this. A job change is not a prerequisite for career advancement at all. It is likely that different prospects and tests of your present job have remained unexploited. Therefore, if you shoulder new responsibilities in your present job, you will develop your headship attributes enlarge your knowledge-base. And when you achieve that, you give a tremendous boost to your USPs but sans the colossal effort that usually goes in a job search.

The secret to career and workplace success lies in looking for and undertaking projects that serve as learning experiences. Such assignments will invariably have some risk appended to them and hence keep you on your toes. You will thus engage yourself in tasks that are have a larger scope and extent than what you are habituated to. Even the number of people that is required to be managed by you could be several times more. It is all about taking on a ‘high stakes’ responsibility involving open performance, constant monitoring by seniors, meeting tight deadlines and having mammoth accountability. 

You can thus grow in your career while in your present job, provided you engage yourself in developmental assignments. It is necessary that you identify the ones that are apt for you and earmark some for discussion with your boss or mentor; and for overseeing the weight of your new responsibilities. You can do so if you are able to:

· Unearth what dares and defies you: It is essential that you be clear about your new charter, additional skills required to be developed by and alterations to your personality necessary to be affected. You should also discern fresh learning parameters for future use. All these call for an evaluation of your fortes and shortcomings; and an identification of specific areas for improvement.

· Look for chances to remodel your present responsibilities: This can be achieved in several ways. You could undertake a colleague’s work or willingly come forward to shoulder higher responsibilities. Volunteering to take on some of your boss’ workload will be appropriate in this context. You can also redesign your current charter on your own by according priorities to tasks that were hitherto fore not high on your agenda like mentoring others. The crux of your efforts is doing something that has not been done earlier and gain experience from doing such tasks well.

· Consider provisional projects beyond your specified charter: If you keep your wits about, you will get to know about new projects that require additional helping hands and which you are fit for. Getting involved in such assignments will widen your horizon; and help in acquiring skills and practical knowledge to manage them. Undertaking such projects will increase your employability too.

· Deal & cope with your seniors: You could have a dialogue with your boss and explain why you want to undertake challenging tasks. It is only if you are clear of the skills they involve, that you will be able to throw up ideas. You can jointly discuss some tasks that hold out great possibilities and mutual advantages; and have offer suggestions about your participation. If your boss is not amenable to your suggestions, you still have other alternatives. You can take on difficult tasks that do not require your boss’ acquiescence on your own; improving your productivity or taking on a charter both within and outside your company that nobody is willing to do shoulder are some options available to you. You could also request your mentor or other well-wishers to identify specific tasks that can be undertaken by you and make appropriate endorsements to your boss or management.

· Be pragmatic about the entire game-plan: Facing new challenges is a challenge by itself and entails additional workload; the exercise can be very formidable. You should remember that your intended objective is to gain fresh experiences concurrently with discharging all your present work obligations. How can you go about successfully accomplishing this? First and foremost, you must learn to work more professionally and competently. Right decision-making, equitable delegation of responsibilities and having a good framework for monitoring progress should be your focus areas. You should also plan for bringing about perceptible change – both in the immediate future and long-term. It is necessary that you weigh the time factor judiciously so that deadlines can be met and if required, help from other quarters is taken.

Remember that if you get on to the monumental task of learning, you will gain several experiences that will serve to boost your output in your present job. These practical acquaintances will definitely make you better poised for greater responsibilities in the offing.