When it comes to career growth, the general wisdom is that slow but
steady wins the race. However, sometimes you need results a little bit
faster to stay motivated. The good news is that there are several tried
and true methods that you can put to work to improve your professional
life right now. Try these quick and easy methods to to improve your
career instantly:
Revisit your goals.
Don’t wait for an annual
review to consider your goals. As it turns out, frequently considering
your goals can lead to greater success. According to Goal Setting Theory,
individuals who have clear and challenging goals will perform better
than those who do not. So go ahead: take a few minutes right now to
revisit your goals, adjusting if needed so that they are motivating for
you.
Do this on a regular basis -- daily, weekly or monthly. It
will give you greater clarity on what you want to achieve, and will help
you focus on what’s necessary to make your goals a reality.
Take inventory of your achievements.
Do
you ever stop and think about how much you’ve achieved already in your
career? Most of us don’t do this very often, because it’s easy to lose
sight of our achievements when we get lost in the daily shuffle.
Take
a little time to consider all that you’ve achieved, and create a log of
achievements. You might maintain it in a spreadsheet, in a word
document, or in a journal. Having a resource like this can improve your
career quickly by boosting your self confidence. But it’s also something
handy to have nearby when opportunities arise or when it’s time to
negotiate a pay raise.
Make a connection.
Business
is all about relationships, so it’s important to cultivate them and
make them count. By investing time and energy in networking, you will in
effect be planting seeds that can grow into opportunities in the
future.
How could you forge a positive connection right now? Maybe
it’s following up with someone you met at a trade show, or maybe it’s
signing up for an industry event. Not only will getting out there help
you remain curious in your industry, but it will help you improve your
career both right now and in the long term.
Seek guidance.
If
you want to become more successful quickly and effectively, do yourself
a favor and seek out a mentor. Since your mentor is further along in
their career than you, they can help you stretch out of your comfort
zone and help foster career growth quickly.
Not only can they give
general insight on your field, but they can give you great feedback on
what you’re doing (and what you’re not doing). This can help you make
changes right away that can help your career.
Get feedback.
It’s
definitely helpful to take a step back and assess your own progress.
However, you might not have the ability to see yourself objectively, so
it’s important to seek out feedback.
Get into the habit of asking
trusted colleagues and even managers for feedback on projects. Without
being obsequious or needy, you can end meetings or projects by asking
what worked, and how things could work better. By simply asking things
like this on a regular basis, you’ll get cues to small ways in which you
can improve.
For instance, if someone says that you could be
better about communicating, you can send more regular updates on your
next project. That’s an easy thing to add to your routine that can reap
rewards since you asked and since you’re following up.
Learn everything about your industry.
Making
a commitment to learning will enrich your life. Making a commitment to
learning about your industry will enrich your career.
It’s easy to
lose your curiosity about your field when you’re working in the
trenches, day in and day out. But if you take the time to study your
industry, you may find that you’re reminded of what got you into this
field to begin with. This can be a powerful motivator.
So...get
curious. Ask questions of your colleagues, customers and experts in your
field. Check out books and podcasts on the topic. By investing in your
“education” account, you’re more likely to stay motivated and excited
about your work, and you’re more likely to get ideas that will help you
stay relevant and achieve more.
Be thankful.
Shifting
your mindset is one of the easiest and quickest ways to improve your
career right this instant. Go ahead: take some time to be thankful for
all that you have and all that you have achieved. Adopting an attitude
of gratitude only takes an instant, but it can change your whole
perspective.
It can make you more excited and motivated in your
work, which can have a powerful and positive effect on your
productivity. This can make a huge difference in your career, and all it
takes is a few minutes to shift your point of view.
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