In this article, Babette Burdick, discusses how staying outside of your ; you can help you continually advance your career! See article below or read entire article.
If you are waiting for your employer to “discover” you – and advance your career – I’d suggest taking a different approach. After all, your career is firmly in your own hands to advance, providing you take the steps to develop new opportunities or recognize those which are placed in your path.
Many of us suffer not from fear of failure, but fear of change. Just as we criticize our employers for being paralyzed and not wanting to move beyond the known or status quo, so we, too, find too many reasons not to make necessary changes to our careers.
Here are a few suggestions for keeping yourself on your toes or, as I refer to it, 1mm outside your comfort level. Constantly.
How are you keeping your perception of “self” fresh?
It can take as little time as reading a book (professional or recreational) and as much as starting a new exercise regimen or diet. (I’m not even going to get into the work necessary to change your golf swing!)
How do you incorporate innovation into what you bring to the office? Depending on where we sit around the table we see the same things differently. Mentally change the seat you are sitting in at work. Try to see things from another discipline’s perspective. And make the decision you feel they would make – now that you understand that perspective. Interesting stuff.
Do you have hobbies? How important are these to you? If you find yourself enjoying your hobbies more than your current employment, consider starting a second career based off your interests. Rock climbing? Historical architectural walks? Tutoring? I don’t have to tell you that you are more than your current job or even career. Don’t let your light be hidden under your own bushel basket.
If you don’t have hobbies, please take the time to find some. Take some time for yourself and don’t feel guilty or self-serving about it. So many of us lose ourselves in the pressure that we or our employers create about our jobs or careers. This economy has created so much paranoia about job security. And, of course, this economy has created massive outplacement and displacement. Hobbies. Yeah, folks at work – or those you interview with – may notice there’s something different about you. Perhaps you are more relaxed, self-confident, contributory?
Continue to educate yourself. Connect the dots between various learnings in your personal arsenal. If you find yourself doing right brain- left brain types of courses, that’s a clue card that you may not be happy in a totally right or left brain job in the first place. Education means learning more about yourself just as it implies learning new skills or thinking.
You’ll be surprised where you may end up.
