Five Ways to Propel Your Career Forwards

Moving forward, regardless of situation, is hard. Moving forward from a failure can be difficult because of a fear of future failure. You’re probably also stressed at the thought of conflicts ahead. However, moving forward from a success can be difficult as well. You’ve finally succeeded, and realistically you want time to relax and recuperate. More than likely, you’re coming down from a stress high after working to achieve your goal for who knows how long.

However, the key to moving forward from either situation is the same; use the emotional drive to propel yourself towards your next opportunity. Here are five ways to keep up the momentum to boost you on the way to your next target:

1. Don’t wait too long. After a significant success or failure, everyone deserves a break. But you shouldn’t let that break drag on for too long and disrupt forward motion. So instead, once you’ve celebrated your victory or acknowledged your loss, use your energy to move forward. Do a post-mortem to decide what went well and what could be improved. Use your insights on your next big venture. If you would like support in moving forward, consider reaching out to your professional network for guidance.
2. Accept failure. Failing is a part of the human experience, especially so in the professional world. Miscommunications can cause trouble, tasks and memos fall through the cracks, and sometimes things just plain don’t work out the way you were hoping. Accept that this will happen, and be willing to move on from it. Your failure does not dictate you—it’s how you recover that matters.
3. Set a routine. To help you keep your goals in sight and work on them every day, set a daily routine. Many successful entrepreneurs and professionals use regular routines to minimize decision fatigue and maximize productivity. Develop your own routine and stick to it. Within just a few weeks, your routine will become habit and you’ll be more productive in general.
4. Identify negativity. In any new venture, there will be people who express doubts and disapproval of your ideas. On occasion, such doubts are well-founded and worth listening to. However, it’s important to distinguish between valuable doubts, i.e. doubts that could lead to future improvement, and unhelpful doubts that merely derail your thought processes and productivity. Work to identify unhelpful negativity and, if possible, cut it out of your life.
5. Evaluate. Throughout the process of moving forward professionally, it’s important to take a step back and evaluate your successes and failures. Look critically at your progress and consider ways to improve further. Some people find journaling helps with this process. Others need outside perspectives to help them be analytical. Find the best way for you to evaluate your successes, and regularly use it to improve your progress towards your goal.

Remember: making progress towards a goal is not something that happens overnight. The process takes time and energy. Keep your eyes on the goal, and continue to put your feet in front of you. You will get there, one way or another!

If you’re looking for professional support to develop your career path, email us at info@careersolutionsgroup.net. We offer free initial consultations with our career counselors, and have helped hundreds of career changers make fulfilling job transitions.

By: Julia Pillard, Career Solutions Group