Life Lessons for Jumpstarting Your Career
If you haven’t made the effort recently, now is the time for a career check-in. Being thoughtful about your career over the course of the year is important to make sure you’re setting and reaching appropriate milestones. July is an excellent time to check in because it’s the start of the fiscal year for many organizations. This means budgets, goals, and priorities reset and so should you. Here are three tips for jumpstarting your career this July.
CHECK IN TO ALIGN YOUR GOALS WITH ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS.
Maybe you are a goal-setting queen. You know exactly what you’re doing and where you want to go, and you’ve identified the tools, skills, and resources you need to get there. That’s great; but how do the goals you’ve set for yourself integrate within the larger organization? If you’re hoping to spark your career, coordinating on central goals and then crushing them is a fast track to the top. Everyone one wants a winner on their team, and moreover, everyone wants a team player who is committed to raising the tide of the team.
CHECK IN ON YOUR ALLIES.
If you’re good at this career-advancement thing, you’ve got people in your corner who regularly signal boost and speak well of you in spaces you’ve yet to be a part of. Find ways to contribute to their success by asking how you can support them. Could they use some feedback on a new project they are trying to launch, do they need someone to serve on a committee or to mentor a struggling staff member? Seek out opportunities like these to serve the people who serve you and everyone wins.
CHECK IN ON YOUR DAILY ROUTINE.
Most ruts begin with too much routine. One of my fav #schoolinlifecheatcodes is to start your day with minimal routine. A few daily staples are fine but doing the same thing over and over rarely sets you up for monumental success. What parts of your day slow you down and what addition to your schedule might help you start a healthy work habit? It’s often the slow creep—not the big leap—that leads us to falter so tune up your routine. Daily work gossip or lack of initiative may be the reason you are being left off of major projects; simply altering your routine may be the easiest way to eliminate the issue that’s holding you back.