The majority of people want purpose in their jobs. They want to feel challenged, appreciated and respected, as well as properly compensated. Unfortunately, many waste countless hours dreaming of improvement while few take action toward achieving concrete goals that lead to a prosperous work life.
Success begins with being motivated to continually improve as an individual, as well as improving upon your skill sets and effectiveness at work. An engaging career entails a different reaction to events and a more positive outlook on future prospects.
There are certain aspects of your career that you can’t change, such as your years of experience or where you went to college. However, regardless of what you may think, you are in complete control of your career. (Tweet this thought.) For just about all job seekers, having a more fulfilling position starts with implementing certain practices:
1. Learn to Manage Stress More Effectively
The pace of modern life makes it increasingly important for you to learn how to manage your stress.
Many people never learn to set aside emotions and fear, analyze a problem logically or focus on solutions rather than problems. Because of this, they are less upbeat regarding their future prospects and much less apt to attack their goals with high resiliency.
Among other things, resiliency mitigates stress. Of all the virtues you can acquire to improve your career, the ability to transform adversity into an enjoyable challenge is one of the most crucial. Any major or minor setback can force someone to either create barriers around remaining goals or provide a new, more clear and more urgent goal: to overcome the challenges created by defeat.
Action steps:
- Understand that stress only impedes your competency and decision-making skills. Continually remind yourself that ongoing stress serves no beneficial purpose.
- According to the Mayo Clinic, the first step in stress relief is making a cognitive decision to change how you handle stress. From there, identify your stress triggers. Sometimes the solution to solving a stressful situation will be simple, such as finishing a report that’s hanging over your head. Other times, you won’t get as lucky. Regardless, begin to brainstorm ways to reduce that irritation factor, and you will be happier, more productive and more respected around the office.
2. Clearly Define What You Want Out of Your Job
Do you know what you want? Getting specific is one of the most critical steps to take in reaching any goal.
Do you want a promotion to management? Do you want to be paid X more dollars? Do you want more responsibilities? All of the above? Until we know what makes us happy, we can’t map out a set plan of action to achieve those goals.
Action steps:
- Do a formal career analysis. Take a few minutes and write down what you want out of your job, what you can do to obtain those desires, and make a firm decision on the course(s) of action you will implement to get there. Once you make this decision, don’t hesitate, and attack the goal vigorously.
- Practice envisioning yourself attaining your goal. How will it make you feel? How will it change your life for the positive? Continually creating a vivid picture of your world after these needs are met should aid in helping you hang in there and keep trying until you succeed.
3. Relentlessly Tackle Insecurities
Insecurity is like a leash that tethers you to a limited experience of life and all but ruins your chances of being truly happy at work.
Much of our insecurity comes from worry about the future. It’s imperative to begin thinking of hurdles as events that can be overcome rather than catastrophes that threaten your ability to achieve success and happiness in the future.
While hesitation and insecurity will twist your perceptions of reality and hold you in a vise, learning to not accept negativity will release positive energy, resiliency and your true ability to execute.
Action steps:
- Posture can increase your confidence levels. By opening your chest, not hunching forward, and rolling your shoulders back, you can alter both your thought process and how others think about you. In addition, smiling is known to elevate moods and positively affect your mental function.
- Carry yourself with poise and confidence, paired with a warm, welcoming smile. Be open to new ideas; be open to learning. The more knowledge you have, the more desired you will be by employers.
In the End
A fulfilling career doesn’t simply happen. You have to work at it, both psychologically and while consistently improving your set of skills. Remember, one of the most frustrating experiences you can have in your career is losing track of your desire to be happy. Take it one day at a time, and you’ll get there.
What actions can you take today to make your career more fulfilling?
Ken Sundheim is the CEO of KAS Placement Sales and Marketing, an executive search firm specializing in staffing business development and marketing professionals throughout the United States. You can learn more about the recruiting firm at their Facebook page.
Image: Flickr
