Your professional career is an important part of your life and must be built that way. Here are some important tips that you can utilize in order to achieve that:
- 1. Identify Your Core Competencies ->Based on your core competencies, you can shortlist the focus or field of your career. This would also require you to connect and collaborate with resourceful people, institutes, etc. to develop additional knowledge and skills to ensure that you are well-prepared to embark on a new field of activity.
- 2. Set Your Goals –>Based on your core competencies, as well as current and future trends in your area of activity, set future goals. These could be both short as well as long-term objectives. Prepare your bucket list. I did mine way back in 1990, and am happy to report that I have achieved the majority of the ten goals that I had set for myself! These included going to the US for higher studies, getting married, becoming a mother, running my own business and establishing myself as an author.
- Ongoing Learning ->This is facilitated through the means of learning tools that one needs to keep utilizing on a regular basis. This also includes updating your knowledge, skill and attitude as well.
A Sanskrit shloka sums it up really well:
विदेशेषुधनंविद्याव्यसनेषुधनंमति: | परलोकेधनंधर्म:शीलंसर्वत्रवैधनम्||
“Knowledge (Vidya) is the real wealth, in a foreign land, so is Cleverness, at tough times. Righteousness (Dharma) is the only wealth that can buy Heaven (Par-lok). Verily, Good Conduct (Sheel) is the wealth everywhere and at all the times!”
a. Change is a constant: Adopt to new changes required for staying ahead of the curve in your job profile or business. It means quickly adapting to new knowledge and skills as well as devising ways to implement them at a practical level.
b. Do, what it takes: Do what needs to be done, although you may wish to momentarily avoid that out of a feeling of laziness or aversion. Since my ten years old son hated Mathematics, I started giving him a set of simple sums to solve every day. Initially, he tried to avoid that with all his might. However, I persisted and slowly he started working on them. In the beginning, I would also sit down with him and we would discuss the mistakes once the task got over. As he developed a familiarity with the subject over a period of three weeks, he started enjoying it.
- Inculcate good habits -> Develop good habits, one at a time. For instance, if you do something for a period of three weeks or twenty one days, it might eventually become a habit.
It is important to develop a good practices such as focusing and completing a given task. In the second stage, you can focus on improving the work quality. Once you have managed both, you will be able to complete the job with finesse. Take up your assignments with a sense of passion; a half-hearted approach will only ensure that the task never gets done properly. Look at it this way. Consider each assignment as a brick and each job as the building that you need to construct, and construct well. Each such completed “building” will then become an important milestone in your career path. Remember that you will have to pass several milestones as part of your professional journey.
Develop a habit of being rational, considerate and happy as all those qualities are required to be successful in life
a. Consciously cultivate your wisdom: That means you gain sufficient knowledge on a topic that you intend to communicate on. Develop your communication skills so that you know how to choose your words carefully yet effectively. Develop a habit of reading one or two books every month. Reading the right books not only helps you stay positive but also enhances your knowledge.
b. Manage your time ->This is another very important good habit that one needs to develop. Try to manage your time, expectations and goals, and find ways of surpassing them. This also means devoting time to your family members to meet their expectations. Also, give a part of your time to society to express your gratitude at what you have earned from it.
- Develop a change acceptance mechanism ->This is essential in order to face up to any unexpected developments on the job front, relocation of residence or adoption of a new family member. It does require some amount of courage to face up to an abrupt change in circumstances. More often than not, the fear of uncertainty holds us back in taking the next big leap.
To cope up with this situation, try something new such as driving into unknown territory, meeting up with new people or learning a new skill. Walking on uncharted territory, for instance, helps you challenge your limitations and fears. And once you have successfully completed the challenge, you will absolutely love your newfound confidence.
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