No Job is an Easy Job: Navigating the Work Place and Setting Yourself Up for Success

We’ve all been there at some point: you feel stuck in your job, lost in a sea of confusion as to why your career is not moving forward. You can’t understand why you haven’t yet achieved that promotion or any of the other goals you aspire to in your working life. It’s difficult to navigate the job market, especially when faced with competition from colleagues and the vast amounts of experienced professionals lurking just around the corner. So how can you break free from your stagnation and take steps towards success?

The first step may be the easiest one to take (in hindsight) – stop and ask yourself some tough questions about your situation. Questions like, what actionable steps can I start taking now that move me closer towards success? Or, how can I create a more structured plan to get me on track to reach my goals? Thinking critically and creating accountability within yourself through constructive self-evaluation is a key factor towards achieving success, no matter the industry.

Creating both long-term and short-term goals can also be beneficial – think of it this way: breaking down your aspirations into smaller goals makes them easier to achieve, like ticking off various items on a checklist. Set specific, measurable goals that can be tracked, something like “I will attend __ networking events in a month” or “I will write __ blog articles by the end of the quarter”. That way, you have clear goals that you need to work towards, giving you motivation and an extra boost of development within your working life.

When feeling lost in your career, there are a multitude of other paths that you can pursue. Sports have long used the mantra of ‘retraining the muscle’, and you can use the same concepts to evolve your brain. Reading, taking classes, or even talking to mentors can help open you up to new opportunities and introduce you to colleagues that are leading the way in different industries. All of these activities can help lead you to gain new skills that open doors to higher positions you thought were unreachable before.

In addition to furthering your own education, getting to know the people you’re working with can help bring some clarity to the situation. Having the right resources and influencers at your disposal is essential in navigating the job market. Reaching out to mentors and co-workers who have the knowledge and experience to answer your questions can provide both more insight and inspiration to new avenues of progress. Keeping an open dialogue with your peers and supervisors gives you a greater understanding of the organization’s needs and allows you to find ways to better contribute to them.

There’s no one path towards success – your professional journey is unique, and your strategies must accommodate your individual goals, personality and interests. Working across disciplines and slowly building skills from multiple angles can ultimately grant you full mastery of the business landscape. Presence and visibility within the workplace can often lead to those promotion and raises. Take the time to go above and beyond the expectations of your position, and don’t shy away from showing off the extra effort you’re putting in to exceed your goals.

Don’t become overwhelmed by the entire process – because you don’t have to manifest success overnight. If you remain vigilant and continue to be motivated, you will undoubtedly set yourself up for successes both present and future. Things that are worth achieving take time, perseverance and dedication – and you owe it to yourself to take the necessary steps and take pride in your accomplishments along the way.