Make Better Choices in Your Career
by Deborah Brown-Volkman
Published on this site: February 24th, 2006 - See
more articles from this month
Your career is made up of choices. You choose what you want
to do, where you will do it, and what type of education will
get you there. Some of your choices empower you and others
hold you back. Either way, you have power over what you choose
in your career.
The challenges in your career, in most cases, arise not by
accident, but from the choices that hold you back. For example:
- You choose to complete a project on your own. Your choice
holds you back because you alienate others, rather than
build a supportive network.
- You choose to send an e-mail while you are angry. Your
choice holds you back because people remember your rash
decision.
- You choose to work all the time. Your choice holds you
back because your schedule drains your energy, clouds your
perspective, and casts a shadow over your relationships.
- You choose to coast through your career. Your choice
holds you back because you lack direction and focus.
No surprises. So why are we so surprised when things go off
course, or when we are faced with a major problem in our career?
We do not intentionally make bad choices. We make choices
based on the information we have at the time. We weigh our
options and believe that our choices will turn out for the
best. But what about the choices you are making today that
you know are not good for you? Or, when you know in your gut
that it's time to make new choices and you are not? You can
change your choices if you want to.
How Do You Make Better Choices? Follow These Five Steps
Below:
- Make Peace With Your Past Choices
We've all made dreadful choices. It's part of life.
Sometimes, in order to make a good choice, you have to know
what it feels like to make a bad one. The consequences of
a bad choice can be a good motivator reminding you to not
make that choice again. It's important to make peace with
the past choices so you can move forward. By closing the
door to your past, a new door can open to a brighter future.
- Look for a Pattern
If your career is not all you think it can be, ask yourself
what choices brought to where you are today. Subtract from
your thinking everything that other people "did"
to you. Subtract your "bad luck." Focus simply
on the choices that you've made. Then, look for a pattern
in your choices. Identify the recurring theme that holds
you back.
- Decide to Make Better Choices
Until you decide to make better choices, your choices will
continue to work against you. Resolving to make better choices
is crucial. It is the first step towards having focus and
determination. Can you make better choices simply by saying
you will make them? Why not? Your thoughts and words are
powerful and career changing.
- Start Making Better Choices
Start today with a single act. Stop yourself when you are
about to slip into your familiar pattern of bad choices.
Replace that choice with a more positive action. One action
leads to another, which leads to another. Before you know
it, you are making better choices. The one small choice
you make right now, that you have no proof will make a difference,
and are afraid to take, is the action that done over time
will lead to better choices and a more fulfilling career.
- Ask for Help
As a career coach, I've noticed that the people who are
suffering the most in their career are the ones that are
working on their careers by themselves. You are not meant
to work on your career challenges by yourself. Yes, you
may want to begin alone. (Most people do.) But when you
find that days, weeks, months, and years are going by and
you still have the same problem, make a promise to yourself
that you will reach out to someone who can help you.
So, what do you say? You only have one life to live, so it
might as well be a life you love!
Deborah Brown-Volkman is the President of Surpass Your
Dreams, Inc. a successful career and mentor coaching company
that has been delivering a message of motivation, success,
and personal fulfillment since 1998. We work with Senior Executives,
Vice Presidents, and Managers who are out of work or overworked.
Deborah is also the creator of the Career Escape ProgramT
and author of 'Coach Yourself To A New Career' : A Book To Discover
Your Ultimate Profession. Deborah Brown-Volkman can be reached
at: http://www.surpassyourdreams.com
http://www.career-escape-program.com
i[email protected],
or at (631) 874-2877.
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