Career success can mean different things to different people. Considering you’ll spend roughly one-third of your life at work, it’s best to take the time to reflect and chart a career path that’s most rewarding and fulfilling for you.
Crafting your personal vision of career success requires a high level of self-awareness and the ability to self-direct and steer your career. Whatever your career choice may be, these tips can help you determine what professional success looks like to you.
Set your own standard for success
Pay attention to what matters to you and what motivates you. Is it job satisfaction? Becoming an industry expert? Promotions and career accomplishments? Work-life balance? Financial stability? It’s important to assess your top priorities so that you can incorporate them into your definition of success.
Defining your measure of success will drive your goals and influence how you design your career. The most successful people are in tune with what fulfills them the most and are aligned with what they feel they’re called to do.
Identify your career goals
The path to career success can seem overwhelming when you can’t get a sense of what you’re aspiring toward. A clear understanding of your goals allows you to know what success looks like to you. From there, you can map the process of how you intend to reach your goals and take logical steps to realize what you envision.
For instance if your vision of success is strong career progression, have a short-term plan on what you need to do to get there. These plans and decisions are just a starting point. Progressing toward your long-term goals requires a lot of short-term decisions and goals that will lay the groundwork for career success.
Seize opportunities that align with your goals
When seizing career opportunities, it’s important to assess if they align with your purpose and goals. Remember that being proactive is not just about taking on more work. It should give you insights about yourself, create career milestones, and make a meaningful contribution to the achievement of your goals.
Get involved in projects you are curious about and seek work that can propel you forward. Take the initiative and talk to your boss or colleagues to discover what’s possible. Do your own research to identify potential opportunities.
Connect with the right people
Successful careers don’t usually happen without help from others. Surround yourself with people who will inspire, challenge and support you in your journey. Your network can play a crucial role in your growth so it’s important to cultivate a broad network of relationships within and outside your company.
Consider working with mindset coaches and career mentors who can expand your mindset about what’s possible, unlock your potential, and push you to succeed.
Track your progress
When measuring career success, it’s important to track your progress against your goals and personal standards. Avoid blindly following a career path that you’re going to eventually regret. Periodically evaluate where you’ve been, where you are, where you’re going, and where you ultimately want to end up.
Tracking your progress involves reviewing your accomplishments and goals to see if they truly reflect what you want, if they’re achievable, if they still hold the same value and whether you need to adjust or rethink what you need to achieve in your career and what success means to you.
When doing these self-assessments, it’s important to always keep things in perspective. Don’t be discouraged by where you’re at but be encouraged by how far you have progressed from where you began.
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