Personal Development

We should never stop finding our own way. This is how we grow and develop into the person we hope to becoming. Learning should not stop after leaving school and life teaches us so much more than what we could learn in the confines of the four walls of a classroom.

Planning a career is usually the next in our to-do list after leaving the learning institution. We frequently forget about career planning once we have secured work or begin a job. But career planning is something that should be done on a regular basis. Whatever point you are in your career, just starting out or established, it is never too late to start or revisit career planning.

Career Planning is not something to be dreaded and is really not a hard activity. It should actually give you a sense of fulfillment and direction and add a little bit of structure to your life.

1. Make it a regular event – best if you can do it annually. Look at old goals and stack them against your current accomplishments. Cross off all those you’ve achieved and plan on how to achieve those goals that you haven’t gotten around to doing yet. We do a number of things on a regular basis, dentist check ups, tax filing, general house cleaning. Why don’t we do that for our careers? Start a habit of revisiting your previous plans and making this a regular annual event.
2. Map it out – When you first plan out your career, either in your mind or more formally, on paper, you map out the job and the steps you need to take to be successful at it. Say you want to be a writer. You carry out the steps by taking classes in order to learn about writing or to improve your writing skills. Next step is to intern for a publication. Next Step is to acquire a job and so on and so forth. This exercise doesn’t stop once you’ve secured that writing job. You should ask yourself: what is the next step? How do I get better? Map out the next step and adjust accordingly.
3. Look at your current skill set – sometimes, the need for Career Planning arises because we feel burned out due to our current workload. Or maybe, things at work become so stressful that we think of looking for another job. Every job requires certain skills but everyone’s skill set is unique. To successfully plan for Career Growth, you would have to look into your arsenal of transferable skills or skills that you can use to gain entry into another career. Skills like editing, researching, translating etc. are extremely useful killer skills that can be useful in any industry. Work on acquiring skills that are universally useful alongside specialized ones.
4. Set Goals – Goal Setting is the most important part of professional growth. Without a goal you will be as lost as when you first stepped out of school and had no idea where to begin. Can you be successful without them? Sure. But it’ll be a whole lot easier if you had them in the first place. Career Goals are the anchor with which you base all career paths and decision making so make them count.
5. Start now – what’s stopping you? Don’t wait too long. Take a quiet day off, sit down with good music and your favorite drink and contemplate your career growth. Are you where you want to be right now? What else can you do? What else can you achieve? Don’t just keep those thoughts to yourself, write them down on paper. Finished? There you go – a Career Plan, a road map to professional growth. Revisit that document often when needed and get on track to career success and remember to: Stay Humble, Hustle Hard. Good luck!

Written by Jaie O. – The Help