Yep, folks, it’s that time again–a time to set resolutions which we seem to assume we won’t keep, a time to think about really getting the job of our dreams. Here are some ideas/steps for making 2008 the best year of your career. So, why not take 2-3 hours to think about how you can make 2008 the year of your career.

Acknowledge the Accomplishments of 2008

Begin by reviewing what really worked for you in 2008. What were your triumphs? What did you do that you were really proud of? Did you get a new account? Increase your sales? Streamline the systems in your job? What did you enjoy doing during the year? Identify the parts of the job that you really got a buzz out of. Write them all down. The chances are you will begin to remember triumphs and achievements that you had forgotten. Acknowledge them. Even if you think you had no triumphs–you survived without getting fired–that counts, as well.

Identify Your Strengths – Know What You are Good At

What do you do really well? What do you do so well that it’s effortless for you and you assume any plonker could do it? What do other people give you really positive feedback on? These are some keys to your strengths. Another useful way to identify your own strengths is to take some of the psychometric tests available. Some of the better known ones are: DISC, Myers-Briggs and the Enneagram. Do a google for any of them, and you should be able to do one online free or for a reasonable price. Self-knowledge is a key component of finding your dream career. Knowing what you are not so good at is useful, as well.

Where Can You Contribute? Make the Present Better

Given that it’s unlikely that you will have an invite on Monday morning to your new job, what can you do in the meantime to improve your contribution to your current position. You could begin by simply asking your boss how you can serve the organization better. Admittedly he/she could be gobsmacked at first, but they probably will then be impressed, and this could help improve your relationship with them. Can you be kinder to other people in the office? What would be the one thing you could do in your job that would raise your game? How could you bring some of the strengths that you have identified to your current position? Are there any openings within the company where you could use these strengths? Could you reach out a helping hand to someone else? What can YOU do to make your workplace a better one for everyone?

Dream It and Then Do It

Imagine yourself a year from now in your dream job. Write down what you will be doing, what sort of environment you will be working in. Will you be working outdoors? In an office? Be as detailed as possible. Now, do you know anyone doing a job like this? See if you can organize to meet them. Ask your friends if they know anyone. People are generally very helpful. Ask if you can interview them about the positives and negatives of their position. This will give you a more realistic picture. Laura Berman Fortgang in her book Now What? 90 Days to a New Life Direction has an excellent section on this.

Paralysis by Perfection

One thing I hear from a lot of my clients is that they want to be sure this is the “right” job they will move to, they want to be sure they have identified the “right” career for them. And in the meantime, they moan and groan about their current position and agonize over what their “perfect” career might be. In our current world, you will probably change careers 4-5 times anyway, and you will learn something from every career choice. Identify what you want, what’s non-negotiable for you, and if you get 100% of that and 80% of the rest and your gut feeling is good–go for it. Life is constantly presenting new opportunities and getting a new job is not for life: unlike a dog or a marriage.

Inquisitive workmates, friends or close relations have most likely asked anyone involved with Personal Development: “What are you doing all this for?”
Perhaps these questions have caused you to pause and reflect for a time? But did you bail out of giving an answer because you couldn’t find the words, felt ashamed or just didn’t want to go there?
I’ve been there too. And I remember that some of their generally well-meaning questions made me somewhat ashamed that I even needed to focus on personal development. It was real easy to start looking for what might be really “wrong” with me to have created the PD need in the first place.
Heck, I thought maybe I should just go recycle all those PD books and tapes and CDs. And settle for whatever may come…
Fortunately, I was able to engineer a change of mindset to deal with these self-doubts. And that change became centered on the belief that the best of Personal Development is all about developing the potential of the whole person. It’s definitely not about focusing on faults, limitations and lack of ability.
This new mode of thinking became effectively hardwired after I decided to enroll with the International Coach Academy in Winter 2004. I already had a successful IT role in a global financial services corporation and was not looking for a full-time coaching role. Although part-time participation in a mentoring project with other staff was in the early preparation stages.
My self-proclaimed objective throughout the 1.5 years it took me to complete the Certified Professional Coaching program, was to find out how to use my personal development experience in a self-coaching context. During the program I made the following two life empowering discoveries:
1: A realization that “raising awareness” is the secret to becoming more alive and to the very act of living itself…
Number 2: I am able to choose my degree of responsibility for most or all of my actions.
‘Never-ending change’ is now almost a documented procedure in many global companies! I was therefore not at all alarmed to hear that a major IT outsourcing project was about to get underway!
With the knowledge that outsourcing was about to make an appearance in my world, I decided to concentrate on applying my two discoveries to help coach myself smoothly out of a 20 year employee mind-set and into the new and uncharted waters of Internet business ownership – and all this in under two years! This PD-coaching stuff rocks!
Concurrently with the outsourcing project, I also made it a daily habit of asking myself this question before the start of almost every major task: “What is the point of doing this?” This felt weird but I soon got used to it. What remained tricky was to remember to pose the same question when the task was completed!
Do you want to give it a go? If you do, you might be shocked to realize that you often don’t really know why you are doing any one particular task – it just appeared on your to-do list. And once you begin to question your reasons for engaging in probably 80% of the stuff that comes your way – the time for changing the game has probably arrived.
Over time, the answers I got from repeated use of this question helped me to see that I really was able to choose to accept more or less responsibility for some of these tasks and their outcomes. It was (and remains) a very liberating feeling to know that.
My initial successes with self-enquiry made me curious to know even more about what I was not yet aware of concerning personal development and unrealized potential at this middle stage of my life. Though it was clear that I could develop myself further within my existing employee career role (with or without outsourcing scenarios), I wondered what other roles existed beyond my day-to-day conscious awareness of “this is what I expect of myself”.
All this pondering concluded with the emergence of a simple but subtly effective self-awareness tool I refer to as “the Bio Map”.
The tool has 7 straightforward tasks each requiring only a one-word “answer”. Get a pen and some paper if you want to test it out. Here it is:
- Write down your Family name.
- Write down where you were born.
- Write down where you live now.
- Write down your current job title.
- Give one word that recalls a big goal you have already achieved in your life.
- Write down a major goal you really want to achieve.
- Write down the date.
Good job! You just made your first Bio Map! And to finish up, here is the tiebreaker! Take your list of words and write a brief paragraph on what these words mean to you and your life right now.
This marks the beginning of all effective goal creation.