I encourage you to spend more time tracking your accomplishments than your goals. Accomplishments are actions you have already taken. Goals are actions you intend to take. Make it a habit to log your weekly accomplishments and turn them into bullet points for your resume and power stories for reviews, networking, and interviewing.
You may also want to add a space on your accomplishment log to mention how you felt while working toward each accomplishment. Say a 1 to 5 star rating, 5 being the best. This will help you recognize what activites juice you up so that you can make arrangements to do more of those.
For most of us, our career is the source of funds for all our other experiences. Money made through work enables us to have and do things, of course. So why don’t most of us spend more money taking care of our careers per year than taking care of our pets or our tickets to special events?
It is important to think of career coaching and lifelong learning as investments rather than only expenditures. Better yet, make career development a line item in your annual budget so that money spent on it is not just emergency spending but thoughtful, pre-planned spending instead which has a much better chance of long-term, positive impact.
Question: What is the quickest way to loose your mojo when it comes to career management?
Answer: Don’t have any savings.
Here is a short careerillionaire story. It is a beautiful demonstration of something I’ve been thinking about.
You see, no matter what your work is each day you are in charge of your attitude. If you spend time resisting what you chose to do (i.e. working in order to feed yourself and your family) then you are spending a lot of energy resisting something you have decided to do. What a waste! Since you have decided to do it anyway, why not be fully present in the moment and engaged in your work cheerfully?
As demonstrated in the fast food workers’ story that I linked to above, it is when working while fully engaged in the present moment and with a positive attitude that you profoundly affect the people around you. Not only that, but you also greatly help your own cause. People love to be around such a positive, carefree personality so your networking becomes easy and natural. You begin to allow creativity and intuition to work through you. And, most importantly of all…you just generally become a force for Good!
Okay, so it doesn’t have to be total bliss but it should not be career hell either. I mean look at what often happens to people who stay in jobs they hate…stress and health issues, negative effect on relationships, and overall poor quality of life — what a bust!
But food does need to get to the table and sometimes despite all your best preparations and intentions, you don’t know that the job you just accepted is a buster until you are in it. From there you have a few options.
- Assuming you are financially able, admit the mistake asap and get the heck out of dodge within the first few months on the job. Don’t do it more than once or you are demonstrating poor decision making skills but it is a once in a decade option if need be and it can become a “lessons learned” story.
- Follow the advice of Eckert Tolle and learn to drop the emotion, frustration, anxiety, and anger around the situation and be fully conscious and egoless in the present moment. This approach will help you stay in the job you accepted and it will help you to make a smoother transition overall when the time comes.
- Hang in at the job remembering to take care of yourself a bit more than usual on your time off. Give yourself plenty of opportunities for rejuvenating exercise and recreation. Also, give yourself permission to further explore your interests and be open and creative about possibilities for your next career move.
There is definitely something to be learned by studying those who find their success by following their bliss. I believe following your interests is so important because interests are often little taps from intuition pointing to flow experiences and other types of abundance.
Millionaire Blueprints is one of my favorite reads. There are great stories in here to inspire entrepreneurs and people in traditional careers since the featured bios demonstrate a lot of creative thinking and persistence. You can also feel the passion of people in all kinds of businesses and careers which is very inspirational.
I think reading good stuff like this makes an abundance mindset more likely by helping to keep us more aware of opportunities all around us as well as our own potential based on our unique combination of personal strengths.
Careerillionaires have a zest for their work which feeds their zest for life. Most of the time they are happy and energetic and generally a breath of fresh air. They seem above the fray and are usually relaxed and composed. They are proud of their contributions and move along with confidence and ease. They will talk to anyone about what they do for a living with pride and enthusiasm.
How can anyone have that?
It begins with knowing it is possible, and believing you can tap into that kind of abundance. See yourself in those shoes. Imagine that others find you joyful to be around and that even complete strangers will support you in your goals. Be cognizant of when you are in a zone, when things are coming easily. These “flow” experiences are major hints that you are on the right track and they will help you identify your passion.
Most importantly, live in the present moment, the now. Sure, set goals and spend a small amount of time periodically thinking about what you want to get done and what you desire to achieve in the short and long term. But then get to work doing what can be done right now.