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We all have goals. And dreams. And wants. We all have them. No matter who you are or what background you have, there will be things in your life that you want. There always are. Some people write them down and call them goals. Other keep them in their minds and call them dreams. But they’re the same thing. And they’re real. Some of these goals and dreams and wants will be related to your life. To the house you want to live in and the car you want to drive. But some will be purely about your job and your career and where you want to take it. Even the aforementioned areas will boil down to your career goals. Because we all need money to go after what we want. And it’s the job that will get you there.
So, you have these goals. They’re probably really clear. You’ll more than likely know what you want to achieve. And you may be SO ready to achieve it. But, the thing that can hold you back is knowing how you’re going to get there. Because we can often see the finish line without really knowing what the road ahead looks like. And that can be scary. It can also stop you from starting. But the good news is, there’s no secret to making this happen. You just have to be better at what you’re doing. The more you can learn and grow and do, the closer you will get to those goals. And here’s how you can do it.
- Know Your Weaknesses
To begin with, you need to be incredibly objective about yourself. Let your ego go. Because if you want to become better and you want to be the best, you HAVE to identify your weaknesses. You need to know where you struggle so that you can either look to improve in those areas, or you aim to leave those areas be and assign the tasks to others instead.
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- Know Your Strengths
From here, you should also be aware of your strengths. Because you will always need to play to them in your career. Discovering your strengths may seem easy on face value. But, again, you need to be objective here. You will need to ensure that you are fully aware of what you’re great at – and truly great at – so that you can use it to your advantage.
- Manage Your Time Well
Next, you need to make sure that you’re great at prioritizing and making the most of your time. Because if you want to be able to grow in your career and develop as a person, it will take time. And you need to dedicate time and effort to it. So this means you need to set aside extra hours in the day to work on this.
- Cut Procrastination
And then, you need to make sure that you are not procrastinating at all. If you find yourself getting easily distracted, you need to change that. You need to really get to work on maximizing your time, efficiency and productivity. Because these are the only ways that you will get everything you need to get done, done – and more. Plus, it will benefit you in terms of your growth too.
- Ask For Help
Now, it’s easy to think that you, and you alone, can be the only one that gets you to where you want to be. And sure, that does apply when it comes to things like putting yourself out there and driving your goals forward. But if you are stuck or you don’t know how to grow, then just ask for help. Asking for help in your career can really allow you to grow in the most incredible of ways.
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- Listen And Learn
But then, you’re going to want to make sure that you are listening and learning as MUCH as you can. And this will require you to really work on your listening skills. Because there’s so much to learn from being around others in your industry. So have more conversations. Learn from your elders. And really look to push what you can do by listening and absorbing as much as you can.
- Ask Questions
But also, you will want to ask questions too. Not in the annoying sense, of course. But in an inquisitive way. Be thoughtful and ask questions that help you to uncover more. If you want to learn, you have to ask. So get comfortable with asking questions throughout your career.
- Get A Mentor
It’s always going to be great for you personally and your career if you get a mentor. Having a mentor may seem like a big deal. But it’s just something that you can use to really push yourself in terms of your skills and your goals. Your mentor can advise you and hold you accountable. And these are the two things that we sometimes need the most.
- Practice Makes Perfect
And from here, you are just going to want to keep at it. Whatever the ‘it’ is to you. Learning something new, trying new techniques, discovering new ways of doing things. If you want to become better, you have to be consistent. So the more you practice at something, the better it will get.
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- Network
And we all know that networking is good for us. For our careers. For our opportunities. So say yes. Go to events. Travel for work. Connect with others online. Ask for introductions. Just move forward as much as you can by surrounding yourself with people that are going to nurture you and help you to grow.
- Join A Mastermind
So next, you could also think about finding a mastermind group. And this can feel really overwhelming when you want to do it. Because you’ll be surrounding yourself with people that are better than you and smarter than you and more experienced that you are. But that’s only ever going to push you forward. So, if you can find the right group and you have the funds, this can be life-changing for you.
- Study More
But then, you may also find that you need to study more. Because we will often find that it’s important to be able to learn as much as we possibly can. Maybe you need to retrain or get a higher qualification than what you already have? Maybe you need to constantly be taking vocational courses, or obtaining qualifications to boost your resume? Just be sure that you are always challenging your mind.
- Push Your Skills
And, of course, one of the very best things that you can do for yourself and your career, is to push your skills. You need to make sure that you’re learning more about your business and your craft. You need to become the best you need to be. So make sure that you find courses and classes, like Certified CISO, and books and conferences that will help you to grow. Because the more you can build on your skills, the better you will be at your job.
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- Challenge Yourself
It’s always going to be important to push yourself. To try new things. And to really challenge yourself. Because if you are repeatedly doing the same things, then you are stagnating. And it can be fun to try a new challenge. This could be to learn a language. To understand an area of the business that relates to your career. To pursue a big client. In short, if you aren’t challenging yourself, you aren’t growing.
- Try New Things
But then also, you have to make sure that you are removing yourself from your comfort zone as much, and as often, as you can. Because if you’re someone that is only ever doing things that you know and that you’re used to, you won’t grow. And if you’re not growing, you won’t get any better at what you do. And this means that your goals will be harder to reach. So make sure that you’re always trying new things, even if they scare you.
And there you have it. Now, you may be looking at this list and thinking one of two things. First, you may be worrying that it all seems a bit much and that you’re even more overwhelmed now than you were before. But, you have to remember that you need to break it down, start small, and just do one thing at a time. Then, you’ll grow. And as you grow, you can move forward some more. And then, you’ll find that you’re moving closer to those goals at the same time.
Or maybe you’re someone that’s thinking – what, that’s it? That’s all I have to do? And yes, it is. You just need to be willing to learn and develop, be driven and determined, and you will reach those goals. So, the only question left is, what are you waiting for?
