Reaching your full career potential and achieving your professional goals takes drive and commitment, but above all, honest and rigorous self-examination. Here are valuable steps you can take to help you get your career to the next level.
Are you feeling uninspired about the direction your career is taking? Do you want to take control of your career but don’t know where to begin? Are you lacking the confidence to make to your next big step forward?
If you identify with these questions, you are not alone – even people in their 40s or 50s often say that they never knew what they wanted to be when they were growing up. But the point is that whether you are just embarking on your career or you have been at it for a few years, with a firm strategy, you can get out of the rut, unleash your potential and be your best in your chosen field.
The reason some people fail to achieve their career goals is because they are working towards other people’s expectations. So the first step is to take full responsibility for what does or does not happen to you. Blaming external circumstances – the global economy, the pandemic, your parents, whatever – will only keep you stuck in your rut.
You have two options. You can choose to continue muddling along, hoping that something will turn up. Or, you can choose to be clear about what you want and set specific goals to get there. This is your personal journey, so it is vitally important only to go after the goals you want. And write them down.
A study found that people who wrote down their goals were 33% more successful in achieving them than those who only formulated them in their heads.
Taking responsibility for your career involves having an accurate understanding of who you are and why. Undergoing a scientifically-backed personality assessment, such as on PeopleHawk, can give you deeper insights into how you see the world and how you react to problems. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses gives you the power to unlock your potential in life and work.
Equally important is to complete a comprehensive, scientifically-backed PeopleHawk cognitive assessment of your abilities, including logical reasoning, mental flexibility and working memory.
Armed with these insights, not only are you better placed to make the right career choices based on a deep understanding of your personality and cognitive abilities, you will also be better able to present and sell yourself more effectively and convincingly at job interviews.
Once you’ve set your goals, take action to bring them about. That may involve developing new skills to get to where you want to be. Celebrating each small win which takes you closer to where you want to be – it will help keep you motivated to succeed. And embrace your failures and stop them early – see them as another step on your learning curve.
Writing your goals down will keep them achievable and sharing them with someone else will help keep you accountable. If you don’t have a business mentor, find someone you know who shares your aspirations and is also trying to achieve a set of goals.
Put a simple system in place to record your actions and celebrate your accomplishments with each other – a fortnightly email for example. The positive reinforcement that comes from achieving regular targets will help to keep you on track.
Whether you are a student or a graduate embarking on your career, or a professional with several years under your belt, PeopleHawk offers a unique scientifically-based platform on which to move your career to the next level.
Armed with your PeopleHawk scientifically validated cognitive report and personality guide, you can quickly and easily catalogue and grade your knowledge, skills and experience in ways that employers truly understand. This means that having unearthed your cognitive abilities, personality traits and work style, you can present not just your pedigree, but your all-important potential.
Interested? Why not start by creating your own free PeopleHawk digital profile now.
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