You know how they say it’s not you, it’s me in romantic comedies? Well when it comes to your career and the opportunities you’re given, the complete opposite is true. Companies promote people that are hardworking and easy to work with. Don’t be a difficult character in the office. It’s easy to avoid falling into that pit. All you need to do is achieve these 7 self development goals for work.
I love people-watching and I work in a very big company where I’ve seen a lot of people get promoted and demoted. There’s a very clear difference in how they hold themselves and work with others. You can literally see who’s going to become a huge leader by how they treat you. You don’t need to be their boss or work directly with them to see who’s a shining star and who’s going to sink.
This post is going to walk you through the 7 goals you can set for yourself, in preparation for that amazing opportunity that will eventually come your way. Trust me if these items aren’t mastered before then, they can easily be the cause of your downfall.
This post is all about the 7 self development goals for work that will accelerate your career trajectory.
7 Self Development Goals for Work
1) Find your organizational style
The tough part about being an adult is taking ownership of your actions. Of course, it doesn’t need to be tough but many people fail in this regard.
Someone who is on top of their game is a person that knows the status of every project they’re involved in and has tangible information that can be shared without receiving notice. So what does this look like? It means having excel sheets and documents that showcase where your project is in its life cycle. Also, it means having all the supplemental information that you could need available.
An example of this is let’s say you’re planning an event. You should know the status of the attendees, how close the presentation materials are to being finalized, and the logistical items that need to be set in place at all times.
Where people fail is when they assume that someone else will know all these details. If you’re a part of it, then you have part ownership. And as a part owner, you need to know everything that is happening. It’s okay if you don’t have all the answers at the top of your mind (when you’re first starting and building this planning muscle) but your documents need to house this information. As a beginner, intermediate, or advanced planner your organizational style and planning materials will keep you in line.
2) Build a morning routine
Having a morning routine is the best way to set yourself up for success. Now I’m not talking about your breakfast, skincare, or commute. What I’m referencing is how you leverage time in the mornings before you start to work.
If you’re a snoozer and someone that rushes into the office late every now and then. I highly suggest you stop that immediately. No one is their best when they’re rushed and half asleep. Seriously those extra five minutes in the morning are not worth it.
Once you begin to get into the habit of arriving to work early and filling your time with activities that are beneficial to your personal development, you’ll become addicted. It’s a way of giving yourself time before you give your time away to your job.
When I was attending college full-time I would arrive at the office two hours early to complete my homework and study. Now I arrive early to work on my blog or to read a book on entrepreneurship. I can’t stress how satisfying it is to do something like this for yourself.
3) Pause before reacting
It’s only natural to become emotionally involved with your work. You will eventually become, if not already, passionate and have pride in the projects you take part in.
That being said, you’re not the only one that is going to start feeling this way. Disagreements are due to arrive and they lead to healthy conversations that can take your work to the next level. It’s important to honor your coworkers by respectfully listening to their opinions. The best way to do this is to pause before you react. Fully take in what others have to say and ask them questions about their viewpoints to better understand where their reasoning is coming from.
After you’ve taken everything in, and you’ve taken your pause think about how you’d like to articulate your feedback in a manner that is respectful of everyone’s time and energy.
4) Keep Secrets
You’re bound to make a friend or two. That’s great! Now don’t forget to be a great human being. Become the trusted confidant that everyone loves.
Make sure that you never share what you discuss with other people. The last thing you want is for people to question your merit and remove you from confidential projects due to your desire to overshare.
The best way to avoid finding yourself in this situation is by listening. The more time you spend listening to people, the less time you’ll lose talking. Also if you want to speak about something that is relevant, just share your personal (factually based) thoughts and concerns. There’s no need to mention people that are not present.
Keeping secrets may seem obvious but sometimes you forget who knows what. The best thing to do is not to know anything personal. Believe me, this one could probably hurt you the most in an office environment. What you share goes beyond you and that’s how reputations are made.
5) Meet at least one new person a month
Now it’s time to meet someone new. This may seem like a lot of work for some of you. And ghee wiz it is. You have to put yourself out there and intentionally schedule chats and lunch dates with new people. The beautiful thing is that before you know it, you’ll have a network of people that you can call your community.
Connecting with other employees in your company will help you better understand the landscape of your business, you’ll have an awareness of the different opportunities that are available to you and you’ll make new friends.
It’s a win, win, win. Networking has helped me not only find opportunities for myself but find opportunities for my friends. We’re all in this together, and once we ban together we could move mountains. A single ant is nothing but an ant colony could cause a pretty big ruckus.
Also, they say people usually quit their jobs not because of the actual work but because they don’t like their boss. Once you have a community, you can easily find a boss you like if that’s what you’re searching for.
6) Solve your own problems
We’ll all have moments where we come across larger-than-life obstacles. Usually, you’ll have a few people and resources that you could look to for guidance. However, if that’s not the case, then it’s your duty to solve the problem.
There’s nothing worse than coming across someone that only knows how to complain. You offer them possible solutions but they refuse to get their head out of the sand. This builds tension, delays finding the solution, drives you crazy, and makes no one like you.
There are also cases where you’re not that person but after searching high and low no one knows how to solve the problem. What do you do in that case? Do you say I don’t know and no one knows, so let’s drop it?
Absolutely not you become obsessed with solving it. And you become obsessed with the idea of being able to help yourself and your coworkers if the issue should ever arise again. This personifies what being a leader is. It’s taking on these challenges, becoming someone that people trust, and transforming into a master problem solver.
7) Create an environment of gratefulness
Don’t you love getting a pat on the back? Isn’t wonderful when you’re acknowledged for the work that you do and thrilling when someone thanks you?
Always remember and thank the people that assist you as you do your job. When you share your wins with others, they’ll be more inclined to want to work with you. You’re unintentionally making them part owner when they assist you. And as a part owner, they should also reap the rewards when things are done right.
It’ll encourage them to continue to participate in this working relationship in an enthusiastic manner. Also, it makes your life easier because now you have someone that you can rely on when you need assistance.
They call it a dream team for a reason. It takes a team to make a dream a reality. Not one person. And it’s the simplest thing you can do. Once you start you’ll be shocked by how you somehow keep finding all these amazing people to work with. It makes things fun.
This post was all about the 7 self development goals for work that will accelerate your career trajectory.
Leave a Reply