Maintaining Your Vision To Advance In Your Career
Job and career sound like they’re the same thing. They are… right? Well, not quite. Depending on where your focus is, you may be aiding or stalling your career advancement goals. As women, we tend to focus on the task at hand and lose sight of our long-term goals. Understanding the key differences between a job and a career may be the missing link to realizing your career dreams.
What Is A Job?
A job is something you do to earn money. It’s typically a short-term situation, providing you with a means to an end. A job is not typically something you desire for the long term. When you are job-focused, you are not concerned with forward advancement and taking your career to the next level.
When we get a job, we tend to focus on our day-to-day tasks and do the minimum required. Though you certainly want to do a good job and may be motivated to make it more efficient and enjoyable, we don’t often think about where it will take us in the future or how it will get us to our ultimate goals.
Today’s jobs pay quite well compared to the past, so it’s easy to lose sight of your long-term career goals. Sometimes, you may even get paid the same amount in your job as in a career position.
To make sure you aren’t getting stuck in your job, you need to start thinking about the longevity of your career.
What Is A Career?
Your career is a pathway. It is your guide to advancement, to accelerate your career, and to earn a substantial living for yourself and your family.
When you are career-focused, you have your eyes set on your ultimate goals. You are consistently thinking about your next steps on the journey and what is required to take them. You have the foresight to understand what’s next for you and align your decisions with the goals you have.
It can be easy to fall into the habit of treating your career like a job. Maybe you are in a salary position, on a set schedule, or even on a solid advancement track, and losing sight of your end goal. When you lose sight of your ambitions and fail to plan for advancement, you may make short-sighted decisions that have long-term effects.
Shifting Your Focus
If you feel comfortable where you are because of your current salary, perhaps you do not have a solid grasp on your market value. Knowing your market value is one of the most important things you can know in your career. If you need guidance, check out my free guide to finding your market value.
Of course, you want to do a great job in your current positions, but you don’t want to pigeonhole yourself! Oftentimes, when you become good at one thing, you end up just getting more of that thing. To prevent this, you need to show your boss you have what it takes to move to the next level.
Schedule a development meeting with your supervisor and frame your future value at the company. By doing so, you’re showing them where you want to go and can enlist their help to get there.
If you want to shift your focus from your job to your career, start by setting goals for yourself. What skills, projects, and personnel could you align yourself with to help you get there? Building relationships early on and constantly throughout your career is key to achieving advancement. Be willing to make short-term sacrifices that will serve you in the long run. By doing so, you will set yourself up for a long, successful career.
If you aren’t sure what that path looks like and are ready to get rid of the stress of feeling stuck in your career, schedule an Accelerated Career Clarity Call. I will help you go from passed over to promotion rapidly and with ease!
