The Direction Your Career Takes Is Up To You

Deborah Brown-Volkman
Career & Mentor Coach

Does your career seem to be going nowhere fast? Is it because of the economy, your company, your boss, or your co-workers? Is it everyone's fault but your own?

Your career gets better when you make it better and that requires your participation. Circumstances can throw us off-track from time to time. But, the person responsible for the direction of your career is you. (Even if it does not feel that way.)

Being responsible for your career sets you free. Once you are accountable, you can asses what's working, and eliminate what's not. You can make changes that need to be made because you know you are the person who can make them.

Once you take responsibility, you have no one to blame anymore. You get the control back into your career. You can move forward because you know you have to power to do so.

So How Do You Take Responsibility For Your Career. Follow These Five Steps Below:

1. You Decide To Be Responsible

An attitude that begins with "I don't care" or "I'll wait for things to improve on their own" can one day become a problem that is so overwhelming that you are not sure how to deal with it. (Don't let this happen to you. If you are already overwhelmed by a complacent attitude, know that there is a way out.) If you do not deal with your career now, you will have to deal with it later. If you are not working on your career, your career moves without direction. No direction means no goals, which means no progress.

Being responsible does not mean you are chained to your commitments. It means that you recognize that if your career is not going in the direction that you would like it to go that it's up to you to take it in a different path.

2. You Find Someone Who You Can Help With Their Career

What? Help others? What about me?

Sometimes when we are upset about our careers we go inward. Introspection is good when it helps us regroup. Not good when all we think about is our career problems. Looking to helps others can motivate you to take action. Helping a colleague with career challenges will give you objectivity about your situation. You'll also get energized, inspired, and motivated. And, you'll feel better. Helping someone else will help you move forward in ways that you'd never imagine.

3. You Become Inspired

My clients ask me what inspiration means. I tell them that inspiration is an almighty force that arises from inside. It lights you up and gives you more power than you ever expected. It's what pushes you to pick up the phone, write another letter, or send out another e-mail when you don't feel like it. Recall a time in your career when you were excited and energized because everything was going your way. Apply that feeling to where you are now.

To become inspired, put your disappointments behind you. They serve only to hold you back. Recognize that your career will improve when you take responsibility for improving it. Inspiration will help you to change your career for the better.

4. You Create A Plan

What do you want to happen in your career? Are you crystal clear or do you have a muddied idea of where you would like to be?

You cannot get to where you want to go unless you know where you are going.

How do you know? You listen to your gut. You listen to that nagging feeling inside that won't go away. You take small steps in that direction. Will you have all of your answers up front? No. But if it feels right, it probably is right.

Create your vision. Where would you be if you could not fail? What would you do if there were no obstacles in your way? Get your vision on paper and look at it everyday. Then, develop a plan for reaching your goal. What will you do first? Second? Third? When will you do it? Get this down on paper and use your calendar to keep you on track. Once you know what you want, the rest is implementation.

5. You Achieve Your Goals

Goals are achieved when you are working hard towards them on a regular basis. Your goals may not be reached on your timetable (most goals are not), but trust that you will get there. Know that the work you put in today will bring the rewards you seek tomorrow.

So, what do you say? You only have one life to live, so it might as well be a life you love!