Career Inspiration

By Meredith Tombs on December 9, 2015

A creative approach to staying professional in your career, from the naive perspective of one who has yet to enter the professional world. So here you have CAREER PROFESSIONALISM, vertically.

Challenge yourself: Don’t get too comfortable: keep pushing yourself to improve! Find new things to learn about, and look for new ways of learning.

Avoid complacency: Don’t doubt your abilities, but acknowledge that maybe you don’t know everything. Stay humble and remember that there’s always an opportunity to learn from someone else.

Renew your enthusiasm: Don’t get caught in a rut. There are plenty of reasons to be excited about your life and about your career – find them!

Explore constantly: There’s so much out there to learn, and so many people from whom you can learn. Take advantage of that.

Exceed expectations: Prove other people wrong. Meet your goals – then go beyond them.

Re-interpret obstacles as opportunities: Don’t just give up when something is difficult. Take a chance and try something new.

Push limits: Push not only your limits, but also the limits of your career. Find ways to grow and mature as an individual and as a professional, keeping it interesting (as interesting as possible, at least.)

Revamp your routine: If you have a routine that works for you, great! Find ways to keep it exciting so that you can keep learning from it and working effectively with it.

Own your mistakes: Admitting you’re wrong can be tough, but it is an action that contributes very positively to the workplace. Doing so demonstrates your maturity and makes you a desirable employee.

Find new ways to grow: Be eager to learn, because that’s what will make you stand out as someone who takes pride in his or her work. Take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves to you, and don’t be afraid to create additional opportunities for yourself.

Expect to fail: Nobody’s perfect, and no one expects you to be perfect, either. Failure can sometimes be the most effective way to learn, so be ready for that.

Set benchmarks: Setting smaller goals as you work on a big project can be helpful in making a daunting task seem much more manageable. This can apply to a physical project for your career or just a self-improvement project.

Study up: Audit a college class. Take an online course. Go for your Masters’ – and your Doctorate. Keep enhancing your knowledge of yourself and of your discipline.

Involve others: Listen to those who offer advice and words of encouragement. You don’t have to do this all alone, so be ready to utilize the talents of others.

Out-do your old self: Not that there was anything wrong with your past accomplishments…But take those efforts and continue to find ways to enhance and improve them.

Negotiate: It’s great to be able to negotiate your salary with your boss at the appropriate times. It’s even better, in my opinion, to be able to negotiate your abilities with yourself: push yourself, ask for more, and find ways to motivate yourself to accomplish just that.

Ask questions: Ask questions of others to clarify what is expected of you – know what your goal is and know what your are trying to achieve. Ask questions of others to challenge them – don’t just hand them what your know, but see how your separate understandings can enhance your collective product.

Learn from your mistakes: Making mistakes can be an unpleasant experience, but it offers an opportunity for you. Solving problems with creative solutions is something to be comfortable with, especially because some things never go according to plan.

Imagine the possibilities: Set your sights high. Dream big, and then find a way to make those dreams a reality.

Smile: It’ll make you feel better. Really.

Make time for you: Don’t get so caught up in your job that you lose yourself. Your job should be a part of who you are, not your entire reason for being.

 

Hopefully you enjoyed some advice from an undergraduate!

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