Commitment Self-Exam: Avoid self sabotage
Are you truly committed to making a change this year? If you answered yes, then avoid sabotaging your commitment to your goals by reviewing your habits and past behaviors. Examine your circumstances carefully to determine what part you played in the outcomes you have previously gotten. If you are not producing the results you desire, then figure out why. Be honest with yourself.
- Have you let external issues or others’ actions determine what happens?
- Are you spending time on situations/events/issues that (if you were working) would not have taken as long or even been issues at all?
- Have you held off planning a course of action to “wait and see” before you make a decision to do something? Why?
- What would happen if you simply made a decision to take action, make a commitment, and in the worst-case scenario, had to change your plans later?
- Are you able/willing to stay focused? If you are not, have you identified the barriers? What can you do about them?
- Are you willing to work long hours, weekends and holidays for a limited time to accomplish what you desire?
What other issues can you identify that have kept you from fully committing?
Make a Commitment to Reach Your Career Goals
Too often, people establish career goals the same way they make New Year’s resolutions. The problem with resolutions is that they fade away, are forgotten, and are only a distant memory by February. To actualize your desire for a change, exchange your resolution for a COMMITMENT to action.
Why a commitment and not just a wish?
Achievement of a goal doesn’t happen overnight. Job seekers are confronted with many issues beyond their control–economic conditions, competition, HR, and internal politics for a start. These issues can be very daunting and discouraging. The fact is you can’t reach your goal until you choose to face these challenges head on, with a plan of attack. Making the COMMITMENT to do so is within your control. Your goal becomes more than a “wish”.
Take charge – stay committed!
Don’t rely on your employer, market conditions, or your family obligations to dictate what happens to you (or doesn’t). Make a decision about what you need to do, commit to it, then adjust as events occur. Commitment to your goal and acting on it is more likely to produce the results you want than sitting idly as you wait for things to change.
Make a commitment to reach your goals by first being committed to the process, no matter what.
- Keep yourself in check for things you can control. Recognize that you can make a choice each and every time something comes up that presents itself as a challenge.
- Write out your goals. Make them specific and measurable.
- Proceed through your outline of specific actions that lead to your specific goals.
What kind of resolutions were you planning for the New Year that could more effectively be treated as a goal?
Get a job, even in a tough economy
Finding work will happen faster if you are realistic, forward thinking and active. Likewise, you can improve your chances, if you planning ahead for future possibility to searching for a new job.
Face reality. With the downturn in the economy, jobs are fewer and competition is more intense. Be sure you don’t waste time and energy following people who lay blame for the bad economy or company layoff. Those things won’t change the tough market or your ability to stay employed or get reemployed.
Though obvious, remember that jobs are fewer and competition for openings is intense. There’s no time to waste under these conditions. Don’t look backwards on your circumstances or dwell on things you can’t change. Your best defense and hope for recovery is to be forward thinking. In fact, whether you’re unemployed or might become so, you should act now with preparation, planning and execution! Rest assured, getting ahead of a possible crisis will help you ride the wave much better.
Things you can do right now:
- Make goals. Have long-term employment goals that mesh with personal goals
- Be wise. Make sure your daily activities are consistent with these goals–current and future ones
- Be ready. Always know the immediate things you could do to adjust as your environment and circumstances change
With dramatic shifts in the economy, needed skills and roles will change just as dramatically. To keep up, you should audit your skills and assess your marketability. Then adjust accordingly in conjunction with your personal and financial goals.
Here are the steps:
- Be realistic and open. Your current marketability might be dramatically different than your expectations.
- Research and listen. Scour job postings of interest. Talk to recruiters and hiring authorities. What do they tell you about skills in demand, especially compared to your skill set? Are your experiences useful to new opportunities?
- Find your options. With this knowledge, determine the positions and industries you can and should realistically pursue.
- Don’t overstretch. In this kind of job market, hiring managers can get exactly the skills they need without taking a risk on someone that doesn’t have proven experience–don’t aim for a position that’s a stretch for you.
Some encouragement for your future goals
Facing the down job market might make you feel like you’re abandoning your goals. Know that you can straighten back out as the economic climate changes. This is all the more reason to have goals that can weather economic storms, and employment changes. Stubbornly holding to your old expectations without flexibility will likely lead to severe emotional and financial set backs.
Your thoughts?
What issues or surprises have you encountered in the job market?
What personal expectations have you had to let go of in order to be competitive?
