Career success is very individual.
As I’ve written about before, people find career satisfaction in very different fields, doing very different things.
But whatever success looks like to you, there are some common themes that underpin the path to that success.
These are my 3 C’s to a successful career…
Careers need… Curiosity
There’s a lot of talk about passion when it comes to careers, and some people do indeed feel (borrowing from my online dictionary) fervent, ardent, obsessive or fanatical about their work. But – thankfully, for my less impassioned clients – you don’t have to.
What you do need is to be interested, engaged… curious.
If you’re not interested in what you do – and you don’t stay actively interested – you’re unlikely to enjoy a truly successful career. To succeed and keep succeeding requires you to keep learning, stretching and developing – and that takes curiosity. Whatever you do, if you want to do it well, be curious… about yourself, about the world, about other people… about change, developments, the future, growing opportunities. Without curiosity, careers quickly become stagnant.
Careers need… Clarity
I’ve met clients who were endlessly curious about the world – so many interests, so little time… but also so little direction. Which means lots of learning, but little forward motion.
To make effective use of your time and energy, you’re going to need some clarity. You need to have a clear vision of yourself, your strengths, values, motivators and skills; to know what will work for you. You also need a clear vision of your direction; what’s out there, what industries or areas excite you, what opportunities exist – where you’re headed.
If curiosity is the fuel, clarity is your road-map. You need both to get anywhere.
Careers need… Courage
The last requirement is courage. You can have a car full of fuel and a clear direction in mind, but if you’re too scared to leave the garage, you’re not going anywhere.
To make a success of your career, you need to have courage – to push yourself out there in the first place, and then to keep going. You need courage to push through road-blocks and get over rejections, to learn from failures and keep pushing forwards. And once you’re established, it takes guts to push yourself out of your comfort zone, keep moving and take the next challenge.
Often I see clients who are waiting for their courage to show up – and when it does, one day, they’ll take that step. If this is you and you’re waiting ’til you wake up feeling confident, stop now; it doesn’t work that way. You’ll literally wait your life away. Don’t set yourself up for that kind of regret.
Courage is not the absence of fear – it’s action in the presence of it.
Honestly, everyone’s scared – of taking a big step, falling over and failing, looking stupid… or being found out. It’s the big secret that no-one shares; when it comes right down it, we’re all afraid. We’re all human. Fear is normal, understandable… and not a reason to give up on yourself or your dreams.
Failure is only feedback – training for future success.
So, how are you going with your career? Do you have curiosity, clarity and courage?
