Meeting personal and professional goals while the workplace shifts calls for an uncompromising focus. After all, all the adjustments and new plans and new emergencies take a toll.
What’s that look like?
More than 70% of workers are unhappy with their company’s location flexibility and say they plan to seek other opportunities within a year. But what about employees who are trying hard to stay on their current career path? How can they nurture a grounded plan in the midst of so much change and uncertainty?
Fast Company’s Steve White provides three ways you can find your center of gravity in a constantly evolving workplace reality.
Ask yourself the telling question
When there isn’t solid footing to be found in the workplace, you can create it yourself. It’s been said that “The two most important days in your life are the day you’re born and the day you find out why.” Knowing your why is the key to discovering your calm center and making infinitely better career choices. Consider this telling question to begin exploring your why: “What is something I’m good at that I would do for free?”
The next step is to look at your answer and how it aligns with your current job. Ask yourself if your career enhances your ability to live your why. Are there any gaps between what you love to do and what your position calls for? If so, make a list of the areas where you might create a greater connection between your skill set and your job description. Research what training options you have and consult with your boss.
Be your own chief repeater and completer
Research tells us that we believe what we hear more often. In the same vein, businesses complete what they repeat, and the same holds true for individuals. Why not be both a business and an individual? When you think and act like a business and visualize being the CEO of your own career, sticking to your path has greater clarity because you apply a single rationale to everything you do.
Put a good chip on your shoulder
We’re all familiar with what it’s like to interact with someone who has a chip on their shoulder. They’ve got something to prove, and it often plays out in negative ways. Instead, challenge yourself to have a good chip on your shoulder if you’re looking to create stability in your work life. Put that good-chip tenacity to work by focusing on two things you can control — your attitude and effort. Sure, you’re out to prove something in the traditional sense, but a good chip manifests in ways that make you more valuable to your employer and You Inc.
In the midst of today’s disruptions and fluctuating expectations, don’t wait any longer to identify your why and look for alignment at work. You’ll not only find this connection to your why a grounding experience, but you’ll also discover that an uncompromising focus on your attitude and effort leads to greater opportunities that are personally meaningful.