The desire for improvement is something that humans yearn for. It doesn’t matter if it is your career or personal life, no one wants to remain in the same position all their lives. If you’re seeking ways to improve your career, it means you’ve discovered the importance of growth. It is important that you start by taking stock of what you’ve been able to achieve so far. This will require an honest appraisal of yourself. It is not your manager or parents that are responsible for your careers. Here are some of the things you can do in 2020 to improve your career.
Set Small Goals
The goals that you set don’t have to be lofty. When doing the annual reviews, you might overlook some of the things that you’ve been able to achieve throughout the year. A year has 12 months and it can be a long or short time depending on the goals that you’ve set. That is why it is recommended that you set goals in having your day-to-day work in mind. It is important that you identify Key Results Areas (KRA) when setting up the goals. What does KRA mean. It highlights the most important tasks that you should be focusing on in order to win in your career.
Stretch Yourself
You can never know what you’re capable of achieving if you don’t get out of the comfort zone. You can decide to learn a new skill that is not directly related to your career. The idea is to have an open mind to new challenges. Do something that you’ve always been scared of. Conquering your fears is one of the surest ways in ensuring you’re advancing in your career.
Get Feedback
You can never know if you’re doing something right if you’re not getting the right feedback. The feedback can be from your peers or mentors. When you get feedback, it will be easier to identify the areas that need improvement.
Curate Work
It can be hard to keep track of all the amazing things you’ve been able to achieve throughout the year because of failure to curate your work. You can use technology to help with the curation. Cloud platforms such as OneDrive, DropBox, and CredHive offer amazing features that can be used for curation and staying organized.
Curiosity
It will be impossible to grow if you’re not curious about your industry. You will always be a student regardless of what you’ve learned over the years. You get to learn something new which will improve your career in one way or another. Ask your colleagues and managers about what they think about industry trends. The customer’s feedback is also important if you’re looking to improve a product or a service.
Networking
You don’t operate in a vacuum and you’ll need to network regularly if you’re looking to advance in your career. There are industry events that you can make a point to attend. You don’t have to go to all of them. Depending on the people that you’d like to meet, you can be selective about the events that you go to. You can also network online thanks to technology. LinkedIn is a brilliant platform to network with other professions in your industry. The LinkedIn invites need to be personalized and thoughtful so that you’re not coming off as an attention seeker.
Get a Mentor
Having a mentor is an excellent decision if you’re to achieve success in your career. A mentor will guide you through the different challenges that you might be experiencing in your career. Having that voice of reason is something that most people lack. A mentor doesn’t necessarily have to be in the same field as you. The challenges in different careers are almost similar if you look at them from a broader spectrum. It is easy to get feedback on the decisions and actions that you take in your field.
Be a Good Listener
You stand to gain a lot more if you listen more than you talk. As we’ve already mentioned, every opportunity will be a chance to learn something new. It will be hard to do so if you’re not listening. It is a skill that will come in handy both in life and career. When you listen, you get to understand. You get to build strong relationships too. You can never know who you’d cross paths in the future. This is a habit that should be cultivated as early as possible. Don’t forget to read widely and wildly as you get to discover information that you can apply to your career.
