Achieving Career Goals Along The Professional Road

One of the biggest decisions an individual makes in his life is the source of livelihood or the profession. You may be in a job that you despise, or you may love what you do right now. The fact is that our career may change over our lifetime, but our passions and career ambitions should never change. It is strange, rather disturbing how a number of professionals fail to achieve success in their careers, simply because they have never taken time out to analyze their success rate and to create a plan to get there. Even though luck and circumstance can play a major role along the way, however, the road to success is not so unpredictable. Successful professionals who are able to sustain their success have a vision, a planned strategy and they work very hard and smart to grasp their success.

It has been observed that the most productive and enthusiastic employees are those who find professional fulfillment in their job. Creating the right sort of culture, ensuring effective two-way-communication and matching the right people to the right jobs can have an enormous impact on employee satisfaction and their sense of fulfillment. That in turn impacts on the quality of their performance and on the maintenance figures both of which have a direct impact on productivity and profits.

Following are some ways to create the sort of approach that can strengthen a sense of fulfillment for individuals within an organization. None of them are so complex, but each professional approach can have a profound impact on the way people feel about their work and their performance.

Professional Fulfillment Guidelines

Goal Setting

The most certain way to achieve professional goals is to set them in the first place. Decide what your priorities and goals in professional life are before you move towards your specific career goals. You will damage your career success if your goals in other areas of your life contradict or conflict. Moreover, if you set too many goals, you will also sabotage your chances of success; instead, focus on a few clear and achievable ones that you are enthusiastic about.

Commitment

Once you set your professional targets, work with full commitment to achieve them. Have a vision in front of you all times and clear the milestones along the way. Your dedication and motivation should never go off-the-track if you are convinced of the goals you have set for yourself. Whenever you face lack of confidence, remind yourself that you deserve success, and work on building your confidence. In short, focus on accomplishments rather than just performance.

Progress Metering

Once you get on your journey towards achieving your goals, it is crucial that you monitor and gauge your progress along the way. Take notes of the important milestones you achieve and also, their quality and the time span of your progress as well. The minor product or process enhancements sometimes have a dramatic impact on a company’s bottom line. So, do make sure you are clearly aware of the impact your actions have on the organization’s outcome.

Marketing Accomplishments

Promoting your achievements in a justified way is very important. To do that, you need to take a proactive approach towards it, if you are to reap the fullest fruits of your success. Make sure your individual accomplishments are recognized by all the key decision-makers in the organization and particularly those who influence your career progress. It is quite common for credit to be misallocated and for accomplishments to be undervalued or overlooked altogether; so, do not delay singing your own praises.

Professional Networking

Whenever we talk about professional grooming, professional networking plays the most vital role in it. Your success will to a large extent depend on your ability to build alliances and garner the support of others including peers, superiors, subordinates, clients, suppliers and others you interact with on a daily basis to get the job done. Expand the circumference of your professional acquaintances by attending your industry events, seeking to be apportioned at important projects in other divisions of your field and volunteering in high profile activities etc.

Sharpening Skills

Continuous learning is vital to your personal development as well as career success. With every project and activity you complete, chances are that you have learned something new and sharpened a particular skillset. Identify a training path that fills key skills gap, grows your strengths and keeps you at the forefront of whatever you do, so that you do not lose your competitive edge.

Maintaining A Professional Picture

Work on building a good professional picture both within and outside your organization and outside so that you are immediately considered for lucrative new opportunities, are recognized as a competent employee and inspire trust and credibility in broader industry circles. Your professional personality also plays an important role in your career success. Dress, look, sound and surround maintain a positive attitude, successful people who are also known to take their careers seriously.

Effective Communication

Like professional networking, effective communication abilities are also a main cog in the wheel of your career. Learn to get your message across effectively, share your successes, leaning and experiences, maintain a positive dialogue and influence and inspire others. Effective communication skills, including professional writing, active listening, empathic listening, public speaking, effective presenting and good negotiation are all important in determining your career success. Moreover, communicate with your managers regularly and build a good reputation with decision-making executives in your organization who could have a say in your performance and advancement. The more they know you and the more comfortable they are with you, the likelier you are to be elevated to their ranks.

Final Thought

Creating a fulfilling professional life is essential for every individual. Professional fulfillment comes from the feeling that you are making a real difference. The cleaner who keeps the working environment healthy and pleasant is as important as the person who makes the strategic decisions. They are just important differently. Some jobs are in themselves seen as making a positive difference; healthcare and education are good examples. Whatever the organization and its purpose is, it is important that every individual feels that their contribution is valued.

Reference: http://blog.rozee.pk/2010/01/13/professional-fulfillment-achieving-career-goals-professional-road/

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