How many times have you heard “most startups fail within the first year”. You hear it but you never think it’s going to happen to you when you begin your own business, filled with enthusiasm and bright visions of the future.
Unfortunately, virtually all successful entrepreneurs have to contend with more than their fair share of failure and disappointment before they do eventually achieve their goal. Even business magnate Richard Branson has more than a dozen failed business ventures under his belt.
It doesn’t just happen in the business world, most employees aren’t inoculated against professional disappointment either. People are frequently made redundant, unexpectedly, or find that their progression up the pay scale seems to have stalled at an early stage.
If you’re an ambitious person, or even just someone who wants to make the most of their professional life, you need to have some strategies you can apply when your current career path doesn’t seem to be working for you. Here are a few suggestions.
Take the experience and insight you’ve gained and set your aim on a new goal
Part of the reason why success often isn’t a straightforward process is due to the fact we set our initial goals and targets on the basis of faulty ideas. We find ourselves stumbling around for a while, possibly making a few mistakes but also learning skills. We also more about ourselves and what we truly want to accomplish in life.
If your current career path isn’t working for you, one of the first things you should do is to take stock of the experience and insight you’ve gained. Once you do, you can go back to the drawing board, and either modify your current goal or create a new, more refined one. Then take aim and try again. Odds are you’ll be shooting more accurately this time.
Retrain or return to school to fill in gaps in your education
Sometimes, when your career progression stalls, or when certain doors just seem closed to you, your education might be the limiting factor.
Although some say the number of individuals going to college is going down, many companies still use degrees as part of the screening process. If you apply for a job, or a promotion, the fact that you have a degree will not only show that you have a degree of intellectual capacity and work ethic, but it will also serve as a useful “bonus” that can help tip the odds in your favor versus that of a rival.
At a higher level, taking up a finance MBA program may be the right path to take. But maybe increasing your professional standing will be as straightforward as taking just a few night classes.
Take stock of the situation. Are there practical and specific changes you could make that would reinvigorate the whole process?
Sometimes, what seems at first like catastrophe isn’t really all that catastrophic, but is, instead, a result of you panicking and overreacting.
If your current career path seems flawed, perhaps all you need to do in order to get things back on track is to take a deep breath, step back, and look for sticking points.
Maybe you don’t need to throw everything out and start again. Maybe you just need to re-evaluate what how you are doing things and what changes you can make to improve your work environment. Take time out to attend a conference or study current trends in your industry. Remember the reasons why you started down this career path and rekindle the passion you once had.
These are just a few strategies you can use if you feel your career path isn’t working out for you. Whatever you do, don’t be discouraged. Stop, reflect and determine your next steps. If you find your yourself stuck and not sure how to move forward, let’s talk. Send me an email at cowens@infinitycoaching.net and together we can develop a strategy that works best for you. It’s all about success on YOUR own terms!
Carolyn R. Owens has over 25 years of proven experience and serves as a Career Strategist, Executive and Leadership Coach. She is the President of Infinity Coaching, Inc. where she can help you up-level your skills, so you can up-level your income, career, business or life. Infinity Coaching, Inc. provides one-on-one and group coaching, organizational training, personality assessments, and a signature program, the Infinity Coaching Inner Circle. Carolyn is certified to give both The Energy Leadership Index Assessment and Myers Briggs Type Indicator Assessment. You can find out more about both assessments and other products and services at https://infinitycoaching.net.
