Pop The Question...To Your Career
Monday, November 16, 2009
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Success is like marriage….in many ways! (DISCLAIMER: I have zero experience in marriage, I’ve only observed) Success, like marriage, is something that is programmed into each of us at a very young age. It’s safe to guess that a majority of us have dreamed of being a rich and successful person with a beautiful spouse and family. The point is that marriage and career success have similar paths.
Commitment
To accomplish any significant feat in your life, it takes commitment – whether in career or life. To be committed to your career, you must have a plan in place each day, each week, each month and each year to progress in your professional development and career goals. More importantly, you must stay the course and believe in your goals – much like you would believe in a spouse. Collaboration
Just as marriage isn’t a solo act, a climb to the top of the career ladder cannot be done alone. Throughout the years, your career will be affected by 100’s if not 1000’s of people (clients, colleagues, friends, family, supervisors, mentors, and so on). To continue to progress through your profession, it’s important to be able to work well with others, communicate and understand expectations. Just as a marriage doesn’t work when focused around one person, your career doesn’t work if only centered on you. Work well with others (and do nice things for no reason).
FlexibilityMuch like collaborating with others, flexibility requires you to take a step back and takes others into consideration. Flexibility means to always have a well thought-out plan that you believe in while also having the ability to make adaptations to the plan as the situation changes. Don’t be afraid to change your plans and take a different route. Even if it ends up being a longer road to your end goals, you’ll be more sure of yourself and your goals with the added experience.
Devotion
To make a sincere commitment to anything, you must have devotion and passion for what you are doing. It takes dedication and caring to grow a relationship and the same applies to a career. Love what you do, work hard every day to get better at it, and be grateful for the opportunity.
Time
Great things take time. Overnight successes take years worth of hard working days. Like successful marriages, successful careers offer years worth of fulfillment, feelings of significance and contentment in one’s life. If something is worth having, it’s worth taking time and working hard for. As each day passes, you’ll find more and more fulfillment from your career.
One additional characteristic: Tolerance
You cannot plan for everything, because both your marriage and your career are heavily influenced by the people (or the person) you partner with. When problems come up on the horizon, analyze whether you want to stand up for this battle, or whether it might be sensible to tolerate the differences instead of trying to convert the other(s) to what you believe. That is, know your principles, but if the situation at hand does not touch upon these, there is no reason why you need to be always of exactly the same opinion. Tolerating and accepting that others may have a different worldview while still thriving for the same goal will make you stronger for the next really important matter to resolve.