It is hard not to want to make changes in our current environment. Many of the friends in our community have been dipping their toes into career development and self-improvement.
Whether it is learning to code in python, improving your graphic design skills, learning to cook, or refining the way we understand the world and others. There are many ways we are all working to improve ourselves.
We’re all trying to make improvements but it can be easy to get lost on the way to reaching those goals when we don’t have a clear picture of how to grasp them.
A practical way to help yourself and others reach goals is to break it down into smaller actionable goals that you can complete every day. But how do you figure out what you’re goals are?
Introspect
In a world where we have constant distractions, it can be hard to get a few moments to yourself for thought. Taking the time to think about your day, your job and yourself is an invaluable tool in finding out what you want. Introspection can enhance your ability to determine and focus your goals.
What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What skills do you want to improve? How can you get that promotion?
Taking the time to think about what makes you YOU is a tool that can be practiced every day. On your commute, during your lunch break, before bed, on a relaxing walk, or whenever you can find the time.
If after introspecting on your goals you find yourself considering making a career change, we have an upcoming webinar covering the practical and successful strategies that should be taken in the early stages of considering a career change.
We will share easy-to-use methods and tools that will help you gain a deeper understanding of your strengths, gaps, opportunities, and challenges and how these can be used to launch a successful career transition. Think of this as a pre-planning exercise BEFORE you start thinking about writing a resume or conducting a job search. Learn more about our Career Transition 101 event with Dr. Bob Danielles and register today! It is only a week away.
Listening
Asking questions and conversing is a regular part of any communication. Truly and actively, listening to another is an entirely different ball game. Active listening opens up conversations by giving time to explore the thoughts and feelings of the other person.
Have you ever come out of a conversation feeling absolutely understood and acknowledged? The person you spoke with likely used some, if not all, of these active listening skills:
- Be Attentive
- Ask open-ended questions
- Ask probing questions
- Request clarification
- Paraphrase
- Reflect feelings & Empathize
- Summarize
Active listening is a crucial skill that can be practiced every day to help you understand others and feel understood yourself. It helps grow your connections and relationships you already have and make it easier to foster new friendships. For more on active listening check out this guide by the Center for Creative Leadership put together.
Learning
Obtaining new skills and refining the ones you have is a surefire way to help you improve your career. With skill-based hiring on the rise, there has never been a better time to dive into online learning. It is inexpensive, you can go at your own pace and be selective about the material that you want to focus on.
Learning a new skill requires practice and one of the greatest things about online classes is the pacing. You can work on your skill-building five minutes a day or hours a day.
If you are interested in expanding your programming background, just starting programming, start programming, learn business analysis, get your cloud certification, or just brush up on your technical writing skills there are classes for you! At Starweaver you can learn and interact with World Class instructors through live courses, recorded videos, labs, quizzes, exercises, and more. New Techies can get 83% off 6 months of access to 100s of hours of courses to improve your career skills. Learn more about Starweaver.
Practice, Practice Practice
The best way to reach your goals is to spend time on them whenever you can. It is important to give yourself time to think about what you want to do, listen to yourself and others, and give yourself time to learn.