Anyone can have a job. When I was growing up, people in town talked about their jobs—day in and day out, they went through the motions, earned a paycheck and brought it home.
There’s nothing wrong with a job, but a job doesn’t bring the satisfaction of a career.
A job pays your bills, but a career unlocks your path and helps to shape your journey. Your career vision may not be clearly laid out in front of you. Many of us don’t have a clue what we want to do until we’re actually doing it. Your career should be satisfying and fulfilling, and help you bring out your best.
So you may be saying, “But Bob, I’m sick of my career,” or “My career feels hollow and doesn’t challenge me in the right ways.” If that’s the case, you’re probably frustrated and feeling defeated. In 2016, let’s recommit to being our most alive. Let’s bring out vibrancy and the satisfaction of success that transformation and growth can bring. Revisit your vision and boost your social and emotional intelligence to refocus your leadership. Find your voice!
Happy people are happy. Choose to be happy, trustworthy and truthful. Be someone others can count on. It’s not about having the highest degree or the strongest pedigree. There are people with MBAs from Harvard, Stanford, or Northwestern who still feel dissatisfied with their careers. Choose to engage and make a positive role for yourself. People will notice your greatness.
You can learn more about transformation and how to jumpstart your personal growth by reading our book, Transformed!: The Science of Spectacular Living.
Connecting with Clients in 2016
If you’re building up clients, either in a new career or if you’re just trying to reenergize and boost your current career, you might feel yourself holding back. Interactions might seem shallow, and you may not know if you’re truly connecting with your customers, clients, and those lives you’re touching. This is especially important in the coaching field, but can apply to any career.
First of all, you have to show interest in every single client. Listen to them. Ask them what they want, and don’t be scared if the answer isn’t what you think you want to hear. Feedback is vital, even if it means you’ve got to work harder or change something to please your customers.
If you find you hold back because of a fear of rejection, you need to push past it. Set yourself up to build the muscle of being on your own side. Yes, it might hurt to hear a client doesn’t love your work, but roll past it, learn from it, and use it to grow.
Clients will reject you. That’s okay. The way to deal with it is to simply have more clients and connections. If you only have one customer contact per day, the customer becomes too precious and the fear of scarcity kicks in. If you have five or six, then relying on just one client to make or break you becomes a non-issue.
Let go of the fear by building up more connections—even those you don’t think will go anywhere or those you KNOW will reject you. Flex the muscle of being on your own side and use it to make you stronger. Explore why your clients are dissatisfied and consider what you can learn from the interaction.
Being More Productive in 2016
How many of us are on self-imposed deadlines. And how many of us keep giving ourselves extensions? Stop! Enlist some accountability and support, and you’ll find you’ll ramp up your productivity.
We’ve talked about mindfulness and meditation as ways to boost your productivity. Let go of soft addictions. Stop checking your Facebook and social media twenty times a day. Stop being a slave to your email. Look at your day, prioritize, and approach each task mindfully and fully.
When you make a deadline, stick to it. If you’re having a hard time holding yourself accountable, find a way to MAKE yourself accountable. Put your money where your mouth is. Write a check to an organization you oppose. (If you’re very conservative, for example, write a check to the Democratic Party or if you’re very liberal, write a check to the NRA.) Find a friend to hold the check for you and to send it if you don’t make your deadline. It will hurt, and I guarantee it will make you hold fast to your timeline.
At the same time, in your push for productivity, be sure you don’t push so hard you end up doing everything and burning yourself out. This can be difficult for managers, especially if you’ve been burned by mistakes and misguided employees in the past.
Rather than trying to manage all the irons in the fire, take a step back. Put on a self-imposed gag order or restraint. Give your team clear job descriptions and clear orders. Direct your team to take care of the problem and trust them to do it. If they can’t, then it’s time to find a team who can. It can be hard to let go of control, especially for Regulators, who want to control all the reins and make sure everything is going their way. Loosen your grip and allow your employees to share your vision and succeed.
Unleash YOU!
As you look to boost your career and amp up your satisfaction in 2016, give yourself permission to stop holding back. Allow yourself to become fully engaged. Stop the fear of what others will think or how they might reject you. Let go of your self-consciousness and go for it.
Too often WE are the very thing holding ourselves back. We think now isn’t the right time to start doing what we want or that we have to go full-in and put everything on the line to get there. Sometimes, it can feel like if we don’t get all the way there or if we “fail,” then we should just give up and throw in the towel.
Instead, allow yourself room to grow. Bite off pieces, set goals, and take steps towards transformation. It doesn’t happen all at once—it’s a process. You just need to give yourself permission to start and the tools you need to succeed.
You can gain these tools by joining us for our first More Life Training workshops, where you’ll learn skills to become more alive, more connected, and fully engaged in your life and your career. Bring out your best self in 2016.
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Want to boost your career? If you’d like to learn more about what the Wright Foundation for the Realization of Human Potential has to offer check out:
- More Life Training
- Wright Courses
- Executive and Sales Coaching
- Transformational Leadership Certificates and Degrees
Want to improve your sales? The Wright Sales Program is a hands-on, experiential program that provides sales professionals with an opportunity to boost their sales performance through the application of social and emotional intelligence to their selling techniques. [Learn more!]
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Wright Living is a division of the Wright Foundation for the Realization of Human Potential, a leadership institute located in Chicago, Illinois. Wright Living performative learning programs are integrated into the curriculum at Wright Graduate University.
