Athletes spend years training and preparing for their chance to compete at the Olympics. They will work hard to visualise and bring their goal in to reality.
When you are looking to secure your next job or next career, you also need to take your time and prepare. Just like Team GB it’s important to have your goal in sight and to spend every day preparing and training to reach your goal.
Train hard. Don’t give up at the first hurdle. There will always be hurdles, sometimes there will be lots of them one after the other but it’s about tackling them one at a time and being focussed about continuing towards your goal.
You cannot, and should not, expect to get there straight away.
Imagine your career goal is a 10 on a scale of 1 – 10. You are at step 1. You cannot get to 10 without going through stages 2 through to 9 in sequence. So, if you know what 10 looks like, you know what your goal is and you know what number 1 looks like because you are there.
It’s much easier to plan, prepare and train for your career goal if you break it down in to bite sized pieces you can achieve gradually. It will also be easier for you to measure your progress.
Steps 2 – 3 are all about research.
You need to research your career goal thoroughly. What does it look like and what skills do you need? How is the job role or industry doing in the current jobs market?
Steps 3 – 4 are about identifying your transferable skills.
Be aware and be confident about what you have to offer. Analyse and identify what you have to offer as we typically under-sell ourselves. Make sure your skills are demonstrated loud and clear in your C.V.
Steps 5 – 6 are about identifying and tackling any obstacles.?
Is there anything preventing you from achieving your career goal? May you need to do some further training or qualifications . You might need to gain more experience and perhaps some voluntary work or work experience could help you with this. In difficult times, voluntary work can be rewarding and stimulating and it can also equip you with the additional skills and experience you need to make the transition required in to your next career
Steps 7 – 8 are about networking
Who is in your network who can help you? Who could you be connected to? Maybe consider expanding your network.
Steps 9 – 10 are about reaching your goal – winning the gold!
If you work hard and put yourself out there you will succeed and reach your goal.
“Don’t dream of winning, train for it”! [[Mo Farah]
