A good place to start is to determine whether you have a job or a career. A main difference between a job and a career is that a job is performed for a paycheck while a career makes a passion pay off.
Jobs are maintained, focusing on daily tasks. If you arrive home at the end of the day exhausted rather than exhilarated you're likely maintaining a job and not building a career.
The best way to reach your goals is to aim for long-term success. Build your career by:
• Seeking a mentor. Develop a relationship with someone who does or has done what you aspire to and who willingly shares knowledge, personal experience and well-timed advice or encouragement.
• Remaining aware of office drama but staying out of it. The highs and lows of life in the office can provide clues to the political atmosphere. But constantly being in the middle of a water-cooler crisis poses a barrier to your advancement.
• Not worrying about what you can't control. Concentrate on where you can make an impact. End every day satisfied that you did your best work.
• Spending 80% of your efforts observing and listening and only 20% talking. You can learn a lot this way as you begin your journey.
• Never allowing fear to rule your decision-making. By definition, a career grows and changes directions and takes on new challenges. It rarely says "no."
