9 Effective Tips To Give Your Career A Boost Today
The start of a new year is a great time to start setting some career goals, and with January approaching hot and fast, now is the time to think about what you want to achieve.
Getting ahead in your career often starts with working on yourself, quietly and behind the scenes.
Dedicate your [2024] to self-improvement by following the following five tips – they won’t take up all of your free time and they don’t require you to sacrifice everything for your work.
Instead, they’ll give you a simple but beneficial boost in your professionalism and beyond.
9 tips for building a successful career
1. Get to Know Yourself
Understanding yourself on a deeper level can really be a game-changer for your career. Take a few personality tests, like the MBTI and enneagram tests, and figure out what personality type you have.
Once you understand your personality type, you’ll be able to figure out your MBTI superpowers – the strengths that are specific to your type – and use them to place yourself in the best possible circumstances.
You can identify the industries and fields you might thrive in, pinpoint your communication styles, and come to understand your weak points too.
2. Work On Your Weaknesses
Once you know what your weaknesses are, you have the opportunity to try and overcome them. Sometimes, just admitting your weaknesses can be a great start toward working on them.
Facing your struggles isn’t easy, but it’s important that you use your self-awareness to help you improve.
Your weaknesses might be behavioral or psychological, or you might even choose to work on improving weak business skills (like wrapping your head around Excel). Whatever they might be, pinpoint one or two and commit to improving in that area.
3. Learn More About Your Industry
Even if you’ve been working in your field for a while, there’s always more to learn. Industries grow and change and keeping up to date is always a benefit.
If you need to push yourself, study your industry as if you’ll be put through a test or interview, and make sure you’re learning something new every week.
This will not only make you more knowledgeable and skilled but could open your eyes to the possibility of new opportunities or places in your industry where you could make a difference
4. Take Short Courses
Committing yourself to taking a few short courses this year will benefit you in so many ways.
You’ll be able to learn new skills or improve existing ones, you’ll be able to add these certifications to your CV and boost your appeal to recruiters, you might get better at your current job and you might even benefit in other aspects of your life.
There are loads of websites that offer online education – some offer free courses while others charge a registration fee. You can take short courses on pretty much anything, from business skills to painting – see what might be worth your while and sign up!
Additionally, taking short courses is a great way to start learning Spanish or Italian. With online education being easily accessible, you can find language courses to fit your schedule and budget. Don’t hesitate to invest in your personal and professional growth through short courses.
5. Read More
Some people turn their noses up at non-fiction (or even just reading in general), but some of the most successful people in the world are dedicated to reading a book every single week.
Reading is the pathway to learning, and no matter what you decide to read, you’ll be gaining something from it. You could read books focused on your field, or about business in general.
You might read self-development books, productivity books, or books about managing your finances. Even fiction novels can help you learn, boost your creativity and improve your vocabulary.
6. Take On More
Of course, there’s a limit to how much you can be expected to do within your designated role at work. However, there’s also no harm in volunteering to take on a few extra tasks here and there from time to time.
Taking the initiative to offer your assistance will not only boost your image at work, but you’ll become more practiced at tasks other than your day-to-day activities and potentially reach into new opportunities.
Make sure to set clear boundaries though, and not become the person who has to pick up everyone else’s slack.
7. Start Networking
Finally, if you want your career to take off, keep in mind that it’s who you know that matters more than what you know!
While of course skills and knowledge are essential to land a good job, knowing the right people will help you get there much quicker, so networking is a great tool to start using [2024].
You could do this by attending networking events or deliberately reaching out to people in your industry, or you could approach it more subtly too.
Chat with like-minded people online and in real life and foster connections with those who might be able to help you out when you need it most.
8. Find a Mentor
Don’t feel like you have to figure it all out on your own. True, self-learning can be extremely beneficial and develop resilience, but having someone to turn to and ask questions can take you to the next level.
Having a great and experienced mind to help you learn and grow can spur phenomenal success. Seek out a mentor within your company, in your industry, or even online.
If you don’t want to work with someone directly, one-on-one as a mentor, at least find someone in your space that you can look up to and follow on their online platforms, read their publications, etc.
9. Set Goals
Of course, we all have goals in mind when it comes to our careers. However, having goals and actually taking the time to proactively set them and focus on them is an entirely different practice.
At the beginning of each year (or whenever feels right to you) sit down with a pen and paper and write out any goals you have for yourself and your career.
Break them down into attainable wins and come up with weekly, actionable steps that you can take to ensure you actually get to where you want to be. You’ll be surprised by the difference a pen and paper can make!
