Are You Willing To Do What It Takes To Reach Your Career Goals?
When working with clients in the area career advancement, one of the first things we talk about is their willingness; that is, do they know what it takes to reach their ultimate career goal and are they willing to do what it takes to get there? This is usually a good reality check to ensure that the career goal is meaningful and realistic.
Assessing your “willingness” involves gathering information about what it truly takes to reach your career goals. Whether your goal is to reach the highest leadership level in your company or to get that next promotional increase, you must know what it will take for you to get there. The best way to find out what it takes is to talk to someone who is in the position that you aspire to reach or get a mentor who has experience in this area and can give you guidance on what is required of you to get there. Is it more education and training? New and different experiences? Time in different part of your company or different geographical location? You want to gather as much information as you can and then ask yourself whether you are willing to do what is required to reach that goal.
Sometimes, after exploring what is required, clients are not so sure that their career goal is the right one for them because some of the sacrifices are too great. One client discovered she would need to be willing to relocate two times in the next five years to advance to the higher-level position she desired. This was not something she was willing to do at this stage of her life (with young children at home). This is really a key question to ask yourself as you think about pursuing your career goals and your dreams: Are you willing?
I heard an audio recording of Fabienne Frederickson, (Client Attraction Mentor and owner of ), asking a group of the entrepreneurs (whom she mentors) the same question: Are you willing? She asked them the following series of questions, which I found quite profound and also applicable to those who are assessing their career goals and aspirations. Her questions were as follows:
To turn your goal into an every day reality, are you willing:
To make sizable investments in yourself?
To go where you have to go?
To do what you have to do?
To change what you have to change?
To let go of what has to go?
To move where you have to move?
To study what must be studied?
To take direction when it is required?
To continue in the face of failures?
To commit yourself 100% to your dream?
To possibly even receive ridicule, humiliation or rejection as part of the price to win?
And so, as you assess your own career goals, I ask you: Are you willing…?