Most people can either be a ‘work person’ or a ‘career person’. There are those who are content with their current state of work and find their value in life in other things, such as a hobby or some side projects. There are those whose main line of work is their passion; it’s their career and lifestyle.
One isn’t inherently better than the other, although they have enough differences that each should be approached differently. A work person will be content with where they are in their job, as they derive their satisfaction outside of their way to make a living. A career person will shift their entire life and devote it to their passion, thereby making a living out of it as well. Because of this, the mindset of a career person is interesting; it’s filled with rather strange and bullheaded decisions. And yet we celebrate career people: CEOs, celebrities, developers of revolutionary products.
We celebrate giant CEOs like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, we adore Hollywood celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Taylor Swift. These are career people, they’ve made a life out of their career. And what makes their mind tick is all the more interesting. Even if you’re not a career person, you might find these tips useful in improving yourself.
Set Goals and a Roadmap to It
We all dream of success, but how often do we ask ourselves: success in what? While it may seem obvious, the truth is that many people vaguely imagine what success looks like. Is it achieving a certain position in your company? Or maybe it’s starting your own company. Or perhaps releasing an album or a magnum opus.
Whatever your dreams, set them down. Establish a relatively achievable goal, and make a road map towards it. Find out how you’re going to achieve that goal, and go through it step by step. If you think no one has achieved your goal before, don’t lose heart. You’ll be a pioneer, and your task is to analyze the way to get there.
One way to make a goal more realistic is to create milestones in your road map. These milestones are smaller goals that are realistically achievable but together they make your full goal. A good example would be if you want to open your own restaurant. The first step in that of course is to know enough about the food industry. And then your next step would perhaps be collecting enough money to start your own business. And then your end-goal would be to receive a Michelin star. Chunking your goals this way makes it more realistic and gives you a map to achieve it.
Be Situationally Aware
We have many distractions in our lives. How many times have you seen a pedestrian walk the crosswalk while listening to music and looking at their smartphones? We simply have too many stimuli nowadays to just be in the moment. This severe lack of situational awareness leads to missing a lot of what’s happening around you, which can be grievously dangerous.
You might not see a speeding car incoming, or you might not be aware of the general mood of the room, or even with simple things: like not realizing that the food you are cooking is becoming burnt. That’s why situational awareness is ever more important nowadays. How is this connected to your career? Well, the skills necessary to assess, and then understand, and then finally act, that hone when you’re consciously trying to be situationally aware is often beneficial to become a successful career person.
Being situationally aware will bring you a long way. From knowing how to read the atmosphere and anticipate what to say or do in the conference room to not needing a motorcycle injury attorney because you’re situationally aware. You will be on top of most things because you have the sense of mind to pay attention to the things around you and to consider things many don’t.
Learn How to Talk to People
Knowing how to communicate your ideas is crucial to being successful. After all, what is a success but effectively communicating your point to as most people as you can. Most, if not all, of successful people throughout history, have found the most effective way (for them, at least) of conveying their point. And this is something we should all pay attention to.
Finding your own voice, or preferred style of communication is necessary to get people to listen to your ideas. Practice eloquence so people understand you better. Be compassionate and understanding so that people can trust that you won’t trample on their person. Be objective and smart so that what you say will carry weight. All the career people experiencing success have communicated their ideas, and so should you.
