“What do you want to do with your career?”
Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. - Napoleon Hill
The first step in accomplishing anything is to decide you want to do it. As a senior executive, I mentored many younger employees. The first question I would typically ask a new mentee is “What is it you want to do with your career?” More often than not the response I received was “I don’t know”. This is an acceptable response from someone right out of college or from someone who may have just joined your company. But many times this response came from people who were five and ten years into their careers. I wanted to respond to these individuals: “Unfortunately, my crystal ball isn’t working so well today”.
There are many things a mentor can help you with, but deciding what your goals are and what you want to get out of your life and career are things that only YOU can decide. After all, each of us defines success very differently. If you don’t know what you want, chances are you’ll never reach your full potential.
Can you imagine getting into an elevator with your CEO and asking them “What does our company want to accomplish and what are our goals for this year” and then having them respond, “I don’t know?” If that ever happens to you, my advice is to get your resume ready to leave.
Companies know it is imperative to have a vision and goals for the future. If you do this too, you are very likely to achieve what you set out to do. The same is true for your career.
Do you have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish?
In 1920 Napoleon Hill was charged by Andrew Carnegie to interview 500 of the most successful people of that era. He instructed Hill to determine why these people were so much more successful than ordinary people. It took him 25 years to complete this project, which culminated in the best-selling book “Think and Grow Rich.” His finding was very simple. The main thing these individuals universally had in common was that they had a clear vision of what they wanted to accomplish and an expectation that they would.
Research indicates that only 2% of people have a clear vision of their future and goals written out to take them there. How about you? What is your vision?
To inspire your planning consider these words from Napoleon Hill,
“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside awakes.”
So go ahead---create your vision today---I DARE you.
Becky Blalock, is a C-Suite IT Executive, Thought Leader, Board Member, Speaker and Author of the best-selling book DARE: Straight Talk on Confidence, Courage, and Career.
