Even if your career is going well, you need a strategic career plan.  Our world is in constant flux. The good conditions of today may change in another season. Where will you be in five years time? Here are some elements to consider for your sustained success.

Exploration. What questions are you asking yourself? If you could place yourself someplace better in one year’s time, where would be? Explore the possibilities you have in the coming future.  Learn to think of the many choices that you have available to you. Every choice you make will open new possibilities, and close others. Reflect on what you will choose. Pause before you take action.  Increase your informed level of responsive action. 

Expand your dream. Do you remember the dream that got you this far? I had put my dream far behind me, until I couldn’t stand the distance.  I was at a distance from my energizing essence! I was disconnected from my dream. Finding my dream helped me restore personal energy.  Now I have launched new directions and see new places.  I’m keeping my dream alive; more than that, I’m expanding it!

Review your strengths. Read one of the books about career strengths by Marcus Buckingham, and learn more about your vital energy.  Why would you want to work in weakness?  Once you know what your strength areas are, you can include more of them in your future. When you work in your strength area, you enjoy your work, and accomplish more with ease. Choose your strengths, and include them in your strategic career plan.

Networking. We expand our potential by surrounding ourselves with effective people.  Include networking in your plan.  Consider well:  who are the people that can help you succeed? Few of us achieve anything great by ourselves.  Expand the circle of people who trust you, and whom you trust. Perhaps you should work on a new networking skill, such as a social media application.

A learning plan. Have you noticed that the rate of change is continuing to pick up?  Reinvest in your knowledge base. You don’t have to earn a new degree.  You don’t have to even take a class. Become master of your field by reading and talking to people who make a difference in your work. Build your specialized expertise.  With study and meaningful work, you can be the person that everyone thinks of when an expert is needed.  Invest in your intellectual capital!

Launch the next phase of your future. Your career strategic plan helps you review your potential gains, and overcome threats to your current position. This is important. Your strategic plan should be used in times of relative security to help you make the best decisions in the coming crossroads of your life. A victim waits until he or she is at risk. A great career plan will keep you in the game at a high level. When you design your own career strategic plan, you have participated in creating the game of personal success!

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Be a leader. Use imagination, career experience, and awareness of your world. Take action.

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Call me at 602-993-6070 if you would like to explore your inner leader.