subject: Take Charge - Change The Course Of Your Career Development [print this page] We sometimes find ourselves in situations we are not happy with but don't want to be hasty and take impulsive action. Certainly with a job situation, you don't want to walk away from income that sustains you and your family. You might rationalize waiting it out and think "this too shall pass," only to find that that things aren't changing and you are languishing in something that is draining the life out of you. These things you don't like probably won't change. The only thing you can change in this life is yourself.
Do a career assessment
So with a job situation, first you need to analyze what it is that you don't like - and what you do like. Is it the people, the compensation, the daily tasks, the industry, the travel? Be honest with yourself and isolate those things that do and don't work so you can do or seek more of the positive and minimize the negative. Own up to the barriers that are keeping you from having what you say you want - fear, weak skills, arrogance, etc.
Take your career development in your own hands and start moving
Next determine if there are different behaviors you can adopt to shift the outcomes that have you blue or blocked. Maybe you do need to seriously consider a change of setting. It could be to another group in the same company or another company, industry, city or state altogether. You decide what will suit you, but have a rationale for what you seek and make sure you are not just running from something, to something else where you are sure to repeat the same undesirable pattern. Set a deadline for yourself (ideally with quantitative measures - headaches per day, dollars, etc.) by which you will take action. Honor this and set about your plan to make a move. Change is good, especially when it starts with you!
