The new year is a time for new beginnings, focusing on priorities, and making a resolution to take (and maintain) action. It's a perfect time to make a resolution or commitment to find work you love.
BUT, finding a natural vocation that motivates you every day because it uses your trademark talents and satisfies your own core needs requires more than just wanting it.
Everybody wants something. People want a large house with columns, a new partner, a different body and a vacation in Tahiti. They even want a new life - at least a new work life. At least that's what the statistics and my observations reflect. If so many people are longing to be in their dream career, then why do too few actually achieve that goal? The answer, my dear reader, lies mainly in the difference between wants and commitments.
Want: n. the state of desiring something that is absent or unavailable.
Wants are our hopes, dreams, ambitions and passions. Wants keep us going, but they're a dime-a-dozen. This is because they're so easy to have. Wanting does not require an action. You can lie on your couch watching "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous", and all the while your wants float in and out of your head as easily as fantasies, which is about what they are.
Commitment: n. the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action.
Commitments, on the other hand, are requirements that you establish for your life. They are solemn promises to achieve a specific outcome. They supply you with the raw energy-the motivation-you need to live an extraordinary life.
Compare the two statements:
Nancy: "I want to find a career I love" Karen: "I will find a career I love"
Who do you think has a likelier chance of find a career they love?
The bottom line to all of this is that if you want to achieve a fulfilling career, you must make some commitments to yourself. There's no way around it.
Where to go from here?
The key to positive career choice lies in:
1.identifying your comprehensive list of wants 2.deciding which wants to commit to
Identifying your complete list of wants involves examining every aspect of you and your situation: your natural abilities, personality, work values, goals, ideal work environment, and family situation. I have found that the most effective way to accomplish the first step is through a methodical combination of (a) introspection, (b) personal assessments and (c) exercises/inquiries posed by a professional career counselor/coach.
Once you have that list, you can start on the second step-deciding what you want to commit to and what you're willing to work for.
Why don't we get what we want?
Because life simply is not fair. In fact, it can be downright crappy at times. Our odds of stumbling into a wholly wonderful life are only slightly better than hell freezing over. But the odds increase dramatically when you commit to having a wonderful life.
As the Rolling Stones said "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Notice that they didn't say "You Can't Always Get What You Commit To."
It's a new year, and the time when most people promise to change their bad ways and habits in the coming year. In reality, New Year's resolutions are nothing more than an exercise in goal setting. While those making resolutions are sincere in their desire for change, the sad fact is that most of these goals will not be met. But there is help. What follows are 3 very simple yet critical goal setting strategies that will help you avoid failure in reaching your goals this coming year.
First and foremost, goals must be very specific and in a definitive time frame. Goals such as losing weight, stopping smoking, or making more money in the coming year are far too general and bound to fail. In addition, setting long-term goals without breaking them down in to smaller, more manageable steps more often than not result in failure. Instead of having a goal to lose weight in the coming year, a more appropriate strategy would be to set weekly and monthly weight loss goals. For example, if my goal were to lose 50 pounds by next January, I would set monthly goals of losing 4 pounds per month, or more succinctly a weight loss of 1 pound per week. This seems far more attainable than losing 50 pounds in a year, and the chances of achieving this goal increase dramatically.
The second strategy focuses on accountability. For any resolution to be successful, there must be some measure of accountability, or a feeling of taking responsibility for the success or failure of that goal. Most people are only accountable to themselves, and this rarely works in goal setting. A strategy that I have successfully used for the past year is that of an accountability partner or "running buddy," a person that you are accountable to in working towards your goals. This strategy is crucial to achieving goals and has been instrumental in my losing 65 pounds last year. I was accountable to my wife, who was also trying to lose weight. By holding each other accountable, this served as a strong support system for achieving our short- and long-term goals.
If you do not have someone close by to serve as your accountability partner, there are other options, including the Internet. Another goal I set last year was that of achieving financial freedom through my home business opportunity. In order to achieve this, I needed someone who was in a similar business situation as I with the same goals. I found this person through the Internet. By using Google Documents, email, and the telephone we kept each other accountable to our monthly, weekly, and even daily activities and made great strides towards our long-term goals. It has worked amazingly well, and we continue to be accountability partners to this day.
The third and final strategy for successful goal setting involves limiting distractions. There are numerous sources of distraction that can chip away at our productivity on a daily basis. Email messages, phone calls, non-essential webinars and training calls, and meaningless meetings all serve to distract us from our goals. You must put a system in place to limit these distractions. Personally, I only check email messages twice per day (in the morning and evening), screen my phone calls, and am very selective as to which training calls and webinars I attend. This allows me to focus all of my energies on achieving my daily activities that contribute towards realizing my long-term goals.
The setting of goals each January is ubiquitous throughout the world, yet in general less than 10% of people actually realize these goals, most having lost their drive by the end of January. The reason for this high degree of failure usually lies in the lack of definitive goal setting strategies. Using more specific goals of shorter duration combined with sharing accountability with another person and limiting unnecessary distractions will dramatically increase your chances of achieving your goals. And best of all, you'll dramatically improve your self confidence and overall quality of life when you succeed in meeting your goals and aspirations.
Both Steve Bohler & Bob Clarke are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Steve Bohler has sinced written about articles on various topics from Food and Drink, self improvement and motivation and Employment. Steve Bohler is the founder and head coach of the Oxford Program. has helped over 1000 people worldwide change from the wrong career to a "Natural. Steve Bohler's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.
Bob Clarke has sinced written about articles on various topics from Network Marketing, Home Security and Home Security. Most top leaders in online marketing use specific goal setting strategies such as these to explode their businesses. Dr. Bob Clarke is an internet entrepreneur, marketing expert and online business coach who works with his team on achieving their goal of. Bob Clarke's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.