By : Deborah Brown
As a career coach, people are always talking to me about their careers. We discuss their dreams, wishes, and future plans. But when I ask some of these people how they will implement their plan, their excuses for not moving forward begin to flow.
Their reasons vary. Some people tell me they are too old. Some are too young. Some have the wrong education or not enough. Some have too much experience, while others don’t have as much as they’d like.
Over the past year, the reason has been pretty consistent: The economy. How can anyone complain about not having a job they love, when they feel lucky just to be working?
I am not saying these reasons are not real for people. I am saying that I won’t go along with their reasons. The best piece of advice I can give to anyone is "you can still move forward." You can still take steps toward what you want. The timing may not be to your liking, but you can reach your goals if you simply keep working toward them.
So, how can you move past your excuses and not allow them to hold you back anymore? Here are some suggestions:
Identify Your Concerns
Everyone has a rationale for why they feel stuck – the things you say to yourself about why you can’t have what you want in your career. Some perceived obstacles may even seem scary to you. But really, your reasons are just a nonproductive conversation you keep having with yourself over and over again. And even the most baseless concerns, if repeated often enough, become real. Ask yourself, "What’s preventing me from reaching my career goals?" Write down all the obstacles you can think of. Once you have a complete list of your concerns, the power they have over you can disappear. Your reasons are out in the open. No more hiding. Now you can deal with them.
Let Go of Your Excuses
You can say you want your reasons to go away, but there may be a part of you that likes to keep your reasons around. As long as you have an excuse, you don’t have to move forward. As long as you have an obstacle, you don’t have to take a chance or risk. Standing still might be uncomfortable, but it may seem better than your perceived alternative. Letting go can be challenging. It means you release what’s familiar in favor of what’s unfamiliar. Letting go is a step you have to take to get what you really want. You cannot open the door to something new, until you close the door on what’s no longer working.
Go For What You Want
Once your excuses are out of the way, the sky’s the limit. You can freely acknowledge what you want, and you won’t have your negative thoughts telling you why you can’t have it anymore. You can move forward into planning mode.
Begin by writing down your goal. Then list the steps you will take to reach your goal, which is your plan. Prioritize the steps in your plan and open your calendar. Put into your calendar a specific schedule of when you will work on what. Make it part of your routine to look at your calendar, your goal and your plan every day.
Everyone agrees that the economy is tougher today. But that doesn’t mean you get a free pass to wait until things improve before you act. The work you do today will pay off in the end. The results may not be as fast as want, but they will come if you continue your efforts. As long as you are working toward your goals, you can reach them. Goal attainment only falls short when you stop trying. If you keep moving forward, taking small steps every day, you can get to where you want to go.
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