If there is one thing my wife detests,
it is doing laundry. It is one of those tasks that never comes to
an end. As soon as you complete
one load, another is ready to go. Then there is the folding, ironing
and more. My version of laundry is the monthly bill pay and financial
reconciles. It has some direct corollaries in that it, too, is never
done. I only make progress for another 30 days and then it starts
all over again. As you might imagine, there are certain tasks in
your career that closely resemble doing the laundry. Nevertheless,
they still need to be done, regularly and well, if you want to keep
your job, life and career on track.
Reevaluation of your current job
You might think you are reevaluating your current job on a day-to-day
basis, but in reality, you spend so much time "doing" your
job, you often have very little time, or inclination to think about
the job itself. This can be a dangerous trap if you allow it to go
on too long. Just like ignoring the laundry, you will eventually
pay for your inattention with more work.
I am sure you have seen the results of inattention. You wake up one
morning dreading your return to work. Tasks have piled up. Managers
have changed. Morale is low. Why didn't you notice this before? More
than likely, it is because you didn't take the time to reevaluate
your feelings about your job. I have seen workers spend years in
a bad job, simply because they didn't take the time to look around
them and realize that either they, the job, or both had changed.
Knowledge
One of the easiest aspects of your career to ignore is the need
for on-going education. Trapped in your own little world, filled
with
the same methods and systems year after year, you can forget that
the world continues changing around you. How many books are you
reading each month? On what topics? Are you still using the same
methods
you used 5 years ago? Are they still serving you well? Chances
are, your job has been stuck in a time warp while competitors
and, perhaps
even co-workers, have advanced beyond you. Remember, if you are
not learning something new, every single day, you are falling
behind.
Those around you are building their knowledge every day and you
should be, too. Otherwise you will find yourself left behind,
maintaining
legacy systems while others chart the newest business territory.
Relationships
Are you out there, every day, meeting new people and being introduced
to new ideas? This might be the number one danger to someone in
a stable job. If you like your co-workers and your job, you don't
have
the incentive to reach out to new people and new worlds. You get
comfortably cocooned in your job and might never want to leave.
Of course, as I mentioned above, this doesn't stop the world from
changing around you. Changes in Business can quickly bring a company
to its knees and disturb the happy little home you have established.
Don't be blindsided by change just because it hasn't happened to
you yet. Reach out to people outside your organization, outside
your company, even outside your area of expertise. You must keep
one eye
on what is happening outside your door or your next visitor just
might be the big bad wolf. Reach out to new people and new horizons.
Develop connections with people all over the world and learn the
lessons that everyone has to teach -- no matter how comfortable
your current job might be.
Everything else
Along with these larger issues, you also need to "do the laundry" in
many other ways. You need to update your resume, update your web
site, develop new skills, work towards a raise or promotion, prepare
for your annual review, plan your retirement, your own business,
your new life. It never really ends, even if you ignore it.
Regardless of the state of your current job and career, you have
to take the time to do the hard, recurring work to insure that
you are building the best career possible. Don't let complacency
stop
you from doing what needs to be done. Life is about growth and
change over time and you have to embrace this fact in order to
build the
career you deserve.
Career
Opportunities
