You want to energize your career.
Am I right?
I suspect I am. Because, every person at some point in their career journey seeks to step it up a notch and be more excited about the work they are doing.
This may occur after you’ve been in a role for a long time and the tasks you are doing just don’t keep you motivated. But, it often occurs at the very beginning of a new career or after accepting a different position. This is when you’re fired up and want to do even more to make a positive impact for the organization.
Whatever situation you find yourself in, I’ve got some practical steps you can take to put the energy and excitement back into your job.
It’s all part of the five question process to create role clarity in your job. Question four, “What Should I Start Doing?” will not only increase your clarity in your work, but it will also give you a perfect opportunity to energize your career.
Question 4. What Should I Start Doing?
In previous posts, we’ve discussed questions one through three of the five questions I introduced in the post, How To Create Role Clarity With 5 Simple Questions.
These five simple questions provide a framework to help you create more role clarity for yourself, your team, or your organization.
- What Am I Doing?
- What Should I Stop Doing?
- What Should I Keep Doing?
- What Should I Start Doing?
- Who Should Review My Answers?
Over the past few weeks, if you’re following along with this blog, you’ve probably made significant progress in building role clarity.
You documented what you’re now doing in your current role following the guidelines in the post “Build A Strong Foundation For Role Clarity By Knowing Your Tasks.”
Then, after reading the next post, “How To Discover What You Should Stop Doing.” you dropped some things off your task list and got a welcome relief as you stopped doing work that didn’t need to be done or needed to be assigned to someone else.
Most recently, you gained confidence to keep doing what you’re doing based on the post, “4 Simple Actions To Know What To Keep Doing.”
So, you’re in a good spot, right?
You know what you’re going to do and what you’re not going to do. That’s good role clarity. You are in a position to keep doing what you’re doing.
Hopefully, you are completely motivated, energized, and satisfied to stay the course with the work you’re doing.
But, what if you’re not? What if you don’t want to just keep doing your current tasks, at least not forever?
I encourage to lean into that desire to do more, to add more or different value to your team and your organization. The question to ask to energize your career is “What Should I Start Doing?”
An obvious answer first
You’ve likely seen the multiple references I’ve made in this series of posts to performance goals. I’ve also encouraged you to keep doing your assigned tasks.
This may seem obvious, but I am going to say it out loud so no one misses this.
If you aren’t already doing the tasks assigned to you either formally in your performance goals or directly by your manager, start doing them immediately.
Doing what you’re being paid to do may not immediately energize your career, but it will definitely improve your chances of keeping your job.
If you’re reading my blog, I don’t think that’s a problem for you. But, I wanted to be crystal clear on this critical point.
Start doing the things that are not optional. And, start right now.
But, if you really want to energize your career, don’t stop there.
I encourage you to invest in yourself. Because you’re worth it.
Develop yourself to energize your career
Throughout my career, I have been most energized when I’m growing and developing by learning and doing new things. And even when I’m not doing tasks that are different and challenging, I’ve been more motivated when I know I have a plan to do those things in the future.
Even if we love the job we’re currently in, it is critical to be investing in ourselves so we’re ready for future roles.
Here are six ways you can energize your career by investing in yourself and your future success.
1. Energize your career by building your image
The impression others have of you is important. Try taking these actions to help others see you accurately and in a positive light.
2. Energize your career by gaining exposure
Being exposed to new opportunities, ideas, and people can boost your energy level and your career. Consider if you could start doing some of these tasks.
3. Energize your career by performing with excellence
Successful leaders deliver results with their teams. And, the best leaders perform well while also caring for others. This requires you to take actions like these.
4. Energize your career by getting experience
The industry-standard 70/20/10 model for learning and development attributes 70% of learning to on-the-job experiences. Nearly everyone learns best by doing. Here are some ideas on tasks you can start doing to energize your career and stay motivated.
5. Energize your career by building relationships
The 70/20/10 model considers 20% of development to occur through building relationships. Interacting with coworkers is a powerful way to build a strong network inside and outside your organization.
6. Energize your career by taking formal training
While just 10% of learning and development is accomplished in a formal setting, courses and programs can be highly valuable. Classroom or online teaching can be the start of a new path in your professional journey. Explore what your organization has to offer and look into options available in your community. These steps can also help you get the training you need.
These six ways to energize your career by investing in yourself give you several ideas and options. And, you probably thought of several more yourself.
But, you may be wondering how to get started. It’s a reasonable question.
Here’s what I recommend.
Use timeframes to get started and stick with it
It can be easy to read the actions listed above and get overwhelmed with all the choices you have to start doing new tasks.
I feel that way at times.
I suggest you break your options into specific windows of time that are reasonable for each task.
Actions you can start within 30 days
What actions on your list of tasks to start doing can you begin very quickly? These things would include actions you can do on your own without approval or funding. You can get quick wins and re-energize yourself in less than a month.
Actions you can start between 30 days to 3 months
Some things you want to start doing will take more planning and preparation. For instance, you may have to wait for a particular course to be offered. Or, a special volunteer project may not start immediately. Simply by applying and committing to these longer terms actions, you have taken steps to say motivated by investing in yourself.
Actions that will take some time to start
I expect you have thought of some big tasks you want to start doing. You may want to get an advanced degree or a professional certification. Or, you may have identified a new job you want to rotate into. Let’s be honest, things like this can take time and preparation to start. Don’t let this discourage you. By planning for these longer term opportunities, you will continue to be energized in your career well into the future.
Capture the tasks you are going to start doing to energize your career
I explained in a previous post the importance of documenting the tasks you are doing. It is equally important to document the tasks you are doing to start doing.
It’s too easy to have good ideas about what you are going to start doing to energize your career but then never actually do them because you don’t write them down.
That’s true for me at least. I have to write things down to make sure I actually do them.
If you have a formal Individual Development Plan system in your organization, that’s the perfect place to add the actions you are going to take to develop yourself. But, even if you don’t, you can easily add them to your document of current tasks.
Whatever format you choose, it’s important to write down these new tasks you are going to start and commit to doing them.
And, to be successful it’s almost important for you to get others involved.
Getting others involved with your new and improved set of tasks
You started with a list of your current tasks and now you’ve removed as well as added some items.
How can you validate your set of tasks is optimized for you and your role?
To get this validation and ensure you will reach your overall goal of achieving role clarity, it’s important to make the most of your network.
It’s time to get others involved in reviewing your new and improved set of tasks and get their input.
We’ll cover that in our next post, but until then, I encourage you to look back through the new tasks you’ve decided to start doing.
Does the thought of doing these things immediately and in the future motivate you? I hope so. Because taking even a few of the actions described above is a proven way to energize your career and position you to do all you were designed to do.
I’m confident you can do even more than you’re doing now for the good of your team and your organization. By designing your future and investing in your own development, these new tasks can not only benefit those around you, they can also give you the energy and motivation to keep you performing at your very best.
Let’s lead with kindness and confidence.
Greg
