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3 Ways To Recharge And Take Your Career To The Next Level

  • Jason Price OneMoneyDesign.com
  • Published Dec 17, 2012
3 Ways To Recharge And Take Your Career To The Next Level

This article originally appeared on Christian Personal Finance. Used with permission.

If you’re stuck in a job or career rut, it doesn’t have to be that way.  A job you once found exciting can easily get mundane and boring, especially if you’ve been in the position 3 – 5 years.  Sure, you could be challenged, but can still be bored.  Have you ever felt that way?  I have, but I’ve found some ways to work myself out of it and truly appreciate the career and work in front of me again.  Consider these three ways to recharge your batteries and take your career to the next level.

1. Organize and lead a special project.

The first thing you need to do is to get a new perspective on things.  This may not come naturally, but think about what you could do at work that goes above and beyond your job.  Might there be a problem, inefficiency or something you’ve found while doing your job that you could offer a better solution?  Think about what that might be and try to form your own project around it.  It should be something you could personally contribute to, or even recruit some help from other team members.  Of course, get approval from your boss, but who could argue with you if you can still do your day job, but also work on a project to add more value to the organization.  If you deliver, your boss and career will thank you for it and I guarantee you’ll learn plenty along the way.

2. Set challenging but attainable goals.

My company actually requires goal-setting every year.  The organization sets goals which trickle down to departments which trickle down to employees.  Employees know their department goals and have some freedom to set their own goals within departmental goals each year.  Perhaps you don’t have this structure with your company, at least formally.  That’s okay, because you can take it upon yourself to set 3 – 5 meaningful goals each year.  Review them with your boss, make them apart of your performance reviews each period and carve out the team to work on them.  Such goals can reinvigorate you and pull you to the next level if you contribute enough value and stretch beyond your current assignments.

3. Mentor or coach someone.

If you’re an experienced employee for your company or in your current position you may have a great opportunity to help someone else along in their career.  If your company doesn’t have a formal mentoring or coaching program, consider letting your performance manager know that you’re willing to help coach a new employee or spend time providing guidance to a more junior level person.  Giving back to help someone else will likely make you happier at the end of the day and you’re continuing to add value to your organization that upper management will appreciate.

While these ideas can help propel your career and find the excitement you once had for it, don’t perform them in a vacuum.  In other words, make sure they’re formally included in your career planning and discussed regularly with your manager.  If not, no one will be able to appreciate the work you’re doing.  The value you add needs to be supported by the organization and visible to upper management.

This is a post from Jason Price who is a blogger at OneMoneyDesign.com where he shares personal finance and career tips.

Christian Personal Finance is a resource dedicated to building God's Kingdom and helping others through money.

Publication date: December 20, 2012