9 Ways To Reinvent A Stale Career - Work It Daily

9 Ways To Reinvent A Stale Career - Work It Daily If work was beer, would your draft be bubbling and full of fizz or stale and bitter? Related: 5 Dynamic Ways To Reinvent Your Career Path Just because your career isn’t turning out the way you expected, it doesn’t mean you have to accept it. This article will explore ways in which you can transform your tedious day job into something that is full of purpose and drive. Here are nine ways to reinvent a stale career. 1. Practice Lifelong Learning One of the best pieces of advice someone can give you is to never stop learning. Ever. With all the materials, courses, and guides available online we really have no excuse to become stagnant and bored with our daily lives. We are able to access a variety of information that can cause growth, not only in our careers but also in our personal lives. Learn some extra skills every month. It doesn’t even need to be related to your current career; try something completely different and see how it makes you feel. They key is to make sure that whatever you learn makes you want to learn more and continue the growth process. 2. Decide On A Timeframe Although some of us are dreamers by heart - myself included - we tend to keep dreaming instead of waking up and taking action. When you are trying to spice up your career and escape the comfort zone you need to push yourself in doing so. Instead of procrastinating for the future, implement a plan for the present. Decide on certain goals you want to reach and establish a deadline for these goals. 3. Find Your Nemesis Many companies have those individuals that seem to have an unwritten rule of competition. Think of Harvey Spector and Louis Litt in Suits - I know, I know, it’s a pretty silly show, but bear with me. Even though Harvey isn’t directly competing with Louis, the idea of it inspires Louis to improve and grow within his own career. Find your ‘Harvey’ at your company and aspire to reach your full potential by working at their level. (My “Harvey” was a guy named Kenny and he is the inspiration behind www.kennygottheboot.com, since I eventually took his job.) 4. Throw Yourself In The Deep End Being bored at work can easily lead to feelings of depression and low self-worth. If you are not working on a task or project that you find inspiring you won’t be giving it your all. If you’ve been practicing the same career for quite some time, it might be time to push the envelope. Don’t settle for the mundane and be satisfied with doing the same thing day in and day out. Speak to your boss about growth opportunities and new developments within the company and enquire whether you can become involved. It might take some time to prove yourself in this regard. If you are still a junior at your company it would be the ideal time to show that you are willing to push yourself and improve during pressure situations. I used this exact strategy years ago to go from an unpaid intern to Vice President of a sports agency within a period of 12 months. I took the job of a guy named Kenny, who was just coasting along. He is the inspiration behind www.kennygottheboot.com, where I give away my career reinvention secrets. Check it out! 5. Interview Yourself One of the best ways to figure out who you truly want to be is by interviewing yourself, or asking a friend to do this for you. Imagine you are on a talk show (Kimmel or Fallon) in the future and think about how you would want to present yourself. Think of questions that will give you a clear idea of your purpose. Visualize your future self and answer the questions accordingly. Even though this might feel like an awkward exercise - it will give you a clear idea of the person you want to become and help you in planning the steps and methods to get there. Many times your career turns stale because you don’t have a future goal in mind, talk the small steps in becoming the person you ultimately want to be. 6. A Little Help From Your Friends We might think we have a clear idea of who we are - but that is only a one-sided perspective. Make use of your support system such as your (true) friends and family to help reinvent your career. They will be able to give the outsider view on your growth and accomplishments. You don’t necessarily have to - or want to - follow their advice, but you can take it into account when making important career decisions. Sometimes you might even have a friend going through the exact same thing, and this makes for a great accountability partner in reaching your respective career dreams. Think of this step as a “career intervention” that might lead to reinvention. 7. Find A Career Coach The first step is to admit you have a problem, right? Sometimes we know that something is wrong in our lives, but we don’t know exactly how to define it. Your chosen career plays a tremendous role in your well being. Just as a psychologist will help you with your psychological well being, a career coach can help you figure out your career goals, financial situation and how to find the work-life balance. Click here to learn more about how a coach can help. 8. Join The Right Networks Study other professionals - dead or alive - in order to find your own success. We now know that we don’t need to make all our mistakes ourselves in order to learn from failure. We can listen to what has worked for others and join industry specific discussions (see LinkedIn). In order to reinvent your stale career, talk to those in your industry and find out what they would do or what they have done in similar situations. 9. Take Time To Help Others Helping others can do wonders for your sense of self-worth. Even though your job might feel monotonous you might have skills that others want to learn. Take time to help those on lower levels and inspire them to become successful. Once you’ve started building these relationships with others, you might end up inspired to try growing within your own career as well. There you have it! Follow these steps to bring back the fizz into your career and you’re sure to come out on the other side feeling incredibly refreshed. This post was originally published at an earlier date. Related Posts 4 Secrets To Changing Careers In Your 40s Are You Second Guessing Your Career Choice? 5 Tips For Planning A Career Change About the author Alex Simon is a career reinvention coach and speaker. Often referred to as “a master at breaking into sexy and exciting careers”, he has promoted world title fights, managed Indy 500 race car drivers, worked for a Wall Street giant, and is the subject of Starsuckers, an award-winning documentary on the pursuit of fame. Check out his website, follow him on Twitter, find him on YouTube, or add him on LinkedIn! Disclosure: This post is sponsored by a CAREEREALISM-approved expert. You can learn more about expert posts here. Photo Credit: Shutterstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!