Photo by Matt Duncan on Unsplash.com

Where are you headed with your career? Do you have a career plan? Do you know what lies ahead for you? Can you even know … and how can you prepare for it?

This is an important post in this Managing yourself at work series. It starts with you. It starts where you are. It begs the question: Where are you work or career-wise? And, where are you headed?

Time to take stock of your work/career
Motivational quotes often refer to dreams and aspirations, having a positive attitude and putting in the hard yards to attain goals.

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.
~ Walt Disney

Having courage to pursue dreams is essential, but first we need to know what we want and where we want to go? That calls for self-awareness and self-reflection.

Did you try the exercise on how you are perceived at work? If not, check out the post here and consider gathering the data for yourself. This can also be used in this taking stock exercise.

Everyone can benefit from taking a step back from what we are doing, to get perspective on our circumstances. To facilitate this, consider mapping out your career to date or a stage of it. The choice is yours. Do what is relevant to you.

On the diagram below, plot time intervals on the horizontal axis, then mark in your career highs and lows. Extend the diagram to suit. A downloadable worksheet is included later in this post.

Follow your passion, be prepared to work hard and sacrifice, and, above all, don’t let anyone limit your dreams.
~ Donovan Bailey

Take some time to review your work life. Consider your career highpoints and the strengths you developed at those times.

Download your worksheet here: Career highs_lows

If you have questions about the worksheets, please contact me.