The Rules of Life

(Grace) #1

Have a Plan for Your Career


So where are you going at work? Have you a plan? A goal?
Even a humble aim? If you don’t have any of these, chances
are you’re going to drift. If you have a plan, you stand a better
chance of getting to where you want to be. Knowing where
you want to be is 90 percent of the battle. Knowing where you
want to be means you’ve sat down and thought about things,
that you’ve been conscious about your future and have
focused your attention on it.


Once you’ve looked ahead and decided where you want to
be—and there is no right or wrong about where that is, you
can be as determined and ambitious as you want—you can
plan the logical steps you need to get you there. And once you
have those steps, you can work out what you need to do to
make each a reality. Is it further qualifications? Experience? To
change jobs? To change the way you work? Whatever it takes
for you to make those steps is what you have to do. Don’t stag-
nate. Don’t get stuck in a rut.


We all need to work to earn a living. Staying at home watching
daytime TV really isn’t an option. Work keeps your mind fit
and active as well as gets you in touch with other people, and
work presents a daily challenge. Believe you me, we are better
off with it than without it.


If you don’t have a plan, you could end up anywhere. Yes,
sure, that might be exciting, but I doubt that many people end
up happy and successful merely by chance. It’s something you
have to work at, consciously. And having a plan is part of that
conscious effort. I know luck plays a crucial part in some
people’s lives, but only a very few. And formulating a plan and

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