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Your career can be such a funny thing. You won’t always know what you want to do or what the future holds. You may not even be thinking about it just yet ether. Sometimes, you’re thinking more about the day to day life and doing a good job today. And you don’t always want to think ahead to what could be or what might be. Yet in doing so, you are likely to find that you kind of stay still. Because you’re really not able to move forward unless you know where you’re going to where you plan to go. And this is why you have to think ahead.

If you’re an ambitious person and you really want to think about getting to a certain place, then you have to plan it out. You have to know what kind of steps you might want to think about taking in order to get to where you want to be. Maybe it’s a career change that you want to do? Or maybe you want to think about getting a promotion? Or even going solo? So let’s take a look at what you might want to do here to take your career to the next level.

Analyze Where You Are

First of all, you’re going to want to take a bit of an objective look at where you are right now. Because you have to be really clear about where you are starting, if you’re going to work out where you want to go. So really know where you are and how your role fits into the bigger picture.

Decide What You Want

And now, you need to work out what you do actually want. Think about the career choice that might feed you the most. To some, this will be something that you do to change paths and move into a career that you know you love. However, it might be just thinking about the more senior roles that you want, or how you’re going to be able to climb the ladder. So really get serious here and think about what you want.

Think About Your Strengths

The next step here is for you to take a look at your strengths. Some people will know these like the back of their hand. But not all. So if you’re trying to start selling yourself, you need to think objectively and identify your strengths. Know what you’re good at and what you can bring to the table. This can often help you to work out what sort of direction you might want to take your career in next.

Work On Your Weaknesses

And then from there, you will want to think about where your weak spots are. With this, you are going to find that you perhaps not suited to some roles. Or, on the plus side, you will then be able to take a look at your weaknesses and then start to improve them. This can then help you to both grow in your career and as a person.

Learn More

You want to grow in your career, right? So now, you have to do more. Learn more. Take more on. You cannot grow unless you are growing. So do you need to take a course? Read? Meet new people? Just make sure that you are pushing your knowledge and experience to the next level.

Boost Your Skills

Now, you may know that when it comes to your resume, that you need to stand out. Whether you want to get ahead in your company or be noticed by another company, think about the skills that will allow you to do this. Maybe you want to look into CPR certification training or learn a language? Really look into the options that will boost your skill set for the industry that you’re in.

Start Your Own Thing

From here, you may even be thinking about starting your own business – so why not try this? Maybe you want to think about starting a side hustle so that you can get more experience or knowledge to help you get ahead in your career? Or, do you actually want to go freelance or start a company? If so, then you just need to give this ago and get started in the spare time you have – otherwise it will never happen!

Network More

Next up, you’ll then want to think about getting out there a bit more and meeting people. This can seem really intimidating to some, but it’s one of the things that can open a lot of doors for you. So start networking with people in your industry. Getting your name out there and getting into conversation can allow you to do great things, so just start and see where it might take you.

Do More

And then, you have to absolutely make sure that you are going the extra mile in your career. It’s essential that you are doing more or pushing yourself to stand out. If you want your boss to notice you, or you want your business to stand out, then you absolutely need to make sure that you’re going above and beyond here. If you can shine, then your advancement may be guaranteed.

Put A Plan In Place

The next thing that you’re going to want to do at this stage, is consider what kind of path you might like to take. And sometimes, you have to think about the actual steps you’re going to take. Sure, you won’t always be able to carry out a career plan to the tee. But, you will want to be thinking about what you need to do to get a promotion, or to even climb to the ultimate position.

Jump Ship

Maybe what you need to do to grow and get ahead in your career, is to move over to a new company. Sometimes, where you are now, there isn’t room for you to be able to grow or progress, then you have to look elsewhere. Think about the different companies or industries that you could move to. Because sometimes, you may find that you can take your experience and apply it to a completely different niche, because the role is largely the same!

Make A Change Today

And then, as a caveat, if you do want to make a career change then you need to think about doing this right away. Because, you are going to find that your career will just stay the same and stay exactly as it is unless you make those steps today. So do you need to get more education? Do you need to get some experience by working in the evenings or at weekends? Or do you just need to start building a business on the side? Make sure that you just get started, to be sure that you can make this change as soon as possible.

Finally, you will absolutely want to make sure that you’re thinking about how you’re going to be able to take some of these ideas and make them work out for you. And the good thing is, you really don’t have to do everything – you can pick out the steps that apply to your career and how you can grow in your industry.

And then, all that’s left for you to do is to take that first step. Think about what will put the wheels in motion. Then do the first thing that will allow you to propel your career in the way you want. So good luck, and happy career growing!