Command Your Career 10 Resolutions

Command Your Career – 10 Resolutions to Completely Change the Way You Look for and Attract Opportunities

Command-Your-Career Resolution #1: I will never, ever be a needy job searcher again.

As much as I feel uncertain, desperate, and scared of the unknown that lies ahead of me, I’ll never stoop to front-door methods of career transition by competing with every other Tom, Dick and Harriet knocking on the front door as well. I will take this transition as an opportunity to do my career inventory, build my self-value, and get aligned with my true interests and passions.

“The Best Way to Get a Job is: Don’t Be Looking for One” will be my mantra…and I will actively engage in meeting people far and wide for reasons other than my need for a job.

Think about it – How many people do you know? Friends, relative, current and past co-workers, acquaintances, your neighborhood barista, social media contacts and the list goes on. Studies have shown that the average person knows approximately 600 people. That is just average. Many people know many more than that…into the thousands. I am telling you this so that you understand it isn’t that difficult for you to actively engage in meeting people far and wide and for reasons other than your need for a job.

By making these contacts, you won’t have to be seen as a needy job seeker, desperate for anything that comes along. People will respect you and get to know you because YOU are getting to know THEM and their opinions. Heck, they probably will not even know you need a job. But if there is an opening that comes up in their company, in an area where you have actively expressed interest in – guess who they will first think of? You – someone they are already familiar with.

Don’t ever be a needy job searcher again. Desperation works in job search as well as it does in dating!

Command-Your-Career Resolution #2: I will give myself the right to explore my real interests and passions. (And if I’ve never really figured out what they are, I will do that!)

I will let go of the dual-reality idea that my work and my real interests and passions are separate worlds and must forever remain so. I will begin to accept that there are ways in which those worlds can come together in forms in which I am paid handsomely, and I will begin my exploration to find those ways. I’m different from every other human being on the planet, and there are things that light me up that others may find dull. Therefore, it’s my pleasure and responsibility to put my efforts into finding how I can bring whatever lights me up more fully into the world through my divine right work.

Too often, folks live in segmented, dual-reality lives in which their skills, talents, and aptitudes get used in their work life but don’t bridge over to what they care about. It doesn’t have to be this way. You can make a career change which will allow you to work at something you absolutely love and believe in.

Command-Your-Career Resolution #3: I will be shamelessly “question-able” in my pursuit of information and relationships.

I will guide the exploration for what is next in my career by asking the right questions to the right people.

Whether it is a job in a field in which I have no experience whatsoever, an opportunity to do something at the cutting-edge of a field I’ve been in for years, or an entrepreneurial venture that I’m gaining the courage to explore - I’ll focus on obtaining information and finding the right connections. I will let opportunities and jobs take care of themselves, arising naturally from the relationships and knowledge I gain.

There will be a way to make the right connection.

Command-Your-Career Resolution #4: I’ll reach to whatever high or holy levels I need to get the information I want.

I’ll accept that human beings have a basic desire to help one another, and actually enjoy it. And I’ll also subscribe to the belief that the best contribution I can make to another person is to let them contribute to me! Therefore, putting aside any sense of smallness or the idea that I could be a “bother” to people, I’ll find research-focused ways to connect with people in high-level positions to get the info I need around my areas of passionate interest.

I’ll adopt the mindset that “You Can Never Have Too Much Information…And the Higher the Altitude, the Better.”

There are several reasons why you want your contacts to have altitude:

1. A higher-level person generally has a wider level of expertise, knowledge and/or
2. A higher-level person has a wider view of trends both throughout the industry as well as within their particular organization.
3. A higher-level person will have a broader awareness of upcoming projects and direction that the department or company as a whole will be pursuing.
4. It’s a lot easier to get passed down than up, if your contact wants you to meet others he/she thinks can further help you within the organization.

Command-Your-Career Resolution #5: I will connect with everyone in my world to meet, greet and find the treat…but never from neediness.

I choose to believe that what I’m seeking is seeking me: but it’s up to me to reach out my hand and get it! That means I’ll take every opportunity to connect with those who show up around me, whether in a workshop, a barbershop, a line for coffee or an elevator. I will accept that the “elevator pitch” or 30-Second HELLO? (Helping Everyone Locate and Land Opportunities) was created for just this reason, and I will be ready and willing to find a way to get into conversation with anyone who comes into my space…because I never know WHAT they know or WHO they know.

This brings me to the rules we need to BREAK which were ingrained in us from our childhood to adulthood……“Don’t Talk To Strangers” and “Don’t Speak Until Spoken to.”

What? Who Said? Your mom when you were running around the grocery store talking to everyone and embarrassing her? We were all taught, to some degree, to limit our communications with others, to stay in our space and respect each other’s “boundaries”. There’s no better time to forget that rule than right now! Talk to people, be friendly, get conversations going – don’t stay in your own little world!

Command-Your-Career Resolution #6: I will deftly use the power of ego to gain an entryway to amazing and extraordinary people.

I realize that I love it when someone thinks I have a particularly unique slant on something, and they want my advice. I love giving advice! And I’m always interested afterwards to find out how my advice worked for someone. Therefore, I will turn this understanding of myself around and assume that others feel the same way. So, my job is to find ways to tap into the wisdom and expertise of others by having them feel that they are the only person on the planet that can answer my questions adequately.

We always make time for that which speaks to us at some deep level of our being. Therefore, it’s never a question of someone’s relative importance as to whether they will take time for you. It’s simply a question of you finding a way to speak to some deep level of their being. You are just as important as anyone…and your job is to find ways for people to discover your importance to them.

Command-Your-Career Resolution #7: I’ll turn every current and future relationship if in any way locally or conceivably possible, into a face-to-face meeting.

I will acknowledge that in the midst of living in a “high-tech” world, what is missing and that which makes a profound relationship difference is “high touch.” Therefore, I will attempt to transform every relationship I possess, both new and old, into a face-to-face meeting. Never again will I believe that my social media followers or friends, whether LinkedIn to me or not, can ever really know me or be engaged to support me (and me them) as well as when we’ve connected in the flesh.

It’s true that you may connect with people electronically initially, such as through mining your social network connections. But you want to transform that initial electronic contact into a personal, face-to-face one as quickly as possible. Chemical and even cave-man bonding processes then take place that can never be duplicated electronically.

Command-Your-Career Resolution #8: I will learn to listen to people, and have them feel that their wisdom, experience, and input is important.

Since I am solely looking for information and relationships, trusting that jobs and opportunities will take care of themselves, I will begin every conversation with a subject that everyone likes to discuss most:- themselves!

I realize that most people are never truly listened to. Therefore, I will be the change I want to see in the world, being interestED rather than interestING. I will probe and prod folks to share with me what got them where they are, why they made the choices they did, and how, in general, they became the absolute Rockstar that they are.

I will be authentic in this, because once I stop talking about myself and what I need and learn to truly listen to others, I will be blown away by the awesomeness of the folks I’m privileged to meet.

Command-Your-Career Resolution #9: I will never, ever submerge in a job or business opportunity again and let my network die.

I will not only build my relationships base far and wide, but I will find creative and continual ways to keep those relationships alive…because I never know when a better opportunity will come along.

My job is to stay constantly in the forefront of people’s awareness because “Top of Mind is Easy to Find” for opportunities that arise everywhere and all the time.

The worst mistake I can make is to cut off my connection with the network I’ve developed.

When you get a new position, fight the urge to submerge.

Command-Your-Career Resolution #10: I will never consider myself simply an employee again. I am only leasing my employable assets out to another company.

They are only called “employers’ because they employ your assets for their use. But, they are your assets. You want to keep attuned to your ROI (Return on Individuality) or ROE (Return on Effort) of the employable assets that you lease out to employers.

Never forget they are your assets, and remember you are the one in control of those assets. Therefore, continue to network with your career tribe, continue to learn, and continue to grow.

By commanding your career, you will be the one in control. These rules will help you find your dream job, increase exposure for your business, or even start a business from scratch.

? CareerGuy.com and Darrell W. Gurney. ? CareerGuy is a registered trademark.

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