Your Career Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
In a hyper-competitive culture that corporate America fosters, young workers often expect their careers to reach meteoric heights in a short time frame. Younger generations do not stay at work as long as their parents, whether because of economic factors or because most jobs are just stepping stones to more lucrative salaries and better job titles.
Getting caught up in the everlasting rat race can lead to burnout or worse, complete frustration. While it can be easy to fall prey to this mindset, it is best to view a career as an aspiration over decades rather than a rush to rapid success.
If you enjoy your job enough, stay awhile
If you are constantly in a rush to improve your rankings, you risk missing out on opportunities that are already at your fingertips. Relaxing and focusing on your current job will allow your skills to flourish, while the constant pursuit of new pastures in search of professional influence can put you in a whirlwind where your skills may wane rather than grow.
According to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, most people stay at work for an average of four years. That’s a pretty long timeframe for most millennials – and more than enough time to really get hold of a deal before you feel the need to move on. If you feel like the employer cares about you and is treating you fairly, don’t rush to the door – it’s better to wait for the right opportunity than to come up quickly.
Cut off the hype
Not everyone suffers from this, but in today’s corporate world there is a tendency towards careerism. LinkedIn is full of potential influencers and aspiring business tycoons who trumpet their accolades and preach a work culture. This is toxic, but especially for those seeking professional growth. Subscribing to this opinion can make you a status racer and someone less passionate about the job itself than about potential titles, salary, and recognition.
Do your best to click the unsubscribe button. By looking at the latest career updates and peer reflections on LinkedIn, you can ruin your career in many ways. Focus on yourself and developing your own skills. It will help make work — in addition to life — much more enjoyable.
Visualize your career path in the long term
By appearing as a corporate consultant or a commonplace stockbroker, you should try to chart your career as a graph showing short-term and long-term investment returns – it looks unstable in the short term, but when you zoom out, you can see an uptrend. When it comes to taking a lot of risk, instead of sticking to the course, your career will most likely end in the same place, or better yet, if you play for a long time.
It can often feel like a critical time is passing, especially when your peers are making progress and advancing in careers while you seemingly are not, but understanding that a success story doesn’t happen overnight can help you maintain confidence. By comparison, you won’t be able to get retirement benefits until you’re 65. A person’s career spans decades from start to finish, so it’s best to take a deep breath and realize that you can and will get what you may or may not want. straightaway.