Lesson #4: Don’t wait until your career is parched before you reach for the watering can!
“A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them.” — Liberty Hyde Bailey
If you garden, you know that plants need to be frequently watered. Of course, if you neglect to water once in a while it’s no big deal – but if you consistently forget, your plants will first wither, then turn brown, and eventually fade away.
Just like plants do best when kept hydrated, your career options are strongest when you “water and feed” yourself with a steady diet of career enhancing activities. Unfortunately, most people practice limited preventive career maintenance and then shift into overdrive when a crisis hits. Sadly, all too often that “manana” attitude is a recipe for failure; a case of too little, too late.
Don’t wait until your career is parched before you reach for the watering can.
Even if you are short on time (and aren’t we all?) you can always find a few minutes each week to practice pro-active career management. To help you get started, here are nine things you can do, in less than ten minutes a day, to maintain your career in tip-top shape:
- Set up a Google News Alert on a topic, industry or company that you want to learn more about.
- Send out an e-mail to one of your business contacts with a link to a useful article.
- Write a thank you note to someone who did something nice for you.
- Update your LinkedIn profile. Invite a new contact to connect online.
- Listen to an inspirational TED talk on a topic of your choosing (this one might take more than five minutes, but it is well worth the time).
- Invite a new contact to lunch.
- Register with your college alumni network.
- Update your resume.
- Write in a “thoughts about what I’d like to do next” journal.
Of course there are plenty of other bite-sized actions you can take to help ensure your success. If you have some good ideas on this subject for my readers I invite you to comment below.
Enjoy this? Here is the rest of the series:
Lesson #1: Getting Started is the Hardest Part
Lesson #2: Plant Yourself in the Right Soil
Lesson #3: If You’re a Sun Loving Plant, Find a Sun Loving Garden
Lesson #4: Don’t Wait to Reach for the Watering Can
Lesson #5: The Grass Always Looks Greener on the Other Side
Lesson #6: Say Goodbye to the Old – to Make Space for the New
Lesson #7: Take Time to Smell the Roses
Lesson #8: To Be the Best, Learn From the Best
Lesson #9: Expect the Unexpected
Lesson #10: To Everything There is a Season