If You Are Not Happy With Your Career, Ask Your Choices

It is my boss. It is my manager. It is my partner. They have to change. When it comes to your career, it is not about them, but about you. Managing your career is no one’s business, but yours. If you do not know what you want for yourself, if you do not know where you are going, how can you manage it?

Before you blame people for where you are in your life, take a look at your choices, your decisions. Because your decisions are your drivers. They brought you to where you are right now. If you are not happy with your career, ask your choices. Ask your decisions.

Your career is yours to manage. It is your life. It is what you want for yourself. If your career is stuck, it is never too late to go back and start again. Sometimes starting again is better than getting stuck. Yes, people are going to talk shit. But do not let that bother you. Because they are not responsible for your growth. You are responsible for your career. So if your career is not growing, it is time to rethink your plan. And part of rethinking your plan is to have the courage to ask yourself some really tough questions about your career.

Ask yourself, ‘Why am I stuck? Why am I not making progress? Why am I not happy with my career? Why am I not passionate about my career? Is this really what I want to do with my life? Is this place okay for me? Is there a chance for growth here? Is my manager going to support me? Above all, am I going to support myself, no matter what?’

Because you are responsible for growing your career. That is why it is not a good thing to put your career growth in other people’s hands. What if they are not interested in your career? What if they are after what you can do for them, not what you can do for yourself? What if your career is not what they think about every day? What if you are not even communicating yourself the right way?

Whether you are communicating yourself correctly or not, don’t use that as an excuse to give your power away. You must do whatever you can to take care of your career, to nurture your career, to breathe life into your career.

If you are not getting ahead, if you are not making progress, try something else. If one thing is not working, it is not working for a reason. Try something else. If you are not happy with your current employer, think about what you can do to change things. If you can’t change where you are, you have got to leave. If you stay, you are not going to grow. But before you leave, make sure you have a plan. Make sure you have a plan that is workable. If you can’t change your current place of work, then you have got to find a way to get used to the culture of the place. If not, you are going to get even more frustrated with the situation.

Remember, you can’t force people to support you if you do not have the courage to support yourself. If you want to have a great career, you have got to take charge of your career. Don’t be scared. You can do it.