7 Markers To Keep Your Career Process On Track

Are you keeping your career process on track? How does anyone navigate change, be it business or personal?

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"With the pace of change accelerated for most people, the importance of following a process becomes an important, critical and really effective tool to deal with it. The process is as important as the results it produces."

Changing jobs, lifestyle, health, where you live, the unexpected are all a part of our lives today in a more relentless way then ever before. I’m thinking of these real examples of people I know, who have been thrown into the unknown. That unknown is producing some extraordinary outcomes because each one is following a process. An old high school friend made a bad decision to practice medicine in the wrong way and lost her license. A seasoned HR professional just let go after being at the same company for 16 years. An unexpected visit to the doctor by a childhood friend revealed a serious fight with cancer that she is winning. A 50% drop in business the last year by a well established company who did not keep pace with the trends. Change. The cheese moved. The situation unexpectedly shifted. A radical new reality is now in place. What do you do? You follow a process and move through and with your new reality. A process offers a set of steps, protocols, principles that go into place in a sensible order. They are designed to restore perspective, functionality, effectiveness, efficiency and well being. Regardless of the situation, defining the process, implementing it and regularly monitoring it can give order and meaning to the results. By definition "a process" is a verb describing...

"The action of taking something through an established and usually routine set of procedures or steps to convert it from one form to another. A process involves steps and decisions in the way something is accomplished, and may involve a sequence of events. The process that one follows is as important as the results that are produced by the process."

Are you following a career process to move things forward, or are you stuck or aimlessly drifting? I review these seven areas to make sure my process stays on track.

1. Making sure “My Vision” is clear about what I do and what I am supposed to be doing. It makes it easier to stick with it and persevere.
2. Making sure “My Mission” is clear about why I am doing what I am doing. It is about making money but helping people is my why.
3. Constantly reviewing “The Fundamentals” are in place for doing exceptional work and following the best practices that are available today.
4. Staying on top of and following “The Trends” forces me to pay attention to change and keep up with it?
5. Staying focused on serving “My Target Market” to grow my business, build community, engagement and good will.
6. Nurturing and having “A Mindset and Attitude” that is positive, authentic and kind.
7. Checking “My Motives” and making sure they are based in the right reasons for everything that I do.

If all of those areas are clear, on track and working together, than I am better equipped to deal with and manage those external conditions I have NO control over, because I have a process and a system in place that guides and moves me. Sometimes it’s lateral, sometimes it’s vertical, and sometimes it’s nowhere, but the process moves me. That doctor friend of mine, who lost her license is learning new sales and marketing skills representing a direct selling product and feeling quite re-energized. The seasoned HR professional is building a consulting practice specializing in coaching and training people through career change. That childhood friend who has been fighting cancer is improving and enjoying picking apples and milking cows with her family. The established business has rejuvenated their marketing, product delivery and social media engagement. They are following a process and moving through and with their realities one day at a time, one step at a time. That’s the beauty of a process. It guides and moves us naturally. How do you process and where is it taking you? Photo Credit: Shutterstock