When it comes to figuring out what makes sense for you in how you handle your career, there are a few basic principles that might help. It does not matter whether you are starting out or have been at this job thing for a while now. What matters is how you arrive at your destination and what are the values you bring along with you to work everyday.
It’s important to find out what makes you tick, but realizing that there are some fundamental outliers at play helps you to manage your expectations and come to the table ready to be present and make the most of what you have to offer. If you are tired of being pushed and pulled and feel like a leaf in the wind blowing from one vacant lot to another, try applying the “Four C” principles to your career and see if you it provides you with a foundation on which to build your career castle.
- Community: Yes, sometimes it does “take a village” to help you get where you are going but without a sense of community, you might not get as far as like or as quickly as you like. Building your career community does not just mean having a robust network. Your community includes the people who you most value and trust in your life and may also include neighbors, friends or someone you just met at the line in the grocery store. Community inspires you to build your safety net and feel secure in the knowledge that you are not alone and that you have the resources ready and available to help you. All you really need do is to learn how to ask for that help and it will be provided to you.
- Continuity: It’s the sense you derive from doing things well and developing a routine in your life that adds stability and purpose. It’s not to imply that you are a gerbil going round on a wheel in a cage, but it’s about having a direction, a consistency to which you apply to your life, your friends and to your job in a way that makes you sure about yourself and what value you can offer to someone else. Having a direction about what you do even if it includes a daily 6am job or taking the same route to work everyday that offers you a way to stay on track and to remain focused and to know when you are ready to make a change.
- Clarity: Clearing away all that no longer serves you is something you should do whether it includes clearing out your closets or eliminating the relationships that no longer serve you including those you have developed at work. Being clear means you eliminate distractions from your life, build the necessary boundaries and learn to focus your intention on your life’s purpose. Being clear helps you with all areas of your life including your spiritual, personal and professional goals.
- Creativity: Creating an outlet to express yourself not only helps you in your professional life, but may help you develop talents and gifts you didn’t know you had. Creativity can be found in the simple things, like going shopping, preparing a meal, choosing what to wear to work to more lofty goals like writing a book, taking up painting or dance classes or creating a new business. Finding a way to add creativity into your life helps broaden your perspective and makes you a more valuable player at work and at home.
Knowing how to effectively apply the “Four C” principles helps you simply learn what you need to do to jump start your career even if you are a recent graduate or making a mid-life change. Having the necessary tools at your disposal makes it easier to know whether you have chosen the right career path for you or whether you need to make a change. Consider what the Four C Challenge means to you and make a plan to get your career and personal life on track.
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