-Colin Gautrey

Why? In my mind there are two main reasons: (See Planning your Life Goals )

1. Lack of motivation

2. Lack of action.

Let's concentrate here to get you moving.

Take a look around you. How many people do you see doing a job because they love it? I'm willing to bet it's not many! Is this what you want in your life? Probably not, so take this seriously and if you're successful, you'll have the time of your life - at work!

Action stations

Perhaps rather obvious but worth mentioning. There are four logical steps to get this situation moving:

1. Clarify personal direction

2. Understand yourself

3. Research jobs

4. Make a decision

Can you see one that's missing? After you've decided you must get on with it - fast! To take action it might help you to read Action Planning for Results

Personal direction

Are you clear on where you are aiming to go with your life? Can you answer these questions?

· What will you be doing in five years time? · What lifestyle will you have? · How will you be earning a living? · What activities will you engage in?

If this is not clear to you, try getting it sorted out now. Okay things will change over time, but unless you have a clear picture to work towards, making a decision is very difficult. If you're not too sure what you should be aiming for, check out Planning your Life Goals

Understand yourself The better you know yourself, the easier you will find it to make decisions about your particular type of work or job. Make sure you can answer clearly

· Which work tasks delight you or fill you with dread? · What activities suit your personality, and those that definitely don't? · What are you really good at, and what things should you be avoiding? · What things do you know about and what areas leave you wondering?

Which activities suit your general attitude?

Research

It usually helps to have a very clear objective to your research. Perhaps this will be along the lines of "to find a job role that will be perfect for achieving all that I want over the next 3 years"

This assumed that you know where you are going in your life and that you know what things you like to do. Now get into researching different jobs. Hold back from making job applications until you've finished your research and made some firm decisions

Think of research as a three-stage process. At stage one you draw up some options to research. Then you do the actual research and finally you reflect on what you have found out. At this final stage you consider what you've learnt and may decide that you've got some new options to look into. So start again from stage one

Keep doing this until it becomes clear that you've got two or three real possibilities

Make a decision You may have found that there are some big gaps in your knowledge or skills to stand a real chance of getting your ideal job. What can you do to fill these gaps - make decisions!

Perhaps you can find another job that will help you to step towards your goal. In which case, go for it!

If you've put effort into your research, don't waste this investment by not doing anything. Make decisions. Plan your action and execute them on time. Your future beckons!

-Colin Gautrey

Reprinted with Permission

Help at Work was established to further Colin's ambition to help a million people worldwide to maximize their potential"

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