The 5 Best Pieces of Career Advice I've Ever Received
I am not one for trite platitudes that are often preached on social media sites like LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook, but I do find intrinsic value in a few pieces of professional advice I have received throughout my life.
This career advice is not only applicable in the office, but I have found value from it in my personal life as well. Here are the five best career tips, tricks, and advice I have received.
1. Control what you can control.
In Stephen Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he discusses how every individual has a circle of influence that they can control, coupled with a circle of concern that they cannot control.
He explains that as we focus on what we can control, our circle of influence becomes larger and our circle of concern shrinks. Vice versa, as we focus on fixing things outside of our control, our circle of influence becomes smaller and smaller.
Therein lies the wonderful principle: control what you can control. In my personal and professional life, as I have focused on what I can control and not worried about things outside my circle of influence, I have been more productive and less stressed.
2. Never rest until the good gets better and the better gets best.
My late grandpa, the son of hard-nosed Italian immigrants, lived by the mantra, "Never rest until the good gets better and the better gets best."
This quote rings true in my ears. It motivates me to work my hardest and, perhaps more importantly, to keep building on the skill sets I have day after day.
3. Keep things in perspective.
The ups and downs of—to echo a millennial sentiment—"adulting" in the workplace took time for me to work through and process. It was at one of these stressful lows that I was reminded of the advice to keep things in perspective.
As I start a family and have more responsibilities at home, keeping things in perspective helps keep work at work. Working hard and being successful professionally is a worthy goal, but never allow that to take away from other worthy obligations outside of the office.
4. Be low maintenance.
We’ve all worked with someone who earns the label of being high maintenance, and it's usually not a compliment. This reality makes the goal of being low maintenance in the work place a skillset we should seek to develop.
I didn’t fully understand the power of this advice until I started working full time. The ability to get work done without needing constant supervision is a strength I strive to develop each day.
5. Raise your hand.
Working at Ivanti, something you hear often is, raise your hand. Meaning, volunteer and ask to help on tasks and projects that interest you when help is needed -- make yourself available.
Following this advice, I have now been involved in several different projects within the marketing department since working here. This has helped me develop a variety of skills I didn’t have before working at Ivanti.