Avoid Getting In The Way of Your Own Career Success in these 4 Common Ways

By Chelsea Babin

Are you getting in the way of your own career success? Most people are and don’t even know it. If you want to avoid these 4 common instances of getting in the way of your own career success, keep reading.

1. Focusing on Results Rather Than Ideas: If you want to avoid getting in the way of your own success, stop focusing on the results before focusing on the ideas! What would you try in your professional life if you weren’t afraid of failing? Failure is a result, it isn’t a process, and when you focus on failure you’ll avoid working on innovative projects or trying something new or taking a risk. In order to try things outside of our comfort zones, we need to focus on the ideas and the process rather than the results. Then, if you fail, take it in stride, learn what you can from it, and do better in the future.

2. Not Making Time to Learn or Further Develop Skills: It’s easy to assume that you do most of your learning in school and in your first few jobs and then, after that, you’re an expert. Right? Wrong! You need to consistently make the time to learn and further develop your skills if you want any shot at a career filled with longevity and success. Often, this means making time to take courses, attend meet ups, go to conferences, work on side projects, or read. If you don’t make time for this, you’ll struggle to improve your work performance and have a successful, fulfilling career.

3. Prioritizing Compensation Above All Else: In your job search it’s tempting to try to get the highest salary humanly possible and balk at salaries that are lower than your expectation. However, prioritizing compensation above all else could get in the way of your career success because it could lead to accepting a job at a company that’s not the right fit for you or frequently moving from job to job in pursuit of higher salaries at the expense of developing meaningful professional relationships or taking advantage of every opportunity available at each organization. It’s okay (and often better) to factor in work-life balance, room for advancement, learning opportunities, company culture, and cool projects. Don’t let the goal of earning the highest compensation possible lead you to a job or a series of jobs that don’t align with your values, interests, or overall career goals.

4. Letting Complacency Sink In: Whether you’ve been in the same job for over 7 years or you’ve just stopped pushing yourself to improve or you’re staying in a job you hate instead of looking for something new, letting complacency sink in at work can really get in the way of your current and future career success. The best way to avoid this is to have concrete, actionable career goals at all times that you’re actively working towards. These will keep you on the track of continuous improvement and keep you out of the sinking pit of career complacency.

Stop getting in the way of your own career success! These 4 instances may be common, but they’re easily avoidable once you know what to look out for. Avoid them like the plague and you’ll have a lengthy, fulfilling, successful career.