Your Career Battles to Success

The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day – S. Pressfield

In order to succeed, you have to design a plan.  ​

Name Your Plan

You need to give your plan a name, “Dream”, “I know What I Am Doing”, “Optimism”, “War to Success”, “(insert your name) plan” or whatever helps you to stay laser focused on your plan. Yes, I have a plan. I give mine a fancy professional name – Hoda’s Career Management Plan (CMP) – and for the sake of this article I will use CMP. Please share your plan’s name in the comments section.

Draft Your Plan

Drafting your first Career Management Plan can be scary. Where do you start? When should the plan start? Can you do it? These are all valid questions. The answer is; yes, you can do it. How about you start designing your CMP as soon as you are done reading this article?

What To Include

What to include in this CMP? Well, think about what is really important to you. What is it that you dream about day in and day out? What matters the most to you? What is it that you hate about your day? What would it take to make you happy? Once you start answering these questions, then you are on your way to creating your plan. The most important thing to remember is that there are no right or wrong answers. This is your CMP and you have to do it your way or you will not be able to follow through on it. ​

As you write down your CMP, be as specific as you can in your questions. For example, my plan to write this article involved a plan. Some of the specific questions I asked myself: Which day/s will you be able to write? What time works for you? Which image will you use? Is using a quote in every article really important? And so on, you get the idea.

Once you visualize your plan, there is one hurdle that you need to be aware of. It is common belief that it is very hard to stick to a plan due to our fears; fear of failure or even, believe it or not, fear of success. ​

Get Over Your Fears - Slay The Dragon

In his book, the War of Art, Pressfield gives our fears (our enemy) a war worthy name “Resistance”. He describes CMP as a Battle Plan (you can use this too as a name for your plan) to fight the dragons (possible enemies or fears??) that keep you from your success. Whatever you decide to call your plan, my take from Pressfield’s book is that in order to win the battle (succeed) you have to face your fears daily and fight the Resistance until you win. Here is how he describes his winning stance when he completed writing his first book: ​

I felt like a dragon I’d been fighting all my life had just dropped dead at my feet and gasped its last sulfuric breath

Do you sense his happiness? Can you hear, imagine or feel that emotion? Well, now it is your turn.

Focus On Your Target

What matters most is that you design your CMP. Your CMP will help you figure out your career target; it can be writing an article, starting an ice cream business or whatever you want. Your CMP will also guide you to work out the details of how you will achieve that target. Here are some more ideas: 

1. Ask specific questions; be curious about your plan.
2. Research what it takes to reach your goal or career target.
3. Write down the steps you need to take. 
4. Set some goals with specific accomplishment dates.
5. Find people who are willing to support you to stick to these goals. 

Keep In Mind

Do not worry too much if the dates hit and you have not reached your goals. Life happens; you need to accept this and set new dates or targets. However, ask yourself questions as to the reason/s that you did not accomplish your goals. Sometimes you will find that your goals may need redefining and or readjustment. This is also fine. Over time and for many reasons, your plans will change to target a new career path. 

Once you win your first battle and get over the excitement of winning, then you start again. Thinking about what success in achieving your target will look and feel like will keep you motivated to reach your career target/s. Are you ready for battle?