How to Get What You Want: A guide to self-directed career development.

• Author: Walch, Brian

We're trained to look externally for a path forward from an early age. Go to school, get good grades, land a job, make more money, get promoted, and plan for retirement--all of it to be successful. Success is a moving target, though. Each time you reach a new milestone, success gets redefined.

Is chasing success getting us what we want?

In January 2022, Gallup reported that Americans' happiness levels have hit record lows. The American Psychological Association found that our stress levels have been increasing since 2016, well before the pandemic. According to the Work Institute, 34 percent more people quit their job last year than the year before.

Unhappiness, stress, and turnover cost businesses in terms of lost productivity, lost efficiency, and lost opportunity. Individuals bear personal costs, too. Your physical and emotional health suffers when you're stressed and unhappy.

What can you do to change this?

Be selfish in your career development. Instead of letting external factors direct you, create a self-directed and sustainable approach to career development. Take the initiative, decide what you want, and go after it.

Use an Incremental Process

Self-directed career development is similar to implementing new systems in a business. I once helped an organization implement a new case management system. They had grand ambitions to streamline operations, create transparency, and improve efficiency. The project failed because the administrative staff became overwhelmed with having to re-create all of their processes in the new system at once. An incremental approach would have allowed people to react and adjust as changes were introduced.

The same is true for your career. As you make changes and see results, new possibilities arise. What you want today will change tomorrow.

Self-directed career development is a series of small steps executed over and over. Perfecting the process will generate momentum and confidence, allowing you to pursue even greater ambitions that are meaningful to you.

Start with the Hard Part

The hardest part of this process is identifying what you want. Here is a simple strategy to help you choose one thing.

Start by choosing a category:

* Greater Challenge: Use your skills and abilities to your full potential.

* Career Advancement: Promotion, a leadership role, or a higher salary.

* Career Change: Pursuing something more aligned with your interests or values.

* Increased Autonomy: Greater independence over your work...