Jayne Coles* says that while the warming sun always causes spring to blossom, careers need a dose of self-belief if they are not to avoid staying dormant forever.
Spring is a particularly special time of the year.
You might still be a couple of months away from it, but your minds are probably turning to the days lengthening and the natural world waking from its winter slumber.
The trees themselves are itching to feel the warmer rays of the sun for that little bit longer every day, with their leaves eventually blossoming to sustain them for another year.
Without the changes in the sun’s warmth and duration, this wouldn’t happen.
Without this vital stimulus, winter would reign supreme, and the world would remain dormant.
It is a sad fact that many potentially promising careers remain in this dormant state for far longer than they should.
Maybe those concerned don’t want to put their stable monthly wage in jeopardy, or maybe they lack the self-belief to make that next step.
Their career is “doing just fine, thank you very much”, and even though they could achieve so much more, a dormant existence is the easy option.
If you want your career to blossom, it requires the courage to welcome change.
It also requires a change in mind set, a mental stimulus that gives you the energy to chart a better course for your life.
You need to give yourself the green light in your head to go ahead and seek something better.
Only once this mental switch has been flicked can you dedicate yourself to this purpose.
This moment is crucial when it comes to change, and once the light has turned green, you have to accept that you will see it through.
Dipping a toe in the waters of change won’t help.
Popping your head out of the door to see what is on the horizon won’t cut it.
For your career to truly blossom, you have to give yourself the best possible mental stimulus.
You tell yourself that you need to do this, and you aim to make the best of it.
Just like the tree in spring, once you let this sunlight flood into your hopes and dreams for the future, all sorts of doors start to open.
When you stop “thinking about doing it” and actually throw yourself head first into the process, the reality of the situation focuses your mind.
You ask yourself what you truly want out of this life.
That is the moment that you start to blossom, and if you are true to your hopes, your career will flourish even more with every change.
This doesn’t mean that you have to change jobs.
Seek out new responsibilities at work, talk to your boss about where you would like your journey to take you and allow them to help you to get there.
It will add to their journey also.
If you don’t feel that your dreams can be achieved at your current employer, reach out to the wider world and be open in your hopes.
Do you have to work in the same sector?
Do you have to have exactly the same job?
You might even want to chart your own course for a few years.
All this can lead to amazing things, but in order to make them happen, you need a stimulus.
You need that green light in your head, your permission to yourself that you can go out there and make it happen.
When it comes, just like the sunshine, it will warm your heart.
*Jayne Coles is the human resources executive for Neurosoft Ltd., based in Surrey, United Kingdom. She can be contacted at www.neurosoft.co.uk
This article first appeared on LinkedIn.
