Take Control of Your Career Trajectory: A Brief How-To Guide

It can happen at any point in your professional life, no matter your role or industry. One day you're moving along in your career, quite content with the path you see before you, and then one day, years or decades later, you find yourself feeling stagnant, uninspired, unengaged, or lost.

It’s rarely one thing that will bring you to this point. It will be the big and seemingly insignificant decisions, compromises, and actions that pile up and leave you looking around, wondering how you got to this point.

This is quite a common occurrence as the pace of business sweeps us along, and personal lives shift and challenge our priorities. Whether you are worried that this scenario might happen to you or you are living through it now, it’s never too late to take charge of the trajectory of your career.

Given the fact that our professional lives are a huge part of who we are and take up a great deal of our time, it’s only natural to want to take some control over it, and planning your career is just the way to do it.

What Does Career Trajectory Mean?

First, let’s define what career trajectory is. A career trajectory is the path your jobs take as you move forward, backward, or stay on an even keel during your working years.

While some people will have defined milestones or goals in mind from the very beginning, others may take a job early on and follow the opportunities as they arise, defining and redefining their career aspirations as they go. Wherever you find yourself on the spectrum, getting yourself on a career trajectory that aligns with your personal and professional goals, values, and aspirations, will take some intentionality.

How to take control of Your Career Trajectory

START OF A NEW YEAR

You should periodically stop and reflect inwards at any point in your career. Practicing mindfulness will ensure you are considering your feelings and surroundings. During this time, ask yourself - am I fulfilled in this role? Is my company or team bringing out the best in me? Are the projects I am working on engaging?

Asking questions like this are key to taking control of your career’s trajectory, as they can reaffirm your current job or indicate, hopefully, sooner than later, that a change of some type is needed to get you back on track.

Know What You Want

As your career progresses, the exposure you get to different companies, colleagues, tools, and processes will either consciously or unconsciously alter your career trajectory. For example, at the beginning of your career, your goal was to make it to the c-suite, and all the steps in your career trajectory were outlined to help get you there. But over time, you realize you actually enjoy managing people, and moving to the c-suite would mean less people management and more strategic leadership. This realization may change the career trajectory you once believed to be set in stone, but knowing what you want will make the trajectory of your career more authentic and inspiring.

Crowdsource Information

While your organization may provide you with a career path, if you want to ensure you are the one in control of the trajectory of your career, you are going to need to take a step further. Look to others in your role or with your aspirations and examine their career path. Better yet, talk to them. If you have a professional coach, one-to-one coaching is a prime opportunity to flesh out your goals and aspirations and turn them into an action plan.

Advocate For Yourself

We can often feel compelled to say yes to an opportunity because it is put before us. But before you do, take just a moment to think about how it fits into your career goals. If it is going to take you off track of a goal you have set your sights on and have been working to achieve, it is okay to advocate for yourself and decline.

In the end, it’s your career, and that decision could impact your professional life and your personal one too. On the other hand, sometimes opportunities can get us to our goals in a roundabout way. If you feel this might be the case, advocate your needs and requirements to take it on, so you feel you have some control over the unknown.

Be Ready TO Go the Extra Mile

No one is accountable for your career trajectory but you. While your HR team or professional coach plays a part in getting you there, in the end, it is up to you to make sure your actions and decisions reflect the path you have envisioned or defined for yourself. This may mean going the extra mile, such as taking leadership training programs or seeking out a mentor. Things that may not otherwise be mandated by anyone but are essential to getting you to where you want to go.

Conclusion: own your career trajectory at every step

Though it’s been said before, I’ll say it one last time for good measure - it is never too late to take control of your career trajectory. While it demands a high level of accountability and intentionality, the benefit of doing so could be a fulfilling career and a balanced life. So, what are you waiting for?