How to Use the Power of Introspection to Get Your Career Back On Track

Have you lost track of your career goals and aspirations? Do you feel helpless, frantic and powerless to control everyday job responsibilities that seem to take on a life of their own? Are your head and heart out of balance with your career dreams? If you answered yes to any of these questions, it's time to stop, look inward and get your career back on track. This will require self-examination, introspection and reflection. Sometimes it helps to inspect your thoughts and feelings, and reflect on past experiences. Introspection and self-examination help you develop wisdom, and allow you to discover more about the real you--how you are wired--why you do the things you do. Even the most successful people can benefit from self-assessment and self-reflection. Learn to look inward and get your career back on track by routinely taking these steps.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Notebook and Pen
• Comfortable Place
• Time for Introspection
• Personal Timeline

1. Time Allow 1-2 hours for your initial time of introspection. Devote more time if you are able to do so. Determine the time of day (morning if you are an early bird; evening if you are a night owl).
2. Comfortable Place Choose a comfortable place, free of distraction where you can concentrate and focus. Make sure you have proper lighting. Play soft and soothing music unless it is distracting.
3. History Think about your history and personal background with particular emphasis on the things that make you the person you are today. As you ponder the decisions and events that have happened in your life, consider any patterns and you’ve discovered.
4. Values Identify your personal values. Values are the cornerstone of your character and the result of your personal convictions and belief system. They are the attitudes you have about the worth of people, concepts, or things, and tend to drive your hidden intentions and motives.
5. Professional Background Reflect on your professional background by summarizing your work experience and educational background. Consider the jobs you have had and how they relate to your overall career goals.
6. Current Career Assess your present career and job situation, work relationships as well as things that bother you at work. Identify any unnecessary baggage you may be carrying as a result of bruised relationships with others-friends, co-workers, clients, or customers.
7. Personal Timeline Place all the information you compiled in the previous steps on a personal timeline. A personal timeline plots out various life stages and defining moments as well as events and decisions you have made. It is one of the most useful tools you can create for yourself. Critical data points in your personal timeline are high and low spots, and your negative and positive experiences.
8. Form a Habit Make it a habit to regularly engage in purposeful introspection to get your career back on track. It takes about 3 weeks to make or break a habit. Consider setting aside snippets of quality time each day to reflect on where you have been in order to get your career back on track.