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When you are looking to expandyour career, you want to do whatever it takes to make sure that you reach your career goals as easily as you can and there are some foundational career success skills you need to succeed. Having the right skills specific to your field is key. There are also some basic career success skills you’ll need. In this article, we are going to look at some of those basic but essential skills which will help you to reach your career goals. Let’s go over 3 basic but essential skills you need for your career success. (This article contains some affiliate links which extend me a small commission if purchases are made).
Here are 3 key career success skills you need
1. Be Confident. Exude Confidence.
A lot of people suffer with a lack of confidence,. The good news is you can give your self esteem a boost through particular practices that start in your mind and will help you to exude confidence to others helping them to feel confident in your professional abilities. First, you will want to examine your mindset. A limited mindset is when you have thoughts and beliefs that negative, typically untrue and are holding you back and sometimes those thoughts and beliefs are running the show from the quiet recesses of your mind. Mindfulness practice will help you to be aware of all those thoughts and beliefs and help you notice with greater attention to all you are feeling and thinking. Once you become aware of those negative nagging thoughts you can turn them into powerful positives.
For example, you notice you have the thought, “I’m not good enough. People won’t want to hire me,” you can turn that around and practice saying with meaning,“I am highly skilled. I am an expert in my work and when people meet me they will be eager to have me work for them.” Stay vigilant about what you think of yourself choosing to believe in the best about yourself, as that is the single greatest way to make sure that your confidence level continues to rise throughout your life. With this newfound confidence, you are then much more likely to be able to see your career expand and reach those goals.
Next, bring your body to the practice. Of the career success skills we are reviewing, this is the one that is going to help you literally embody success. For 2 minutes every day stand like Wonder Woman. It’s called apower pose and there is actual science that shows that practicing this stance boosts your self-confidence with a release of particular hormones that help your body and brain to work together to believe you can do whatever you set your mind to. Research shows that women who practiced power poses regularly were able to command respect in the work place and even land their desired jobs with successful interviews. Here’s how to do it:
- Stand tall, chin up.
- Feet wide apart.
- Hands on hips.
- Chest lifted.
2. Know how to write well.
The stronger your writing skills, the better you can express yourself, and that is invaluable in the work of a helping professional wanting to expand your career. If part of your career expansion is applying for contract work you need to be able to write a curriculum vitae (CV) or resume very well if you want the contracting agency or organization to take you seriously. This means knowing how to present a CV or resume that goes beyond the knowledge and skill of most people. Writing your resume can be challenging, and sometimes it can be helpful to have a colleague help you by reviewing and suggesting edits to your drafts. If you can display writing skills along with the ability to put together a great outline of your own experiences and qualities, you will find that you can much more easily land that contracted position that you are wanting.
As a therapist or helping professional, there will be times you need to write summaries of treatment for clients or for a guardian ad litem in a divorce or custody case and the quality of your writing can make all the difference there. You also need to know how to write professional emails and other correspondence.
Poor writing skills can decrease clients’ or colleagues’ confidence in your professional abilities. Strong writing skills influences your clients and colleagues to respect the quality of your work. Writing copy for your blog or newsletter can be a daunting task but it’s so important to have regular, fresh quality copy written and promoted in order to market your business. If writing regularly has you pulling your hair out you might consider hiring a professional writer or copy editors to help generate quality blog posts and newsletters. If you’re a therapist in need of some help, check out my blog and copy writing services.
3. Hone your communication skills.
Effective communication is one of the most important career success skills you absolutely need to master. You need to be able to express yourself verbally as well if you are to expand your career and reach your goals. If you’re going for a contracted position you may need to interview first and if you’re “selling” your services to potential clients your communication skills for career success are vitally important.
Being able to communicate well is something which can be hard for many people, but once again it just comes down to regular practice. And practice can occur any place any time. You can practice communication skills with the grocery cashier or with friends over dinner. As long as you improve your communication skills, you will be able to ensure that you will see your career success expand much more effectively. If you struggle with communication, you may consider role-playing your upcoming interview or speech with trusted friends or loved ones until it feels natural and comfortable for you. Honing your public speaking skills is key if you are wanting to be seen as an expert in your field.In order to succeed, you need to know how to persuasively sell your beliefs about the work you do and your ideas.
Of all the career success skills you need, this skill is likely the single greatest skill that will help you reach your career dreams. Anxiety about public speaking is very common. I have found a book written by a public speaking coach Carmine Gallo called Talk Like Ted incredibly helpful for myself and many of my career coaching clients. In this book he explores what makes a great presentation by looking at the widely acclaimed TED Talks, which are the gold standard for public speaking. In this book, Gallo has examined hundreds of TED talks and interviewed the most popular TED presenters, as well as the top researchers in the fields of psychology, communications, and neuroscience to reveal the 9 secrets of all successful TED presentations. You can learn this step-by-step method so you will find your own ability to easily deliver a presentation that is not only persuasive but also engaging and memorable.
Practicing skills for career success daily is key.
- Practice mindfulness daily and turn those negative niggles into powerful positives at every opportunity.
- Practice your confidence-boosting power pose Wonder Woman style for two minutes every day.
- Brush up on your writing skills and practice by writing professionally composed emails and reports.
- Practice your confident communication skills everywhere you go and with trusted friends and loved ones.
- Learn to talk like TED so your public speaking skills will be right on point, yielding you success in reaching your career dreams.
Want more info on how to develop your core career success skills? Check out a masterful book written by one of my own master mentors Jack Canfield who started out his career as an educator, went on to work as a psychotherapist and later grew into a world renowned author, speaker and trainer. It’s called The Success Principles and in this book he present 67 principles and practices when implemented regularly create a blue print and treasure map to achieving a sense of great fulfillment in life and career.
