Start Doing What You Want to Be – Now!

I received a wonderful comment on one of my recent Huffington Post columns from an individual who is an aspiring writer. He shared that his passion is writing and his career goal is to pursue work in the communications field so he can play to his strengths and showcase his writing abilities.

As he works towards that ultimate career goal, this gentleman established a blog, shares remarks on various online groups, and posts comments on high profile websites. Bravo! He’s getting his name out there and strutting his professional stuff as a writer while he works towards a career in the field.

So many people wait to land that ideal job before they start exercising their strengths. I strongly encourage you to start showing off your top skills and competencies now because not only will it gratify you and motivate you, it will keep those skills sharp and it may be the ideal strategy to land a new position.

For example, one of my professional goals is to take on more national and international public speaking opportunities. So, as I cultivate those new initiatives, I am offering my speaking programs in a variety of smaller venues to get the word out. It’s the ultimate networking opportunity, keeps me at my professional best, and allows me to do some pro bono work for smaller organizations that don’t have a budget for a professional speaker. It’s all good!

So think about your strengths and figure out some possible ways to start using those now, whether as a volunteer, or in a contract position capacity. When people see you doing what you love and doing it well – it can lead to job opportunities down the road. Get out there and start doing what you want to be!