9 Ways to Shake Things Up with Your Career

Have you reached a lull in your career? Are you feeling stagnant at work and in desperate need for a shake up? Well it’s about time. Sounds like you’re ready to take things to the next level. Yaay :)

We’ve pulled together nine ideas to keep your spark alive:

1. Attend a professional event: whether it’s a  conference, convention, workshop, networking evening or something else, it’s up to you. This is a great opportunity to broaden your horizons, hear from other peers and professionals, and get inspired.
2. Teach or speak at an event: you could up the ante and put yourself forward to speak or teach at an event. These could be internal or external. “You never really know something until you teach it to someone else.”— John C. Maxwell. It could be a conference, panel or perhaps a lunch and learn or other knowledge sharing session. You fortify yourself as an SME (subject matter expert) and potentially learn something new in the process.
3. Attend a training course/programme: upskill yourself through a formal programme. This could be through a remote or a classroom based environment. You’ll get the opportunity to learn something new to apply to your role.
4. Enrol on a course (further education): maybe it’s time to explore a bigger shake up by going back to school. You’ll get to experience a new challenge and personal growth while also bolstering your professional qualifications, expertise, and your appeal to employers.
5. Join a group/community: you can expand your network by getting involved with a professional group or community. This will increase your exposure to others within your field or with similar interests and challenge you in new ways.
6. Get a mentor: it might be worth finding someone you admire who can be a source of advice and support in your personal and professional growth. A mentor will also be a good sounding board for thoughts and ideas you have regarding your development. 
7. Become a mentor: in turn you may find it rewarding to mentor someone yourself. You’ll get the opportunity to share your knowledge with someone more junior in order to help them navigate waters you’ve passed through previously.
8. Take a break: you might just be in need of some time out of office. So do it. Use it as an opportunity to invest in yourself and do something fun.
9. Take a longer break: perhaps a longer term change of scenery is just the ticket. You can take a career break to do something entirely different. You could use the opportunity to travel, volunteer, embark on a fitness challenge, learn a new language, or teach abroad among many options. This could be from a month up to 12 depending on the employer. Or even longer if you’re not wedded to returning to your employer.

When you’re ready to take the next step, we designed our Stretch Yourself Action Planner in our resources library with you in mind.

Have you tried any of these ideas in the past? Which were most helpful for you? Were there any activities you tried not included above? 

Leave a comment below to share your experience.