The 7 Worst Career Mistakes

1. Not keeping up with the latest trends – Staying behind the latest curves makes you appear uninformed when interacting with people outside your organisation (maybe even inside). Start reading more blogs for your profession or subscribe to your professional journal, make sure you attend networking events and are a member of your governing body if applicable. It’s also important that you have a ‘go-get-em’ attitude – “I do not know how to do that” is no longer an acceptable answer at work. With vast (and free) knowledge available, especially now your new internal response should be, “I’m not sure, but let me try to figure it out, I’ll be in touch if I have any questions or need more direction”. No manager wants to promote someone who doesn’t take the initiative to try and complete an assignment before lamenting they don’t know how.
2. Overestimating what you can accomplish today and underestimating what you can achieve in a lifetime – How many to-do’s can you accomplish today? Tomorrow morning, count the ones you did not accomplish. Our eyes are always bigger than our stomach – why do we think at any moment we can do more, but over a lifetime we will achieve less? Start that New York Time Bestseller, draft that Screenplay, build your company, and determine how you will get your message out to millions of people. Incremental, directed change today will accumulate exponentially as time goes by.
3. You quit your job search because you are newly employed or happily employed or both – I assure you, your dream job will never come floating along right when you need it to. Remain open and never rest on a steady paycheck or stop networking!
4. You think your boss or mentor or anyone other than or anyone other than yourself to direct your career – You can outsource a lot of things in your life but your career isn’t one of them. Own it. Take steps. Take chances. Make mistakes. Repeat. before you know it, we will be reading about you, what you accomplished, and how it improved the world. Your career path is yours and yours only, you have your own soul-aligned purpose. Many of us have expectations of us from family members, friends, or even mentors. We often allow them to influence the track we are taking in our lives.
5. Not knowing your value – It is amazing that only a few people truly understand what they earn – it’s less astonishing that people do not understand their value in the market. Get a handle on your current value by checking the salary range for your role, and make sure you understand what it takes to progress up the pay scale or gain bonuses.
6. Oversharing and getting caught up in office gossip – Do your best to not participate in gossip and learn how to excuse yourself when it does come up. While a quick vent might seem and make you feel great in the moment, you’ll realise that you will feel more guilt afterwards. Bond with your co-workers by celebrating successes! – You have probably fallen victim to it or have been guilty of oversharing yourself. Remember that work is a professional setting and making your boss and co-workers feel awkward because you overshare personal information is not what you want to be known for. When in doubt, always air on the side of caution of sharing too little, not the other way around.
7. Not taking responsibility – One of the biggest pet peeves amongst co-workers and managers is dealing with people that do not take responsibility for their mistakes. It is unproductive (and immature) to pretend a mistake did not happen. own your own mistake and skip the part where you give excuses – acknowledge the mistake, take responsibility, skip the excuse and ensure your manager that it will not happen again.

Stay open to new opportunities;