Career Action Plan – What’s standing in your way?
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At the end of May LinkedIn released a survey stating that of 6,580 professionals polled globally, 89% said they could not accomplish all the tasks on daily to-do lists. That’s huge! What’s amazing is with all the available information (articles, blogs, websites, etc.), helpful tools and technology, only a little over 10% of executives end the day having finished their task list. No wonder executives in job search mode are challenged trying to fit in their career action plan to the mix of everyday duties and responsibilities of work and life.

As a career coach, part of the service I provide to my clients is to help them create a career action plan and then strategize how to implement the multiple pieces of that plan. For most executives looking at a 24-hour period, there isn’t much time left over after their current job, extended working hours for special projects, family, continuing professional development, sports/health, and any other activities the person is involved in. So where do you draw the line and make the commitment to job search?

Let me ask a few questions:

What do you really want? (If you get stuck on this one — what would your twin say you really want?)
What’s your role in making that happen?
What gets in your way?
What is your biggest fear around this?
What are 3 steps you can take to achieve this?

This generally gets a person thinking about what’s most important and what they can put aside temporarily to work towards their job search goal. Sometimes a few more questions are helpful to drill down a little further.

What do you really need right now?
What kind of support would be helpful?
What is your strategy?
What is currently motivating you?
What are you just tolerating?

These types of questions are not always easy to answer and should be given a reasonable amount of attention to contemplate the answers that support your intentions. Being honest with yourself and your circumstances can sometimes uncover what’s standing in your way of accomplishing what you need to do to work on your career action plan.

If you are not ready to make your job search a priority, then what can you do in the interim to move things along? If you are ready to jump into the job search arena with both feet, then understand there will be roadblocks and challenges at times that will sidetrack your progress. However, recognizing your level of commitment can help you stay motivated. The most focused and dedicated executives are successful.