The document discusses the importance of developing and implementing an annual career development plan to stay relevant in your industry. It recommends researching future industry trends, creating a three-part plan outlining your current position, goals, and steps to reach them. It also suggests having mentors review your plan and providing feedback. Most importantly, it stresses implementing the plan by completing daily tasks and going beyond expectations to achieve career goals.

1. WHAT GOES
CHEERS TO CAREERS
24 Think Positive! Magazine

2. e are all aware of
the quote “What
comes up, must
come down”. This
slogan is true for a large array
of situations. However, when it
comes to your career you have
all the power you need to go up
and stay up. Remaining relevant
in your industry can be extremely
challenging if you don’t know the
direction in which it’s going and if
you don’t have a plan to get there.
At the very least, you should an-
nually review and revise your and
career development plan, to make
sure that it’s working to keep you
ahead of the curve. We all know if
you fail to plan you plan to fail, so
don’t take the development of your
career plan lightly.
Start out by researching next
year’s trends in the industry that
you are in. Finding this informa-
tion can be as simple as going
to Google and typing “Next year’s
trends in __________”. Put your
industry in the blank, and start
figuring out what the experts are
projecting about your industry.
After reading a few articles you will
have a clearer picture of what you
must do to “Stay Up”.
After finishing your research, it’s time
to develop your three-part plan. The
development of your plan should con-
sist of: where you are currently, where
you want to go, and the most import-
ant area, how to get there. This is the
meat and potatoes of this initiative so
take your time with this and don’t get
frustrated if this takes a little longer
than you anticipated.. Trust me, it’s
well worth the time and effort.
Once you have refined and de-
signed your plan, take it to a trust-
ed source, like a mentor, and have
them give their honest feedback.
It’s always important to have a
second or third pair of expert eyes
look at what you have. They can
only make your plan better than
you could ever imagine.
Now that you’ve read this it’s time
to implement! Don’t tell yourself
that you are going to develop your
plan later in life. Take the oppor-
tunity to develop it now; it could be
the difference between having that
corner office at a major corpora-
tion or sitting in a corner mad at
yourself because your career isn’t
what you hoped for.
According to the Book of James,
2:10, “Faith without work is dead”.
Now that you have finalized your
career development plan, you must
work your plan. Don’t expect every-
thing that you strategically devel-
oped in your plan to magically ap-
pear; this is real life not a magic
show. To be honest, creating the
plan was the easy 10 percent, now
it’s time to roll-up your sleeves and
implement the other 90 percent.
If you are feeling a little uneasy
at this point, you are on the right
track. Putting your plan in action
will force you OUT of your comfort
zone and put you into a space that
you’ve never experienced. Embrace
this feeling and use it as fuel to
keep you going. Remember this is
a marathon not a race.
Work your career development plan
every single day, being mindful of
the tasks you’ve completed and
those on the horizon. Furthermore,
don’t half-step on completing
your to-dos. If you have a goal to
contact five people a day, contact
those five people...not four or
three. For my overachievers out
there, contact 10 people per day.
There’s nothing wrong with going
beyond the call of duty. If you fall
short of your tasks, take a step
back to figure out how you can get
back on track. I still fall short of
my tasks from time to time, and
sometimes struggle with getting
back on track. After a while, I figure
out what I’m missing and what I
need to do to get things moving. I
must admit my decision making
process could be much faster, but
hey we are all a work in progress :).
At the end of the day, you are
responsible for your own career de-
velopment so what you put into it is
definitely what you will get out if it.
MUST STAY
e are all aware of
the quote “What
comes up, must
come down”. This
slogan is true for a large arrayslogan is true for a large array
W
By Eric B. Horn
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER
@EricBHorn
25www.thinkpositivemag.com