Jo's Guide to Building the Career of Your Dreams
As Sweat and Tell has evolved over the past couple years, we’ve consistently introduced more of our personal lives onto our page. We had initially wanted our IG to showcase one aspect of our life, of course, being health and wellness. However, over time we have transitioned to showing much more outside of just that as we want our audience to truly get to know us, not just certain pieces of the puzzle. Although S&T is our baby, there is A LOT we do outside of managing our account that has nothing to do with being an “influencer”! Hate calling ourselves that btw, hence the quotations. One thing we’ve been sharing more often especially within the past few months is our work life outside of S&T. Often times, people are surprised on social media that I (Jo) have a full-time corporate sales job at a SaaS company! First and foremost, I want to throw it out there how genuinely obsessed I am with my job - the people, quality of work, culture - just everything. I’m extremely grateful that this company pushes me to be the best version of myself personally and professionally, and challenges me to recognize both my strengths and weaknesses.
When hunting for a career you love or “dream job”, do your research and make sure that the role has the ability to positively shape who you are as a person. A lot of this is trial and error, as you are bound to have jobs that simply don’t do this… like that retail or babysitting job you had when you were younger. Maybe it was challenging at the time, but it’s a stepping stone to getting to where you want to be long-term. When I look back at the past year and a half that I’ve been in my current role, I have changed in countless ways; I feel 100% confident walking into a room of eight executives and giving a killer presentation, my time management skills have become exceptional and I’ve learned how to not sweat the small stuff as much, which is a hard thing to do for someone with an extremely Type A personality.
On top of all that, I’m BIG on goal setting and making sure I’m taking steps to be where I want to be in a month… a year… five years, and so on. I definitely am not an expert in career development but after navigating the professional world for a few years now, there are so many things I wish I would’ve known back when I was 22 and just graduating college!
I’ve listed out my top tips that will hopefully serve as a catalyst towards your own goals. These are things I’ve learned over the years and have gradually incorporated into my daily routine to help drive my success.
1. Actually write or type out your goals — and not just in one place, write that shit down everywhere. On your mirror, in your journal, in a notepad, wherever else you can think of. Take it a step further and keep yourself actually accountable. Use a shareable doc (like google doc or notes in your iPhone) and invite people who will truly keep you accountable. I choose about 4-5 peeps ranging from mentors to friends, and check in on what your progress is. You can share with your manager, significant other, mentor, etc. Physically writing these down will naturally make you feel more inclined to do them and will serve as a reminder for what you’re working towards. Make sure you have smaller, tangible goals as well as aspirational goals to strive for.
2. Have a mentor to help guide you! Find someone (or multiple people) who you truly look up to in various aspects of life, and shares similar values. Do they embody qualities that you want to strengthen? Do you want to have a similar position as them in 10 years such as a CEO? Are you entrepreneurial or more gravitated towards corporate life? Ask yourself these questions and have reasons for why you select the mentor you do. I recommend scheduling a specific cadence with them for how often you’ll meet, usually someone who you will want to ask to be a mentor will have limited time so make it as efficient as you can. Highly recommend a couple different mentors as well so you can get a variety of tips, experience and advice. Furthermore, BE a mentor to someone else. Being a mentor can help you to formulate and speak to your past success, and helping others is one of the key traits of being a leader.
3. Recognize any roadblocks getting in your way that limit you to getting to those goals, could be internal or external factors — fear or doubt? Not enough time in the day? There are a lot of exercises you can do to uncover these roadblocks that are preventing you from succeeding. Common roadblocks can be negative thoughts and/or anxiety, toxic relationships, complacency, wondering what other’s might think, etc. There are thousands of different reasons why you may feel like you can’t get the job of your dreams, run a marathon or give that presentation in front of hundreds of people. Remind yourself frequently of your higher purpose and what you’re doing this all for - if you have a greater purpose and reason driving you towards these achievements, then it will always overcome fear or doubt.
4. Ask for others feedback and be receptive to it. Whether it’s positive or constructive, it will help you better understand your progress. Feedback establishes clear and honest communication with people in your circle - whether that’s your boss, family members or friends. The way one perceives themself can be very different than other people’s perception, and this can be both positive and negative. Usually we are harder on ourselves than how our peers view us but on the contrary, there are often times unknown areas for improvement that you may not recognize yourself. Feedback has a frightening connotation but the purpose is to strengthen your skillset, learn from mistakes, and build self confidence.
5. Surround yourself with a strong network of people that lift you up, support you unconditionally, and inspire you. Surround yourself with people that reflect who you want to be, have qualities that you admire and strengths that you appreciate. Also be aware of how people make you FEEL. If you feel anxious, uncertain, belittled, or judged around people in your circle… cut that shit out! No time for toxic humans - but keep in mind, just because someone is toxic to your life doesn’t mean they are toxic to others and that is okay. Similar to how every person is different, the people needed in their circle differ as well; just make sure it is a healthy mix and you can set boundaries for yourself.
6. Do something once a day (outside of work) that pushes you towards your goals. Whether that’s meditating, listening to a podcast, taking an online course, reading a self development audiobook, the list goes on and on. Set an achievable goals like setting aside 20 minutes of uninterrupted per day to focus on yourself. For me personally, this usually consists of podcasts and books. These are things I’ve found to bring my value and make a positive impact on my career, relationships, business acumen, and overall knowledge. You don’t need to read one book a day or learn a new language in a month (unless that’s what you want to do…!), but setting aside uninterrupted time is extremely valuable.
I’m not a personal development or career expert, but I do feel like the first few years in “the real world” are pivotal learning experiences that I’ve grown exponentially from. I could never have imagined how much growth would’ve happened for me in these last few years since graduating college, and I’m so grateful for everything I’ve experienced thus far. I hope you found these tips helpful and relatable whether you are searching for your first time, already in a career you love or are looking to make a switch in roles.
Keep it Sweaty,
Jo
