William S. Burroughs, a late writer, once said that 

“When you stop growing, you start dying.” 

It might have a morbid undertone, but it’s one hundred percent true in terms of one’s career.

The days of finding a job with one company that you can stick with for 30 years, and simply relax as you move up its company escalator are few and far between in today’s world. 

This isn’t necessarily bad news. On the contrary, it means that you’re the one in charge of shaping your career advancement.

By putting these principles and behaviors into practice, you’ll begin to see how to advance your career quickly. Ready? Let’s get begin…

1. Define your Vision 

There’s no right or wrong definition of what success in your career looks like. The important thing is to figure out what success looks like for YOU. 

It might, and probably will, change along the way, but if you don’t have some sort of milestone on the horizon, then you won’t know which direction to go in.

Think about success in your career in terms of one year, five years, and 10 years. Once you have that, it’s time to lace up your boots and get to work.

2.  Make a blueprint (plan) 

Nobody just stumbles upon success accidentally. 

Sure, they may stumble upon breakthroughs or new methods accidentally, but all success stories have one thing in common — a plan.

Establish a timeline for the things that you want to achieve in your career in the next year, five years, 10 years, and so on. 

Consider the skills that you’ll need to learn to make these things happen and work on acquiring them.

3.  Hang around with guru's in the field

It’s a rule of thumb among musicians that if you want to get better, then you need to get out of the bedroom and play with people who are better than you.

By surrounding yourself with people who are better than you and where you want to be, you’ll not only see how these people climbed to where they are in their respective fields, but you’ll learn from them and naturally want to push yourself to be better in your own job as well.

4. Seek mentorship 

A mentor will not only be able to help you refine and reach your career goals, but will be invaluable in landing promotions and finding unadvertised job openings.

One unique approach is to work on fostering a relationship with a mentor both within and outside of your company. 

This will help in giving you different perspectives as you rise up through the ranks in your company and career overall.

5. Create schedules

You may not think you’re a morning person, but if you can learn to be one, you’ll thank yourself 10 years down the road.

Prepare a to-do list of tasks that you want to accomplish the day before and work on knocking them out for at least one hour before you respond to morning emails. 

The problem with responding to emails first, is you’re giving your attention to somebody else’s agenda, instead of plotting your own course for the day.

6.  Attend productive seminars

If you’re attending networking events simply because you might get a few free drinks, you’re doing them wrong. 

These events are great for meeting new people and forming relationships. 

Your goal shouldn’t be to get hired by the end of the night, but to simply make a good impression by being friendly and authentic. So what’s next?

Reach out a few days later via email or on social media to follow up and connect!

7.  Develop your skill set 

Nobody wants to be the old dog that can’t learn any new tricks. 

To move up in your career, you’re going to likely need to pick up new skills along the way. 

Maybe your company offers on-the-job training or you have the option of taking online classes at night.

By learning new skills, you’ll not only be able to expand upon what you can already do, but you’ll make yourself more valuable to your employer and future employers.

8.  Be fully dedicated to career

Remember what we just said about the possibility of your company providing on-the-job training? Take advantage of these sorts of benefits!

If you’re working for a company that allows you to job shadow other employees or has company mixers, you should attend these. 

They not only allow you to develop your skills within the company, but show seasoned executives within your field that you’re interested in more than just clocking in for a paycheck.

9.  Strive to be the top notch 

Good help is hard to find and employers want to retain outstanding employees. 

If you can learn to make yourself indispensable to your company, you’ll not only communicate that you’re successful, but will have a lot more job security. What’s this entail though?

It’s actually not all that difficult. By being reliable, adapting to new challenges, and holding your own work and performance to a high standard, you’ll stand out among your peers and others will take notice. Easy enough, right?

10. Make 'problem-solving' a habit 

People who advance in their careers are those who don’t shy away from voicing their opinion and stand up with authority when the opportunity arises.

If a problem arises in your company and you think you might have a solution or are willing to work to find one, then let others know. 

Employers value and promote problem solvers. 

Start off with something small and work your way up towards tackling more difficult tasks and projects.







When you stop growing, you start dying