Humans are wired to change. We might be against it in the moment, but if we stay still for too long we become restless, bored, and even self-destructive. It is in change that we can see progress and feel fulfilled in our lives, which is why furthering our qualifications and even advancing our careers is so important. The pay raises and secured futures are important, yes, but for your mental wellbeing, it is critical that you better yourself every day.
How you better yourself isn’t strictly important, either. You could take up a sport as a hobby and learn how to become proficient in it, or, if you do want to advance your career simultaneously, you could follow this guide:
Get on Top of Your Schedule
First thing’s first – you will need to get on top of your schedule. It is almost impossible to make the necessary changes without having a healthy set of routines to back you up. If you always feel tired and unmotivated at work, you cannot reasonably expect it to become easier once you take on the extra tasks necessary to advance your qualifications.
To get on top of your schedule you will want to start first with your bedtime, morning, and eating routines. Bettering your health is key to promote natural energy and to give your brain that much-needed boost to continue working beyond the 9-to-5 work hours during the week.
Benefits for Your Health
Eating well provides your body and brain with the necessary vitamins and pure energy it needs to thrive. Promoting a healthy set of routines in the morning and night can help encourage a deeper night’s sleep. Once you have mastered these, try to introduce at least thirty minutes of exercise a day into, say, your mornings to give yourself the natural energy you need to take on work and extracurricular activities.
Benefits for Your Productivity
Enhancing your health in this way will provide you with a boost in productivity levels. You will need to use this boost to successfully manage taking on an online degree or other necessary career-development strategies like attending workshops or maintaining a professional blog.
Ask for Career Advice
Before you get carried away with what degree you will take or any other step, you will first want to find someone to mentor you. Even if their mentoring begins and ends with an email, this can still provide you with key insight into your dream job. To do this, simply find people who currently have the position of your dreams and contact them asking for career advice. You will want to phrase this so that they let you in on how they achieved their position, rather than just strictly asking how you can do it. The reason you will want to phrase your request in this manner is that there is no one way to get a job, and having a few ideas on how role models have done it can help you create your own strategy.
Gain the Formal Qualifications You Need
Formal qualifications are a good way to get your foot in the door. In some cases, it might be a job requirement. Take teaching, for example. You cannot teach without having the necessary degree. The same applies to anyone in the medical industry. Some jobs need you to have a BA, others an MA, and some a Ph.D. Before, this could be a huge issue for those who already have a job in the career they want. They’d have to take time off or try to struggle with night school. Though night school is a good option, it can also be limiting, as you’d need to attend an institution nearby, and not every city or town has the resources to provide this option.
Today, however, those worries can be put to rest. Online degrees are becoming more prevalent, allowing you to learn at your own pace and from home. This means if you live in an area that doesn’t have night school you can gain that formal degree you’ve been needing. It also means you can apply to the best school that teaches your degree. For those in tech or cyber security, for example, you can enroll in an online Masters in Cyber Security degree and learn from one of the best universities in the world.
Follow up with a Lifetime of Learning
You will want to follow up on this degree by adopting a lifelong learning approach. Even the best degree in the world will become irrelevant over time unless you stay up to date with all the changes and new discoveries. That is why everyone should take up these habits today:
- Read Industry-Relevant Reports and White Papers
- Read for Fun
- Take Online, Free Courses to Expand Your Knowledge
- Attend Workshops and Other Events
Reading helps you stay on top of your knowledge and further your vocabulary and grammar. Workshops help you learn tactilely and network. Free online courses are easy to take on, and help you expand your knowledge into new areas. There are so many ways to better yourself, so try to do a little every day.
Tips for Encouraging Your Employer to Sponsor You
When it comes to funding your education or taking up a lifetime of learning after the fact you will want to first approach your employer. If your further education will benefit their company, then they have a vested interest in sponsoring a portion of the tuition. Another way to get them to pay is by espousing the benefits of subscribing to certain magazines or academic journals. The best way for a company to stay at the forefront of their industry is with research, so having access to relevant research is in the best interest of your employer.
Everyone should aim to better themselves a little every single day. Even reading fiction can help you and your career, by developing your vocabulary and solidifying your grasp on grammar. The real career-pushers, however, will be the courses, workshops, and shadowing you take on, so try to dedicate your time efficiently to see your goals come to fruition.