by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS
The VET Recruiter®
Believe it or not, the year 2020 is almost upon us. I still remember when the Y2K scare was happening, and that was nearly two decades ago. During those two decades, I’ve learned quite a bit in my role as an Animal Health recruiter and Veterinary recruiter.
One of the things I’ve learned is that the keys to professional and career success have not changed. Not only that, but those keys are also unlikely to change in the future. And that’s what I’d like to address in this newsletter article, as we stand on the precipice of a new year and a new decade.
And I want to address this topic by posing a question. Coincidentally, this is a question that every professional needs to ask themselves before the New Year arrives. That question is as follows:
“What are the top three things that I REALLY want for my career?”
Why do you need to ask yourself this question? There are multiple reasons.
First, it obviously forces you to identify what is most important to you in your career. If you haven’t thought about this previously, then this is the perfect time to do so. Second, it also forces you to prioritize what is most important to you. And third, it provides you with a definite direction and a clearer focus in terms of what you need to do to reach your goals and grow your career.
A recurring theme in my articles and blog posts is desire. As I’ve stated before, nothing happens without desire. In other words, nothing can happen without someone having the desire to make it happen. This applies to the simplest things in life, as well as the more complex.
For example, you got out of bed this morning because you had a desire to do so. You may take getting out of bed for granted, but that doesn’t make desire’s role in the process any less prominent or important.
The same concept applies to your career. Nothing is going to happen in your career unless you have the desire to make it happen. And that desire has to be strong enough to compel you to take action.
If the desire is not strong enough, then you won’t take the action, and consequently, you won’t experience the results you seek. (But then again, if you desire those results strongly enough, then you will do whatever is necessary to attain them.)
On previous occasions, I have referenced Napoleon Hill, who was an American self-help author. One of his well-known works is Think and Grow Rich, which is one of the 10 best-selling self-help books of all time. I encourage you to read that book and others by Napoleon Hill.
For the purposes of this article, I’d like to quote Hill, who wrote the following:
“In order to act, you must have a purpose. If you want to act successfully in all but the most mundane affairs, you must embrace that purpose with a burning desire. Many people think they want to be successful, but since they do not back that thought with an intense drive, they never achieve success. Cultivate your desire. Feed it with thoughts of yourself enjoying whatever it is you seek. It’s like stoking the furnace of a steam engine. You need to build up enough pressure to carry yourself over hills; if your desire doesn’t burn hotly enough, you’ll find yourself stalled and rolling backwards. The secret to action is a red-hot desire.”
As you can see, Napoleon Hill doesn’t just talk about desire, he talks about red-hot desire. In order to achieve your professional and career goals, that’s the kind of desire you must have, the kind that will help you push through every obstacle and meet every challenge.
And that’s why it’s crucial for you to identify the things about which you are passionate and the things that ignite desire within you. Then, once you’ve identified these things, you can more easily pursue them.
What are your career goals for the coming year? What do you hope to accomplish in 2020? What do you desire, and what is your plan for achieving what you desire? This is a great time to ask these questions and an even better time to answer them.
This is also a great time to reach out and connect with an experienced Animal Health recruiter or Veterinary recruiter who can keep your qualifications in mind as career opportunities come up that match your experience and career goals. A search consultant has the experience and expertise to help you achieve your goals and position you for long-term success when a suitable opportunity comes up in the marketplace and when the timing is right.
The year 2020 is almost upon us. So be optimistic, be confident, and be sure to stoke your desires and pursue your passions.
Take the first steps in making the New Year the best year of your career.
We help support careers in one of two ways: 1. By helping Animal Health and Veterinary professionals to find the right opportunity when the time is right, and 2. By helping to recruit top talent for the critical needs of Animal Health and Veterinary organizations. If this is something that you would like to explore further, please send an email to stacy@thevetrecruiter.com.
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