While in our heads we imagine ourselves kicking ass at every meeting, getting a raise every few months and being crowned Employee of the Month every month, reality is less glamorous. Between unsupportive bosses and mundane work, it’s easy to lose all your motivation to be truly amazing at what you do. However, falling into a rut and not trying to do anything about it is one of the worst things you can do for your career. Unless you’re constantly striving for self-improvement, your career trajectory is going to resemble a flat plain instead of the steep mountain you’d rather it be. So how to be the absolute best at your job? Here are five tips that will help.
1. Don’t Shy Away From Going Beyond The Call Of Duty
You can either do the bare minimum required of your job and stay afloat or go the extra mile and reach new heights. No matter what your job, find ways to do more than just what is asked of you. Complete your deadlines well in advance, propose new project ideas and take initiative instead of waiting around for instructions. You can go beyond the job description no matter what your job is. If you work as a nanny, your actual job is supervising a child. However, you can the best nanny there ever was by keeping a list of the best pediatricians in the area, coming up with new games to occupy a child, keeping a repertoire of natural remedies for common illnesses in children and so on. This way, you will have earned a reputation for yourself that will help your career in the future.
2. Be A Superlative
Why settle for being just ‘okay’ when you can be the best? Have at least one skill that you’re the absolute best at to distinguish you from the rest. You can strive towards being the best of your job, of course, but you can also focus on specific skills related to your job. You can be the best at organizing, the best at presentations, even the best at massages if you’re a manicurist. Being the best at something will make it easy for people to remember you and think of you for future roles. Just make sure it’s something related to do the job you’re doing or the job you want. It’s probably not going to help your career much if you’re known for being the best at knocking back tequila. Keeping working on a skill until people can say, “Oh Natalie? Yeah, she’s the best at proofreading”.
3. Spend Your Off-Season Time Productively
If you have a seasonal job, don’t treat off-season months as an extended vacation. Instead, use it towards honing your skills, building your personal brand, nurturing contacts or widening your network. For example, if you’re a teacher, you can spend your months of vacation looking up new teaching methods, project ideas for your students or even sending newsletters to your students and/or their parents with interesting articles and study material for the new term. If you work as a tour guide, use off-season months to write blogs on travel that will help new clients find you or brainstorm new ways to repackage the same information you always give during visits to monuments. No matter what you work as, there’s always a good way to use your free time.
4. Find A Trademark
What’s the one characteristic you have that makes you stand out from the crowd? It isn’t a coincidence that almost every successful personality has a trademark that makes them instantly recognizable. Mark Zuckerberg has his grey t-shirts, Kylie Jenner has her lips and Anna Wintour has her trademark sunglasses and bob. When you think of improving yourself at work, think of yourself as a brand. What’s going to be your brand trademark to help people remember you by? It could be anything from your lipstick to the tie you wear. Just make sure it isn’t something too gimmicky like a terrible catchphrase.
5. Improve Your Life Outside Work
Ultimately, the best way to have a great work life, is to have a fulfilling life outside it. If you spend all your time working and do nothing for yourself, you’re going to feel burnt out and unfulfilled. Take time out of each day to do something that you love. It could be reading a chapter in a book, going for a run, or simply drinking coffee in the morning in silence. For at least half an hour a day, unwind and do something for your mental health. This will put in a much better state of mind to put your best foot forward at work.
