Are You Tending Your Career Garden?
We’ve had a very hot summer this year in these parts with many days over 100. People lose their motivations in the heat and barely want to move out of air conditioned comfort. My friend, who’s entire yard is planted in beautiful perennial gardens that she has always lovingly tended, has let her plants just burn in the hot sun. “Not doin’ it, ” she says. “It’s just way too hot to get out there and water and weed in this heat! They’ll just have to fend for themselves. ” Well they didn’t. Plants that have thrived in her loving care for years are suddenly dried up to nothingness, somehow allowing me to feel smugly virtuous about not having ever started such foolishness. I’ve never planted or nurtured the earth (hey, I don’t even mow), but I’m not a plant killer, either! Perceived vindication sometimes takes strange forms.
Being the person I am, however, I soon began thinking about this in terms of our careers, and how they are really like gardens. There are a variety of plants within them, some native to the soil (talents)and other imported varieties (skill sets). Whatever we have in our career garden, it must be tended or it will wither and dry up. Talents are perennials but they will never take us anywhere if we don’t make the effort to identify, develop and employ them. Skill sets are annuals and only as good as the training we get to keep them updated.
What does your career garden look like? Are you planting it (getting education and training)? Are you taking time to identify all the varieties (natural talents) within it? Are you weeding and pruning, i.e. negotiating to trade job duties that aren’t your style for those where you can shine and produce more of a harvest for your employer?
There’s an old saying, ‘Bloom where you are planted.’ But plants don’t bloom without tender loving care.
If you want to get on track to become a master career gardener, contact me to begin today. There’s fertile soil awaiting.
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Excellent analogy. A “job” is like a withering plant, while a “career” is like a blooming garden. It’s easy to become fixated on our work environment today, while neglecting to focus on opportunities for tomorrow. Complacency dries our psyche, but ambition uplifts. I think it’s time to get pruning.
Comment by Jason Keeling — @ 9:46 am