Keep yourself and goals grounded

So you’ve probably decided your career goals for 2013. There are probably many things you’ll need to do to achieve them. Here’s how to stay on solid ground.

Keep challenging yourself: And do this daily because there is no safe way or path to reaching your goals especially if they are big goals. Even in the face of instability, find focus so that you can feel anchored. If you feel stuck at any point, identify what no longer works and change it. Don’t let things just happen to you. Embrace self- learning keep the bar very high; don’t wait for training to come to you.

Advance even within constraints: No matter how difficult things get, there’s usually wiggle room so don’t put your goals on hold at the first obstacle. Even the very successful will admit that even though things have worked out for them they have the understory that tells about all the risks they took, the long hours they worked or even the mean bosses they may have endured.

Know your bottom line: Be self-directed and wait to do anything worthwhile only when someone’s on your back. If you’re not willing to take risks you are unlikely to ever get anything special. Decide what you are prepared to do including building capacity to start over if need. Be ready to grow; take yourself away from environments and people that quash your creative thinking.

Don’t dig up the seeds: Keep going, don’t expect quick fixes or give up because they don’t see results immediately. Break up your actions into small steps and pat yourself when you achieve each one. Chances are in the beginning what you’ll experience is struggle but give your goals a chance to succeed by hanging in there.

Now take action:What one thing can you do to hone your ability to focus?