Work while you wait. Often, I see people in their careers here at Service Express, as well as others I talk to outside of the company, who are eager to know their career paths and opportunities. They are driven, work hard, and want to keep progressing in their careers, which is great. But sometimes, you need to balance that drive with a bit of patience. We all want it now, but we can’t always get it now. Sometimes it takes time.
What do you do while waiting for your next career opportunity? My advice is to work while you wait. Stack good days upon good days, good weeks upon good weeks, good months upon good months. Even good years upon good years sometimes. The mistake I see people make is that they want a career opportunity, promotion or progression and get impatient. They get frustrated if they don’t get it right away or are not ready when an opportunity comes and someone else gets it. Their attitude can suffer, and then their performance suffers. And when performance suffers, you’re not in a good position the next time an opportunity comes around.
You want to work while you wait. You want to keep producing, maintain a great attitude and deliver results—whatever that looks like in your position—so that the next time an opportunity comes around, you have a better chance of being selected. Too often, people jump from job to job or let their frustration affect their attitude and results. That doesn’t get you where you want to go.
Make it impossible for them not to choose you the next time an opportunity comes around. And if you do get passed over or you’re not ready yet, ask for feedback. Reach out for it. Be self-reflective and ask, “What do I need to do to be better positioned next time?” If you do these things, you’ll likely find that your career progresses faster than you ever imagined.
