Career Advice with a Financial Twist

Podcast Summary

Title: Career Advice with a Financial Twist

In this episode, the old jarhead dives into career advice with an insightful financial twist. Drawing from an email he received from a financial planner, he explores four crucial areas for career success.

Key Takeaways:

• Set Clear Career Goals:
• Define where you want to be in the next few years.
• Goals could range from advancing to a management position to achieving technical mastery.
• Example: Our host set a goal of becoming a project leader within two years and it kept him focused and motivated.

• Measure Progress:
• Break down your ultimate goal into intermediate steps.
• Regularly measure your progress and adjust your plans as needed.
• Example: For an advanced degree, outline what needs to be accomplished each year to achieve it within four years.

• Keep Emotions in Check:
• Maintain composure during professional setbacks or when others receive recognition you sought.
• Writing out thoughts can help process emotions and bring mental clarity.
• Seeking feedback calmly can reveal areas for improvement and turn perceived losses into growth opportunities.

• Seek Professional Help (Mentorship):
• Just as financial planners offer valuable advice, mentors can provide guidance on career decisions.
• Find someone who can offer honest, constructive feedback and has your best interests at heart.

Final Thought:

Transform financial advice into actionable career strategies by setting clear goals, measuring progress, managing emotions, and finding a mentor. This holistic approach will undoubtedly guide you to professional success.

Call to Action:

Stay tuned for next week's episode! Don't forget to share this podcast with friends who might benefit from these insights.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:03

All right , listen up , it's the old jarhead back again , to give you some great financial advice Advice that is guaranteed . What did I say ? Financial Whoa ? That's not correct . It's career advice , but today it has a financial twist . So I'm going to give you some good advice today , and it's based on an email I got from a financial planner on the four areas to focus in for financial success and I looked at it . I thought this is a reasonable approach . It was basically you set goals , you measure your progress , keep emotions in check and work with professionals Kind of a pitch to hire them right , but anyhow . So I thought maybe there's some good nuggets in here and how it could apply to your career . So let's get going on thinking about that . So let's take a look at those four areas , those four focus areas , and how they may apply to your career .

Speaker 1 1:05

First is goals . Bottom line . You need to set them for your career . How can you have professional growth if you don't know what you want to grow to be ? You got to have it right Now .

Speaker 1 1:17

Growth can be in a lot of ways . One might be where you want to go from where you are to a management position . Another may be more technical , something like becoming a master plumber or getting your PhD in engineering . So what you need to do is to think about where you would like to be in a period of time such as maybe a couple to five years , and then that becomes your goal . I know , when I started with my last company , I was hired as a senior analyst , but I set a goal for myself to become a project leader within two years and a program manager within five . Those goals kept me focused on the sorts of projects and customers that I wanted to work with , and ultimately I progressed faster and I was a PM in about three years , but I knew where I wanted to go . So think about where you would like to be in the future and make that your goal .

Speaker 1 2:12

So next measure progress right . Second step it's essential to keeping your goal . You need to set intermediate goals . In my case , my ultimate goal was to become a PM within five years , but the step I needed to take to get there was to become a project leader . So that was my way of measuring success toward my ultimate goal of being a PM . So do the same for yourself . If you want to get an advanced degree within , say , the next four years . Think about what you need to do over those four years that will lead to that degree and measure your progress .

Speaker 1 2:47

Too many people fool themselves by setting a far off large goal , but do not set intermediate goals to measure their progress and when the time comes close that they said they wanted to achieve their goal , they're not even near where they should be . Don't be like them . Set intermediate goals and measure your progress and if you get off track , think about why you got off track and how you can adjust your plans or either make your goals different than you initially intended . You may have to push your goals further out , but don't beat yourself up over this . Just realize that sometimes other priorities , like family and health , take over and you need to adjust your final and intermediate goals . Do it then . Get back on track , okay .

Speaker 1 3:30

Moving on the third one , keep emotions in check . So this was focused on market volatility and the need to stay the course during periods of market volatility to achieve long-term financial goals . Right , okay , roger . Same thing could be said about your professional life . Let's say , a coworker gets the advancement that you want or somebody gets more credit for a project that you should have gotten that recognition for . You can't let your emotions get the better of you . It will do you no good .

Speaker 1 4:00

This is a good time to write out your thoughts on your own . Keep this writing to yourself . Write them out , maybe even more than once . Okay , I found that that helps too . Throw the first one out . Start all over again . It settles your mind and gives you the calmness that is essential should , for example , you want to talk to your boss about why you didn't get that promotion or project credit . Asking for this feedback in a calm , professional manner could do a couple things . One is make the boss aware of your feelings about the situation . Maybe she did not realize that you wanted a promotion , but the best reason for this is that you may learn of a weakness you have , but you did not know , and so now you can work to eliminate that weakness . Now you've turned what you thought was a loss into something positive . So keep your emotions in check .

Speaker 1 4:52

Finally , the focus on getting professional help . What the financial advisor tried to get across was to hire them to manage your financial investments , but for us , I think this could mean get a mentor , even an informal one , somebody who can guide you and is willing to give you advice that you may not want to hear , but need to hear Someone who has your best interests at heart and is able and willing to give you the time . And it really helps if it's somebody you just enjoy being around . Okay , so there you have it . Financial advice turned into career advice by the old jarhead have a goal , measure progress , keep your emotions in check and get a mentor . I guarantee you this will help . Thanks for listening and tell your friends and look forward to next week's Bye , thank you , thank you .