Take Advantage of Workplace Opportunities to Enhance Your Career

Whether you were productive or not, Friday eventually makes its way to you every week. If you’re like me you look back at your week and think about the things you accomplished and the things you could have accomplished. Some weeks are more productive than others, but every day we have the chance to take advantage of opportunities in front of us.

As we get wrapped up in our daily grind it is important for us to remember that opportunities often surface at the most inopportune and unexpected times. Today the competition for career advancement is heating up, so you must be prepared to take advantage of opportunities.

Want to make good things happen for you? Here are six habits to develop that will help ensure that you take advantage of career opportunities that come your way.

Decide

When

an opportunity presents itself don’t pump fake or hesitate to pull the trigger. Take advantage of the opportunity and use it to further your skill set. You know the opportunities that will interest you and complement the skills you already have. Grow and learn by taking on new opportunities that are outside your comfort zone. Other people will take notice of the work you’re doing. Somebody is always watching, and once you start don’t be surprised when people start to pitch in to help you.

Pay Attention

Be curious, ask questions, share, and collect information. When you are walking in and out of different places, put your cellphone down and notice the things that are happening around you. Develop the habit of paying attention. Listen more, talk less, and you will grow as a person. Bounce your ideas off people after you listen and take in information. When new opportunities open up, people will naturally think of you.

Be Diligent

Regardless of how meaningless, pointless, dull, and useless a project may seem, think about the higher purpose that it may serve. Determine to bring your best talents and most dedicated attitude to it. Our attitude is important because what you think changes how you feel and what you do. If you place importance on the work you are doing, others will respond to that and see it as something bigger. Develop the habit of honoring your work.

Make an Impact

Everything you do causes a response in someone. The look that you give off, how you answer and talk on your cellphone, and your smile all say something about you. Everything you do has an impact. When you make decisions, think them through to understand how they will affect other people. People will see that you make work easier for them and not harder.

Be Generous

Be generous offering your help and counsel. When people help you, suggest your best skills as a way you might return the favor. Be alert to the ways you can match your best work with what the people around you may be doing. Talk about your favorite projects. Develop the habit of letting people know how much you love doing what you do well. It impresses people when they encounter folks who love their work and who want to help others.

Imagine All Opportunities

Opportunity is always present. “Lucky’ people realize this. Seek out trends and ideas that match your interests and skill set. Take those ideas and put your own twist on them. You

don’t have to reinvent the wheel, just add a spoke. See things, and think about how you might be able to improve on them. How can you make it more fun, easier, more exciting, more anything. Look at the opportunities that will help and benefit other people, and you will find support from others.