As humans, we tend to want a magic pill to cure whatever ails us. We want the quickest fix to relieve pain, lose weight, get rich, or eliminate stress in our lives. Advertisers know this and target their ad campaigns toward that mentality. Yet, often times, we learn and benefit more from going through uncomfortable situations or enduring challenges.
This is especially true when it comes to career development. Unleashing the power of innovation in our administrative careers requires an innovation mindset. That sounds simple enough. But making a conscious choice usually is. The hard part is applying it to day-to-day situations. It requires constant thought and attention to truly change our mindset, and how we think about things. Even after we change how we think, there are still habits to change and new ones to develop to support our success. The “magic pill” for becoming The Innovative AdminTM is a lot of thought, diligence, commitment, and hard work.
For admins, the path to innovation and career success starts with some fairly basic habits, such as journaling and reading. It may be hard to find time for these activities. But it’s important to give these new strategies a try. Routine or basic doesn’t necessarily mean easy, though. Developing new habits takes a minimum of about three weeks for most people. It requires discipline, changing how we work, and how we think about things. This can be very uncomfortable, unfamiliar, and downright frustrating at times. Establishing new habits and eliminating ones that aren’t effective is tough. And there are no shortcuts. You have to push through the innovation mindset adoption curve over and over again. You have to do the inner work to experience the outer results of change and the transformation you’re after in your life and career.
When we choose to approach our career development with a positive, proactive, take-charge attitude, anything is possible. We open our minds and hearts to possibilities that we couldn’t imagine before. We start seeing opportunities all around us because our perspective has expanded as a result of the experiences we’ve had. We begin to view implementing other changes in our life as positive and necessary for helping us reach even higher levels of achievement. Over time, we look back and realize that as we transformed our thoughts and behaviors — as difficult as it may have been, we also transformed our careers. That’s the power of unleashing innovation in your administrative career. Are you in?
© 2014 Julie Perrine International, LLC
HOW TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEBSITE
Want to use this article in your newsletter, ezine or website? You can — just as long as you include this complete blurb with it:
Julie Perrine, CAP-OM, is the founder and CEO of All Things Admin, providing training, mentoring and resources for administrative professionals worldwide. Julie applies her administrative expertise and passion for lifelong learning to serving as an enthusiastic mentor, speaker, and author who educates admins around the world on how to be more effective every day. Learn more about Julie’s books — The Innovative Admin: Unleash the Power of Innovation in Your Administrative Career and The Organized Admin: Leverage Your Unique Organizing Style to Create Systems, Reduce Overwhelm, and Increase Productivity. And request your free copy of our special report “From Reactive to Proactive: Creating Your Strategic Administrative Career Plan” at www.AllThingsAdmin.com.
