Career Fitness: 5 Steps for Getting and Keeping a Fit Career
Remember Jack LaLanne? Probably not. For those of you who do, the video clip might bring back memories. For those of you who don’t, well this clip might be a little scary, but watch it anyway.
The point? More than 50 years ago, Jack LaLanne nearly single-handedly changed the notion of “physical fitness”. He changed the thinking, terminology, and approaches regarding what it means to be fit, how to get fit, and how to stay fit. He made it his mission to get people to believe that each of us is in charge of our own body and that fitness is as much a state of mind as a physical condition. He applied his concepts and practices to people of all types, genders, and ages, not just to a chosen few.
The parallels between a fit body and a fit career are compelling. Just as you need to develop a program for getting and staying fit physically, you need to develop a similar sort of plan for getting and keeping a fit career. It takes thought, it takes time, it takes energy, and it takes commitment.
You don’t go to the gym for two weeks, pump a bunch of iron and run a lot on the treadmill and think that’s all you need to do to be fit. You need to look at other aspects of your health, such as diet, as well. Most importantly, once you get to your targeted level of fitness, you need to keep working out periodically to stay fit. Moreover, as your lifestyle, eating habits, and age change, you may need to overhaul your fitness plan and restart the program.
Getting to and maintaining a fit career is much the same. The steps are pretty simple. You need to:
- Decide what you want to do next.
- Develop a plan for getting what you want.
- Find resources that can help you get and stay on track in pursuing what you want.
- Do a bunch of work to figure out and find your next career.
- Keep refreshing what’s right for you via periodic “check-ups”.
Just as Jack LaLanne believed that everyone can and should have a fit body, we at ClearlyNext believe that everyone can and should have a fit career. We hope we are changing the thinking, terminology, and approaches to career fitness in similar ways that Lalanne changed physical fitness. But, no matter what we do, the key is you. You CAN have a fit career, but it takes thought, time, energy, and commitment.
If you’re interested in a fit career, check out ClearlyNext by clicking here. Maybe we can help. There’s no better time than the present to get started.
Bill Pace is Managing Director of ClearlyNext, a guided online career program that helps people of all backgrounds and incomes figure out what to do next. Read more >
