6 Steps to Boldness

Inspired by this years International Women’s Day theme, Be Bold For Change; and the wonderful ladies who spoke last month at General Assembly’s event, International Women’s Day: Equality in Tech. Here are 6 steps to help you towards to boldness:

Never fall into the comfort trap

Being comfortable is nice, however it can be very limiting in developing your career. By exposing yourself to new skills and experiences you can learn about your strengths and weaknesses.

There’s never a perfect time for anything (So take a few risks…)

Good opportunities may arise at the most inopportune moments; this may cause some sort of conflict of interest but it’s okay to take risks and shift priorities.

Expose yourself to the industry

It can be hard getting industry exposure, especially if you are just starting out in your UX career. This can be done by building an online presence or attending UX events and conferences. Once you get your name out there you will be able to learn from other people in the industry as well as get the opportunity to speak about your own work and experiences.

Get a support network

Being bold isn’t easy, and one of the most important aspects of developing yourself or your career is to have a support network. It can include people part of the UX and design industry or those who have nothing do with it.

Grab every opportunity you can

This is a great way of acting on the opportunities coming at the most unexpected of times and way for you to discover your work style and expertise.

Know your weakness

The more experience you get the more you will learn about your weaknesses. There are a couple of ways you can work with your not-so-great points; the first is to work at them and get better. The second is to ask for help when you need it, sometimes the bolder thing thing to admit to yourself you can’t do everything.