How to set yourself up for career success

What an amazing weekend, volunteering at the London Marathon. 

The last 3 or 4 years, I’ve volunteered at the first water station at Mile 4 with my running club.

This year I wanted to do something different so I joined the Macmillan Cancer Support Action Station on Embankment to cheer on their 1200 runners. 

OH MY GOODNESS!

Walking down onto Embankment from Blackfriars Station was incredibly emotional. 

When I ran London Marathon in 2014, it had all gone badly wrong by mile 18 with severe cramp in my quads and stomach upset on a very hot April day. I got taped up by a friend at mile 22 but I was too sweaty and sticky for the tape to stay on.

I remember running through the Blackfriars underpass and enjoying a moment or two of quiet and shade. With only two miles to go, I started to realise “Sod it, I can do this. Only 2 miles to go.” 

So it felt overwhelming to be there with my marathon memories rushing through my head. 

Training for a marathon is hard. Anybody that gets to the start line deserves a medal, no matter whether they finish. The hard work is done before you get there. 

If you ran London or another marathon, HUGE respect. Congratulations. You’re amazing. No matter what time you ran. 

But there’s SUCH an obvious parallel with career success. 

One step at a time 

Getting promoted or landing the new dream job takes focus, time and effort. It’s a not sprint. You have to take it one step at a time. 

It’s not just doing the work or the training. It’s how you set yourself up for success. 

In marathon training, setting yourself up for success is identifying your running goals, taking care of your nutrition, hydrating well, getting enough sleep, taking enough rest and not getting overly stressed if you had to miss a training session because you were sick or injured. 

In your career, setting yourself up for success is getting clear on your career goals, setting clear boundaries, prioritising your self-care, getting support from a mentor, identifying a sponsor, getting boldly visible, not doing work that isn’t valued, and not getting overly stressed if you make a mistake. 

What are you doing to set yourself up for career success? 

What are you doing to set yourself up for success in your career? 

What are you NOT doing? 

What could you do more of?

What could you stop doing?

Take a few minutes now to reflect on whether you are setting yourself up for success or if you are inadvertently putting blockers in the way of your career success. 

If you try to sprint a marathon, you’ll burn out MILES before the finish.

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