How a Career Journal Can Support Your Development

Question: Do you have a Career Journal? (A place where you keep all your development related notes – feedback, learning, 121 discussions, performance reviews….etc!)

We know when we give our personal (career) growth regular attention, the result is projection in a forward manner – a career journal is an excellent support vehicle for this. Often when a client tells me they feel as if their career is treading water, when they turn their mind to using a career journal they report feeling in control, finding momentum, and describe ‘turbo charging’ their personal progress.

Top Tips For Career Journalling

 

1. Where are you writing?

Start by finding a place to jot down everything to do with your career – most people like a physical notebook, but this could also be a rolling document on your desktop or another method entirely – it just has to work for you. One of my clients records all their entries via voice note on their phone!

2. When are you writing?

I recommend carving out 10 minutes once a week (a Friday works best, or whatever day in your work makes sense to do some reflection) to ask yourself the following questions:

🌟 What am I proud of achieving this week? What are my wins?

🌟 What is my focus for next week developmentally? Is it speaking to a specific person in my network, is it delivering a report, is it engaging in a career discussion with my Line Manager?

3. How are you writing?

When I write in my career journal, it’s far from ‘neat’. I go where my energy is. Sometimes that’s in a ‘wild writing’ (sentences) format, but more than anything I will draw mind maps write in bullet points. For my 10 minute weekly reflection, I draw a little table with 2 columns labelled ‘wins’ and ‘focus’. The message here is to find what works for you, it isn’t prescriptive. The important thing is to do it!

4. Reflection.

As with many things, reflection is key. Once a month I recommend clients revisit their career journal – what are the themes, what have the key wins been, what development have you undertaken and what’s the result? Also, what feedback have you jotted down, or anything else that came to mind and you captured. Discussing these things with your Coach or Mentor is a great way to underpin your progress and hold yourself accountable for actions.

Creating a habit to use a journal in this way can be tricky but once you’re into the groove you’ll benefit as you can view your career and personal development in one place. Don’t worry, this is not a ‘dear diary’ scenario, capturing your thoughts can take as little as 30 seconds! If you feel like you’re ‘treading water’ in your career and are ready to make a change then get in touch and we’ll get