The 3 C's of Career Momentum
A prominent career consultant once said that momentum in life can be achieved through the three C’s:
- Clarity
- Congruency
- Consistency
Clarity, as the name suggests, refers to being clear about what it is that you are able to do in your life. It means discovering “your true calling” – what you are “cut out” to do. To identify this, you need to discover where your strongest motivations and talents lie. This is where a career assessment can prove instrumental. Some career assessments even go so far as to suggest what careers you might find satisfying. If you are clear about what you are able to do, you will be able to develop realistic expectations of what you can reasonably handle, what you will be able to do, and what you will not be able to do.
Merely possessing knowledge of what you can or cannot do is not the end of the story however. You must also put this knowledge into practice by actually carrying out what you are able to do. This then is “congruency” – bringing your assessment of yourself in line with your actions. This can be achieved either through taking small steps towards alignment, or it might require radical changes in your career, going so far as a complete change in your profession. However the ultimate goal is utilizing your core strengths, in order to achieve not only maximum performance, but also maximum satisfaction.
The journey to the goal is not a smooth one, however. There are many starts and stops on the way to a smooth career path, and you will often end up moving off-track if you are not careful. The key to remaining on track is “consistency” – not giving up on the journey you have embarked upon. World-class performance in any field can only be achieved if clarity and congruency are practiced over a sustained period of time, and one does not give up at the first sign of trouble.
