Stop Sabotaging Your Career

I have some advice for all professionals within the insurance industry. Stop sabotaging your career.

The reality of self-sabotage stems from the choices you make that interfere with your goals. Whether conscious or unconscious, they are still your choices, which means you can stop making them.

You’re getting in your way.

When you start to push yourself and step outside of your comfort zone, you naturally want to revert to your old patterns holding you back.

Don’t cut yourself off from the team around you; be sure to share your ideas with your team or at meetings. Keeping your ideas and thoughts to yourself may cause management to overlook you when it comes time for promotions.

You’re turning down opportunities.

Many of us fear rejection. We’re scared of putting ourselves out there and missing opportunities to improve our careers.

Be open to job opportunities when they present themselves, especially when a recruiter calls with a potential position. If you want to stop sabotaging your career, hear a recruiter out. Meeting with recruiters or industry colleagues to learn about different methods and perspectives is critical to your growth.

No matter at what point you are in your career, you should be networking and reaching for what you want. Put yourself in front of challenging opportunities. Don’t be scared to make a splash.

To set yourself on the fast track to a higher and better position, you must make your skills and competencies stand out. Otherwise, you’ll remain invisible to those who can propel your career.

You’re not willing to go into the office.

More opportunities will open up for those who are available to their peers. When you are willing to go into the office, you show that you are passionate about your work.

What if you are remote? It’s the same concept: show up on time, communicate promptly, attend meetings, have your camera on and participate—especially if you’re not the one running the meeting.

Being visible to your peers and coworkers demonstrates a variety of interpersonal skills that can help launch your career even further,

You don’t set goals and stay on track.

Doing the bare minimum is the easiest way to sabotage yourself. Completing your tasks without much thought or passion won’t help you get ahead. Passion often drives performance, and if you don’t treat your work as something you’re passionate about, you are less likely to enjoy your job and progress yourself.

You don’t accept criticism.

Accept constructive criticism from others and become conscious of skills you need to improve on.

Rather than refusing to acknowledge your shortcomings and working on them, use it as an opportunity to develop yourself professionally. For example, do you effectively communicate with your coworkers and team? Do you find that a lack of communication determines the success of a team project? In order for you to stop sabotaging your career, we highly recommend developing effective communication skills.

You don’t show initiative.

Show initiative to learn new things. When you demonstrate to your employer that you have a self-starting attitude and you exceed expectations it will improve your overall work experience and help you reach your career goals.

We advise professionals to continue their insurance education through various certifications that will enhance their skills, depending on their specialty area.

You focus on perfection instead of progress.

Perfection is unachievable. Thinking you must constantly strive for perfection to get ahead is a rigid mindset that won’t help you get ahead in your career. Instead, be compassionate with yourself and your work. Your productivity and the quality of your work increase the chances of your success.

When you’re striving for perfection, it is difficult to meet deadlines and achieve your career goals.

Stop setting yourself up for failure. Our insurance recruiters have the expertise to create positive outcomes for our candidates. The James Allen Companies want to partner with you to improve your career. Start a conversation with us today.