Career Affirmation: I must believe in myself and my vision; when I do this, I will manifest the career I desire.

You've made it to the end! Now, I invite you to write your strategy directly into this book, go to nextmovebestmovebook.com to download an editable copy of the template, or use the next few pages as a guide to copy your strategy into your favorite notebook or planner. Unlike a vision board that may be collecting dust in the corner of your room, I ask that you pull out this document and keep it someplace you will see every week. Check back in with your plan, and continue to refine and edit this document as you grow. A career strategy is not a document that you put together once and wait for the magic to happen. Think of a career strategy as a fluid body of work that you will continue to reflect on, edit, and revise based on how your career progresses.

We spend 40‐plus hours at work each week, and many of us cannot say that we spend even four hours a week working on our own personal and professional development goals. We end up focusing our energy on our current role, company, or industry situation versus our own experience in the workforce that we are able to control.

You cannot control your boss, co‐workers, or even your workload, but you can control your thoughts, reactions, and actions you take. As I mentioned earlier, back in 2012 I had the unsavory conversation with a former supervisor that literally changed the trajectory of my career. Prior to that time, I believed that my supervisor was supposed to make sure I was considered for salary increases, invite me to participate in new projects, and look out for my overall development. That experience quickly taught me the hard lesson that this was not the case.

Only you can take full responsibility for your own personal and professional development and overall career strategy. It's critical that you invest in experiences that will provide you with the education you need to excel in your career and help you build an unbiased career strategy that supports your long‐term vision for your career. This can be books, classes, trainings, workshops, retreats, or conferences.

Building a career in 2021 is very different from building a career in 2010, 2000, 1990, or 1980. There are even new job functions and titles that are less than 10 years old now. When you are thinking about creating your own career strategy, it's easy to skip right to your long‐term goals and completely forget about the work that must take place in the middle of where you are now, and where you envision yourself in 5 to 10 years. The middle, in my humble opinion, is where the magic happens. You must outline a combination of step and incremental changes you can make that will move you closer to the long‐term vision. And along the way, you'll hit new milestones that should be celebrated; there's no need to wait until you hit the final destination.

As an entrepreneur, you're taught that your product or service must solve the problem of a customer in order for your business to be profitable. Without having a problem to solve, there's no way to market your product or service. However, I find that professionals rarely think of themselves as a product or service to a company. They often market themselves as hardworking team players, but organizations need employees who are able to solve complex problems and increase the company's efficiency.

I also find that professionals generally fall into two categories: specialist or generalist. A specialist has a defined skill that they bring to a work environment while a generalist is a Jack or Jill of all trades. Both have positive and negative attributes, but what's most important is how they relate to your professional brand and the solution that you provide to the company.

Once you get clear on your natural talent, skills, and interests, you can hone in and determine the skills you'd like to magnify in your career development strategy to solve the problem of a company or specific team you're a part of. And remember, the need or gap that you are solving for the company doesn't need to have a catastrophic level of impact; it just needs to be marketable in a way that you and other professionals you interact with understand. When someone asks what you do, the answer should be simple. Being simple means that it's easy for your mentors, sponsors, peers, and managers to understand so they can help you as you do the work to achieve your professional goals.

One of my favorite exercises to do with clients is a skills assessment. Sure, I know that there are tons of assessments you can take to determine what your skills may be based upon your personality, but I like to look at your past experiences to see what skills you currently possess that may be of assistance as you create your own career development plan. When you think about all of your past work experiences, you should be able to compile a list of 5 to 10 skills that you've developed over time. The key here is deciding which skills you would like to maximize in your career and where you may need to do some additional work.

Part of creating your career development strategy is also knowing where you may need to brush up on your skills and invest in personal and professional development. If the skills you'd like to magnify are aligned with the problem you'd like to solve in your industry – you're ready to go! But if the problem you'd like to solve in your industry requires a different skill set, it's time to start investing in your development to ensure that you're able to be competitive in the workforce.

By now I'm sure you're also tired of people telling you the importance of networking. Despite the fact that most professionals know its importance, many still just don't do it. Rather than focus on the number of connections you can build, focus your energy on the number of quality connections you have in your network. One of my mentors uses the term accelerated collisions to describe the process of building key relationships through networking. Accelerated collisions are so much more than networking; they are a curated experience where people are able to connect and the process to establish the relationship is expedited so both parties can immediately receive value. My mentor spoke about this term at a retreat that was curated with a room full of professionals and entrepreneurs who were prescreened and primed to build optimal relationships – so it was a room ready for accelerated collisions.

What struck me about this term was that everyone in the room had to make a significant investment to be there. In our careers, many times we invest in doing the work, but not in being in the rooms to magnify the work to external audiences. I've seen professionals attend free or $25 networking events and expect to gain million‐dollar connections. Whether you're investing your time or resources, the result will be in proportion to what you invested. Even in your career, you may have to make a larger investment, but you may also receive a much larger reward.

In nearly every speech I give, I end my talk by sharing the importance of becoming relentlessly consistent in order to achieve your goals. When it comes to career development, no one is going to care more about your career than you. Working in talent acquisition and helping my clients achieve their professional goals across dozens of industries, I see this more than ever.

Many professionals stay put because they have a great boss who would appear to have no interest in leaving the company … until they surprise you and leave for a better opportunity and you're left trying to figure out your own next steps. Or professionals stay in dead‐end jobs because they are afraid of what the “other side” may look like. What you need to be afraid of is sitting in the same exact place, day after day, month over month, and year over year complaining about the same workplace environment that doesn't align with your goals, while everyone around you is moving and shaking.

Last but not least, I always recommend leaving a little room for magic to happen. I'm not talking about literal magic, but I believe that when you sow into your career regularly and continuously put in the hard work of mastering your crafts, building relationships, and attacking your gaps, you will be pleasantly surprised by how fast things can move in your career. When you're consistently putting in the work to navigate your career, implement your career strategy, and leave yourself open for unexpected pivots, you will build the career you always wanted. I've seen it happen in my career and in the careers of my clients. Even just 90 days of focus can catapult your career forward if you're intentional with your actions. While studies show it takes the average professional six months to find a new role, exceptions can always be made for excellence. Always leave room for unexpected opportunities that excite you. Additionally, even if you're not currently looking for a new opportunity, your career strategy can assist you in maximizing your current role, as well. This book isn't just about getting a new role; it's about transitioning into a career that you love and that begins with where you are right now.

The career affirmation for this chapter is an edited version of my company's manifesto. I've learned that believing in yourself is step one and the most important step you must make if you would like to achieve any goal in your life. We discussed your career in this book, so I refocused the affirmation to reflect that.

Again, if you picked up this book and read it up until this point, I know you care about your career trajectory. Now, it's time to move from caring about your career to believing that the career you desire is possible and then going after it!

Your next, best move is to take what you've learned and apply it in your career. Transitioning to a career you love is truly about creating a strategy to take you from where you are to exactly where you would like to be. On the next few pages, you'll see a template that can be used to create your career strategy or you can go to nextmovebestmovebook.com to download an editable copy of the template with a one‐page overview that will allow you to add also fill in your key strengths, growth opportunities, ideal work environment, core values, and 10‐year vision.

Your Next Move

Putting together this career strategy is step one in making your next move your best move, but it will not happen by osmosis. You must diligently apply the best practices shared throughout each page of this book and do the work to become a leader in your industry.

I also highly recommend doing your own roadshow after your career strategy is completed. When senior‐level executives move into a new role, they frequently do a roadshow or “listening tour” to meet with all of the key stakeholders who drive the day‐to‐day work in their new organization or team. The purpose of this time is to deeply understand how their role impacts the organization, the changes that need to be made, and to build relationships with the stakeholders who will be pivotal in moving the work forward.  After this time, the executive is armed with the information to create or update the strategy for their organization. Your experience reading this book and completing the “Your Next Move” exercises should be similar. You've completed several exercises and likely reached out to professionals in your field to gain the information needed to create your career strategy. Now that the strategy is completed, it's important to go back out to your manager, mentors, peers, and sponsors to talk about where you'd like to go in your career.

Professionals in your network will not be able to advocate for you if they have no idea where you'd like to go. Over the past few years, I've conducted dozens of workshops on advocating for yourself in the workplace and found that many people think that's just about speaking up for yourself. Sure, you can advocate for yourself when you disagree with something, but you can also advocate for yourself when you want to position yourself as a leader in the workplace. Positioning yourself in the workplace truly comes from having a strategic plan and exhibiting the leadership behaviors that back up your career strategy.

Several times in this book, I've shared the following three pieces of advice from my father.

1. Work hard and focus on being the best at whatever you do.
2. Excellence is always important; be excellent.
3. If they hit you first, hit back.

We never got a chance to talk about point number 3. When something happens in your career and you “take a hit,” your strategy is the way you hit them back. For every time you've been underestimated, allow your hard work, constant pursuit of excellence in your career, and increasing growth to hit them back.

Early on in my career, I used to wait tables at a chain restaurant because my full‐time salary didn't pay all of my bills. I never felt shame from working as a server. In fact, I enjoyed the camaraderie and the wad of cash that I walked out with every night after my shift. On the day I finally resigned from that job, after transitioning into a full‐time job that aligned with my career goals and paid a salary that I could fully live on, I'll never forget that the restaurant manager looked me in the eyes, chuckled, and said, “You'll be back. Y'all always come back.”

They underestimated me. I'm struggling not to call their name out in this story because (a) it's petty and (b) for every person who's ever underestimated my abilities to take my career and life to the next level, their low predictions of my abilities never came to fruition. Although I know I have always had a drive toward excellence, there is also a piece of me that chuckles and says, “Look at me now.” My continued success and impact is the ultimate “hit back.”

My hope is that the advancement of your career will be a continuous process you embark on so that you are always ready for the next move, or better yet, the next move finds you.