Now is the time for a “personal inflection point” – a pivot to a new direction in your career that will bring you significantly greater joy, fulfillment and success.
An inflection point is a sudden period of rapid growth or change after an extended period of little or no growth. If you created a graph of an inflection point, its shape would resemble a hockey stick – like the one in the illustration above.
Inflection points happen frequently in nature, where one species of animal gradually grows in population and then suddenly it explodes as soon as its population reaches a certain point.
The same dynamic happens in business: One business model has dominated an industry for so long that everyone takes it for granted. Meanwhile, an alternative solution incubates under the radar, so far in the periphery that no one takes it seriously at first. But as it steadily improves, its growth soon reaches critical mass and rapid growth takes over – the hockey stick growth curve once again.
The inflection point that transformed my career
Like businesses, people can also have inflection points in their careers.
The inflection point in my career happened 18 years ago, when I had the opportunity to join a trade association on to help put it on the then-new world wide web. My previous experience had been in business-to-business public relations, helping industrial companies to promote their products and services to trade magazines. This was simply a new medium for communication. Of course, there would be much to learn, but that’s what made it intriguing – the chance to explore a Brave New World and figure out how to leverage it to help my employer grow its member services.
By pivoting from PR to the web, I experienced a period of unprecedented growth in my career. In 2002, I leveraged what I learned to create my own web publishing venture, InnovationTools.com. That, in turn, led to the development of a blog that is now the world’s leading source of information, tips, reviews and advice about mind mapping software and visual thinking. Finally, last year I took everything I’ve learned from over 30 years of work experience and study of best practices in the fields of self-development, productivity and creativity to write Up Your Impact. None of this would be possible unless I took a risk and tried something new nearly two decades ago.
What about you?
Where will YOU be 20 years from now in your career? Will you be able to look back and say, “Wow! It’s been a heck of an adventure so far, and there’s so much more I want to accomplish!” Or will you still be punching the clock, doing what you’re told and reacting to circumstances?
The world of business is in the early stages of a major inflection: The death of the industrial age and the birth of something new. Accelerating advances in communications, science and technology are going to drive major growth in the years ahead. Far-sighted leaders are already looking for brave souls who are willing to step forward and share their best ideas for growing the business, so they can lead the curve, not be a laggard on it.
You have a unique opportunity to be a part of this revolution – but only if you’re ready to contribute more than you’re paid to do, to significantly differentiate yourself from your peers and to cultivate your creative mind.
Your guide to making a difference
Up Your Impact is your guide to the strategies that will help you to pivot your career in a new direction, that will help you to pull the curve sharply upward – starting now.
No, my book isn’t a set of “secret” shortcuts or killer strategies that will make you an enormous overnight success. That’s the stuff of oversized myths and legends. A handful of people get lucky and get the “big breaks.” But for most of us, there is no substitute for doing the work.
The key is to transform your approach to your work, to bring more passion, commitment and creativity to it. That’s what will turn the trick. It’s what will get you and your work noticed. And it will propel your career.