How to be Happy (and Successful!) in Your Career

Jerry Gauche, National Oilwell Varco’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, hasn’t followed the traditional career path of an executive in the oil and gas industry. He began his career as a tax attorney, and after 15 years transitioned into organizational development. Yet his unconventional career path is not rare among top performers and leaders in any field. Individuals who embrace opportunities and pursue their passions at every juncture in their careers often rise to the top of their career fields and write success into their stories. By loving new ideas, embracing opportunity and working hard you can make the difference in your job search or career and find a better job, for better pay and a better life.

Ready for Anything

You’re never too old to learn, and approaching your life and career with curiosity and a desire to learn will give you energy that will propel you forward. Commit yourself to pursuing what is new and novel and to exploring new opportunities. Your openness to both unexpected and planned opportunities that arise in your path, combined with a passion for learning and your skills and interests, will help you define and reach your goals.

Embracing opportunities to advance your career will also enable you to make an impact and add value while growing and diversifying your skills and experience. Gauche transitioned from a large corporation to the small and growing National Oilwell Varco, and although some would consider it a risky career move, Gauche’s curiosity and eagerness to pursue something new helped him to see the change as an opportunity with enormous potential and possibility.

Maximize Your Performance and Your Career Potential

Success in any career, according to Gauche and countless career experts, is less about education than about your attitude and work ethic. You will get out of your career what you put into it. Maximizing your skills will enable you to contribute to the success of your organization and help you advance your career. It will also give you a sense of personal accomplishment and empowerment. As you advance on your learning curve you achieve more compelling results. All organizations want to attract, retain and develop talented individuals who are committed to producing results and who have impacted an organization’s bottom line.

You may not end up where you had initially planned when you embarked on your career, but trusting and following your passions and embracing new opportunities can lead to remarkable career possibilities and opportunities to make a difference. You can take control of your career each day by the choices you make, by the commitment with which you learn and work and by the contributions you make along the way.

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This interview was conducted on the Total Career Success radio show via VoiceAmerica Radio with Ken and Sheryl Dawson, principals of Total Career Success, Inc. (www.betterjobbetterlife.com) and co-authors of Job Search: The Total System.

Sheryl Dawson is CEO of Dawson Consulting Group, a talent management firm in Houston, TX, and COO of Total Career Success, Inc., a job search and career development firm offering products and services to the retail, college and university career center and professional association markets. She is co-author of Job Search: The Total System, 3rd edition available at www.betterjobbetterlife.com. She co-hosts “Total Career Success,” an internet radio show on VoiceAmerica and World Net Radio.