We are living in a time of constant change. Change in one’s career can strike at any time. Did you know? 1 in 4 workers has been with their employer for less than 1 year, while 1 in 2 workers have been with their employer less than 5 years. When you start to see change occur in your career you may view this as an opportunity. It’s important to regularly stop and re-assess your goals; where do you want to be and what do you want to achieve. There are many life strategies to help you grow and to better change your current situation: Be innovative: it may be time to review your career and ascertain what some of the gaps are. Do you need to upskill? To stand out from the competition you may need to undertake training or a qualification to obtain a specific skill set. Use these times to reinvigorate yourself. Replace worry with thinking: While worry is part of human nature, it does not solve any problems. In this sense, it is far better to stand back, give yourself some space, be objective and think your way out of a predicament rather than dwell on the negative aspects. Read: Industry news and journals are a great place to start. Ensure that you’re educating yourself continuously with the market movements, professional development and career opportunities. Create a plan: Sometimes you need to realign your focus and go back to what your originals goals were. Are you still on track to achieving them or do your goals and plans need to change? Reconnect: This is the time to revisit your contacts list and reassociate yourself with some of the people you have done business with in the past. Remember to be conscious on how you conduct yourself both personally and professionally. By social networking you are building your brand, ensure you are creating an appropriate marketable reflection of yourself and how you want to be perceived. Network Join a group or association and look for events that you can participate in to help you meet new people. Cast a wide net: Searching for a job may not provide instantaneous results, however, initial efforts may pay dividends further on down the track and present opportunities when least expected. Take a break: when all your energy is spent and there is nothing left to give, you might just need to take a breath of fresh air and connect with people who are positive and encouraging. Downtimes, tough times and career change can in fact be advantageous. Stopping to refocus your efforts and identifying new prospects can create a healthy platform for future growth. Don’t be afraid of change and consider taking on some of the suggestions mentioned so you are better prepared for when you hit those bumps in the road. Even when achieving a breakthrough seems impossible, always remember the possibilities and worth of investing in you.