3 Secrets to Career Success

At SoFi, we know our members are committed to financial wellness. We also know they’re working hard to accomplish great things in their careers. So aside from offering financial solutions, our Career Coaching team is here to help them excel and reach the goals they set.  

As such, we’re excited to uncover the latest tips and evidence-based research to help your career reach new levels. And while you may know the basic ingredients for success (e.g., hard work, persistence, and a solid education), here are some things you may have overlooked.

1. Happiness (or a life filled with more positive emotions than negative) actually brings about success—not the other way around. Positive psychology is no longer on the outskirts of behavioral research. Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage, shares that “happiness leads to success in nearly every domain, including work, health, friendship, sociability, creativity, and energy.”

2. Speaking of happiness, people actually are happier when they’re challenged and know that they’re learning and growing from working on those challenges. Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined the term “flow” to describe the feeling you get when you’re “in the zone.” It’s when time just seems to pass by and you’re really digging what you’re doing. There should be a feedback system set into place so you can continue to practice and master your skill set. Interestingly enough, it’s all about how your internal motivators are met versus external ones.

3. Finally, relationships matter—a lot. In general, what seems to matter most is that you have authentic connections with others. Meaning, you’re able to be yourself, as well as provide support for others to be themselves. Long story short: it’s important to network. Career satisfaction and success are directly correlated to having both a close intimate network (from a mentor, or close confidante at work, etc.) as well as a large broader network (for access to information and opportunities, etc.).

Next up, our Career Strategists will continue to share learnings from the job search and personal development trends we’ve researched. We promise, it won’t just be another list that states the obvious (e.g., exercising and getting enough sleep). Our approach will be to help you understand how you can leverage our research to develop a personalized career plan that works for your goals, values, and vision.

Interested in getting started? We developed a webinar series to help you get to know your goals better and create a plan that’s more “aligned” with your work and your life. Sign up here.

And as we distribute more articles, please comment and let us know if you have feedback or questions on how to apply the advice to your own work life. Afterall, it’s our goal to help you meet yours.

Popular Searches on This Topic:

This Is The Biggest Predictor of Career Success – Inc.

The Top 6 Actions That Promote Career Success – Forbes

3 Steps to Create your Own Career Development Plan – Careerealism