THIS is why you aren't progressing in your career!

As a child, I remember my dad saying 'find a job that you love doing and persuade someone to pay you to do it' - wouldn't it be wonderful if life was that simple!

But I have tried to remember that mantra as I have experienced different jobs over the years. Some roles you will love and some you will hate, but by doing different roles, you are learning more and more each day. Over time you find out what you like and what you don't like, and your aim can be to do more of the ones you like!

1. Work hard & show interest
What advice would I give to someone starting their career? Work hard, always be keen to help and show an interest in the business you are working in. You will get noticed if you offer to help your manager, make it your goal to show your boss how you can add value to the business. You will make mistakes and not just at the start of your career, but never be afraid of failure, the most important thing is to learn from the mistakes you make and turn them into positives.

2. Learn from your mistakes
As a manager, I accept that mistakes will happen, but the people that admit to the errors and aim to rectify them and learn from them are the people that will go far in their careers. I made a mistake when I started my career, that still resonates with me today. There was a big issue at work, and I felt personally aggrieved by the situation, so I wrote an email to my boss and fired it straight off, it was a tense situation, and I reacted immediately. In retrospect, what I should have done was written the email, left it in my inbox and reread it the next day. I would not have sent that email the next day. Before reacting to a situation, take some time out, reread your email the next day and question yourself, do you still want to send it?

3. Take your work one step at a time
My final snippet of advice is 'you can't eat an elephant whole; you have to take one bite at a time.' It's an age-old saying but its so true, when work is piling up, and you don't know what to do next, break it all down into manageable chunks, make a list, tick each item off as you go, it will make you feel as if you are getting somewhere and it will help clear your mind!