Once you’ve just entered the working world, advancing your education through an MBA program or another graduate degree program is probably not the best way for career advancement. If your employer has limited training programs, you can find a good mentor to help you climb the corporate ladder faster.

A good mentor will offer a little advice and guidance, such as what he or she might have done in the same situation. If possible, find a mentor who can help you to build your skill set. Ideally, the mentor is an individual with much more experience in your field, who can point you to the steps you need to take. You may find that older employees may even offer to mentor you, especially if they occupy a managerial role and see you struggling.

There are still plenty of ways to get the help you need. If you can locate an ideal mentor within your organization, or through your personal network, you may be able to convince him or her to be your mentor, simply by asking. Also, consider checking with the professional organizations which handle your area of expertise and seeing if any of their membership would be willing to mentor you.

Once you’ve started your mentoring relationship, however, never be afraid to end the relationship. You may move past the point where you need such help, or you may not find that your mentor is able to provide you with help in such a way that you can benefit. If the relationship is simply not work, politely remove yourself from the situation and find a mentor better equipped to help you.

Overall, you can benefit from the experience of your mentors, if you are willing to make the effort to learn from them. Even sitting down over coffee with a mentor and talking can provide you with information that you have no other way of learning.

You might also consider passing the favor along, in the future. While some mentoring relationships can be for pay, generally, the time spent is time taken by the mentor with no expectation of compensation.

At some points in your life, there are times when you aren’t satisfied with your income achievement but you procrastinate to solve the issue. That was my situation…

I’m good at planning everything from career development to financial independence. But, as you may guess, it was only good and well-written on paper. It didn’t grant significant money for me.

Motivational gurus, from where I learned goal setting, mostly suggested that I had to write my goals and objectives on paper. I’d followed all of their guidance but nothing happened. Yes, I mastered the goal setting knowledge but my income objective was far from my reach.

About one and half year ago I found these simple formulas:

• Start with small steps

• Persevere until you get what you want

They are SO obvious and simple but I didn’t realize how powerful they were until they really changed my life.

When I began to accept the fact that I used to be a procrastinator on difficult and unpleasant tasks I saw things differently. As a result, my earnings increased by one and half just by applying the first formula. After that, I believed that further achievement was right before my very eyes.

Why are the formulas so powerful that they changed my life?

By starting with small steps I didn’t need to alter much of my daily routines. It’s a human nature that we love a status quo and resist change in our daily routines. But I could adjust easily with a minimal activities switch. I didn’t feel too much pain when I did one new daily task.

In short, I moved forward slowly but almost painlessly.

The second formula is essential to keep me moving forward. When I faced many obstacles down the road I rewrote my reasons why I wanted this goal. Every reason, especially the ultimate reason, was my additional fuel in case my energy level was low.

So…

If I can apply the above formula, you can too. Just apply the above formulas for whatever objectives you want to achieve. Of course, a goal for doubling your income is always interesting.;-)

Paul Sarwanawadya

Career Tests Guide