I’m guessing you looked at that title and thought, “What is she talking about?! How does my career relate to Valentine’s Day?”

Fair question. Here’s where I’m coming from… I have never been a fan of Valentine’s Day. The roots of my dislike started when I was in grade school and teachers thought it was a good idea to make the giving and receiving of cards a public exhibition (it wasn’t…). And as an adult I just thought it was ridiculous to declare love one day a year! As though that’s enough?

Never mind the public declarations, fancy dinners and gushy cards, those aren’t for me (although I’ll take the daily gestures – like the clean kitchen and freshly brewed coffee ready for me at the ungodly hour I wake up every morning. Or the thing I forgot (phone, underwear, you name it!) delivered to me, no questions asked and with a smile. That means love to me.

What does this have to do with your career? Well, like Valentine’s Day, too many of us pay attention to our careers only when the calendar, or some other external force, demands it. Like at performance appraisal time. Or when we are up for a promotion. Or we get a new boss. Then we pay attention extravagantly. And this approach puts our careers at risk.

Just like dinner and some roses on Valentine’s Day aren’t enough to make up for daily neglect of a relationship, you shouldn’t wait for your career to demand your attention and expect that a quick resume update is going to solve a problem.

For a great career, you’ve got to invest in it. You’ve got to do the little daily things – like checking in, like asking yourself how things are going, like spending meaningful timeconsidering where you want to go with it.

If you’d like to hear a wonderful story about a Valentine’s Day grade school nightmare, told beautifully by Tom Sitter, check out his Moth Radio Hour video here. You will LAUGH!!

If you would like to re-engage with your career and need a partner to help, you can schedule a complimentary call with me here.