Jared Seyl is one of the few people I know who has managed to forge himself the career that he always wanted, through his work here in Denver in farmers insurance, to his later work as a financial analyst and financial advising, every achievement that he dreamed of came to reality. So many of us don’t meet our expectations when it comes to our careers and whether you are a student embarking upon your career or someone who is looking to change careers in order to achieve those expectations, we can all learn something from people like Jared. I caught up with him to see how he was able to meet his career goals.
Opportunity Knocks
For Jared he believes that he was luckier than others when it came to spotting the opportunities and knowing when to take them. It is his belief that in life we have certain road signs which we can take if we wish, some make the right decision, some make a wrong decision and others don’t see the signs at all. A perfect example of this was when he gave up his position in insurance to work as a financial advisor, a position which helped him to make more money, spend more time with his family, and try something different than the career which he’d dedicated much of his life to. The opportunity for this position came along by chance after a meeting with an old friend, and he took it with both hands. Jared spoke about how that opportunity had come around a month or a year earlier, he may well have said no.
Risks
Many people who don’t make the money that they would like to or reach the heights that they would like to, fail to get there because they played it too safe, something which Jared has always been keen not to do. This is not to say that one should be reckless of course but a calculated risk can be the difference between hitting your career goals and not. Jared has little interest in working in farmers insurance for example, but after some consideration he realized that it could be lucrative and enjoyable, so he took a risk, and it paid off big time.
Work Ethic
As cliched as it may sound Jared has always believed that hard work is the only way to achieve your goals in your career and this is something which he has done since he left education. Many people who reflect on their career and believe that they didn’t meet their goals, will often put it down to not putting enough work in and that is something which can leave a bitter taste in the mouth. Don’t get to the end of your career and regret not putting work in, you can bemoan missed opportunities or bad luck, but you should never regret something which was in your control.
There is of course more to achieving your goals than just these three steps, but Jared believes that for him they were certainly the cornerstones to his achievements.
