“The best way to get a better job is to lose the one you have now!” –Paraphrasing John Hagee

After working for 5 years in my first ever job, I was a disillusioned fellow. Actually I got disillusioned the first 12 months in that job. I started desiring a new challenge: better remuneration, better working conditions, benefits, et all. I knew that these things were a major possibility.

The thing is that I never really took action (well except dropping my Resume to companies and attending interviews). For the most part, I prayed a lot. You can understand that after 5 years of waiting for a miracle, I got disillusioned.

Let me ask you a question: What do you think is the obvious thing that was missing for me to get to the next level?

So one day after attending an interview that I perceived I had performed well, I walked out of my job of 5 years.  Instantly I was on the next level.

• The new job did not come,
• The savings I thought I had were just a fraction of what I thought
• I started defaulting on my rent
• Food became a luxury,
• Still I prayed.
• I was properly stuck in the true sense of the word.
• The landlord would ask for his rent but feel so much pity on me and instead give me food.

For the most part of this month, I have been talking about what to do when you are stagnant. In the previous post, we saw 7 Amazing ways you can choose to continue growing even as you are still stuck. In essence, with these 7 things being done, you cannot necessarily say that you are stagnant.

Going to the next level is a different ball game altogether. I know for a fact that a large percentage of people desire their next levels. The interesting thing we need to note is that

I can tell you this: Whatever stuck situation you find yourself in, or whatever your dreams for the next level are, there are only two major options of getting to your next level.

a). Acute:

This happens instantly either by your own control or by forces outside of your control. For example, you can resign like I did (your own control) from a job that you do not like, or you can be fired (out of your control) for gazillions of reasons out there. Sometimes, we see it coming for quite a while before we either act or are forced out. For the most part, I find this to be the fastest way to get to your next level.

b). Chronic:

This is done gradually by a vision oriented individual who sets up their own next level and inculcates the systems and processes in their daily routine. Depending on several internal factors like your hunger for the next level, your passion, your discipline as well as the foundations you have laid down, your realization of the next level is mostly in your hands.

To extrapolate these two points, the following 7 are the ways you can use to get into your next level:

1. Get Desirous:

Maybe you do not want the next level. May be you do. But just how badly do you want it? On a scale of 1-10 (one being least intensive and 10 being most intensive), how badly do you want the next level? Your assignment here is to get your intensity of desire above 8.

In fact, the people with a desire of 10 will be the ones ripe for the next level. If your desire to get to the next level is below 5, don’t read further, it’s a waste of your time. I talked to someone a few weeks ago whose boss has been promoted and they stand the perfect chance to replace him. The problem is that they have not as much as prayed about it.

What level do you think their intensity is? It must be below the 5. Otherwise, they would have done all the canvassing there needs to do. Do your part and let those who make decisions do theirs. The thing is that they cannot do their part if you do not do your own part! I remember pestering my boss three years ago again and again that I wanted a bigger responsibility.

2. Identify your options:

For the five years that I was stuck, I had only one option: Get a job.I think this is one of the biggest lies in the modern world, that our only option for the next level is a job. Truth be told, there are many, many, many options that you can generate in one day of thinking. What you need is alternative thinking, belief in yourself and the guts to go against the grain.

Just to mention a few, I think the area of your natural talents is one that has been underutilized for decades since people started getting employed. Someone has lied to us that ‘there is no money’ in pursuing your talents. I can tell you that there is money. In the next few weeks, I will publishing an article titled, “Why not everybody Should me a Millionaire”. It shows that people have the wrong focus in life especially with money.

The second area that you can consider an option for your next level is installation of a new habit. Frankly we all have habits that we would like to start in our lives: reading, brainstorming, focus on the family, jogging, writing, meditating and so on. It is these small habits carefully inculcated in our routines daily that will Chronically usher us into the next level.

Another area you can consider an option for your next level is the area of taking up a New Challenge.You do not have to wait for a promotion or an outside force to usher you to your next level. You can decide to take up a new challenge that is firmly within your passion and mission. Even if that new challenge fell outside of your passion and mission, taking it up is much more valuable than staying in your current level. There are many examples here: Writing a book, starting a blog, starting a mastermind group, running a marathon or marathons and so on.

For now, please understand that if you need to get to the next level, the most logical thing to do is to populate a list of your options. After that, you can pick the most plausible one and get started!

We shall pick this discussion up with the next post.

Question: Over the years, how have you largely managed your transitions to your next levels? Acutely or chronically?