On the eve of Canada Career Month, career practitioners across the country donned capes on social media to remind us that career development is a superpower. It can help us see into the future, blast through challenges and crush our goals.

Here are three more simple superpowers to add to our career development utility belt.

Power Up No. 1 - Gratitude

Gratitude journals and apps are gaining in popularity, thanks to the emergence of positive psychology into the mainstream. There is so much negativity and chaos in the world. A daily practice of checking in with ourselves and recording what we're grateful for helps boost up the dopamine centers in our brains. This makes us better learners and increases happiness.  

Power Up No. 2 - Feedback

Second, providing positive feedback to someone else - extending kindness - is another tool we can use. It boosts up the person receiving the feedback. But here’s a secret: it boosts you too.

Telling someone how they helped you, impacted you or inspired you does the same thing for your brain as a daily gratitude practice.

One of my favorite parts of the our Who You Are Matters game is the feedback round. After players share a short story about themselves, they get feedback about why fellow players appreciated that story.

The last time I played at Saint Mary’s University during #SMUCareerWeek19, this feedback round provided safe space for cultural differences, long lost dreams from childhood and a lot of encouraging words of wisdom.

Power Up No. 3 - Reflection

Who are your unsung heroes? Do they know the pivotal roles they've played in your life?

As narrative practitioners, we encourage clients to reflect on their lived experience. Reflecting on past choices, big events and roads not taken can light the way for moving forward.

The influence of other people in our lives - their advice, their connections and their ideas - plays a huge part in our career and life choices. It’s a pivotal part of our origin story.

Ready for a boost?

As any epic superhero would do, I challenge you.

Who are your superheroes? Who are you grateful for? Who helped you power up in your career?

Tell them! You can count it as networking, a dopamine boost for your brain and an act of kindness, all with powerful, magical ripple effects. 

Follow these hashtags to get involved in Canada Career Month: #CareerDevelopment #CCM2019 #CareerMonth