7 Things to Remember When Building Your Career

Rising in any career – and in life – requires determination, perseverance and adaptability. And overall, it’s best if you can stay grounded in humility and gratitude while recognizing the opportunities that have come your way.

It also takes resilience and courage: the courage to turn the wheel and embrace life’s countless twists and turns. When I look back on my own career, I often think about the advice I took to heart, for example from the motivational speaker Zig Ziglar.

He said to just start in any direction, and once you get moving, it’s easy to turn that wheel in the right direction.

Here are seven proven strategies that have kept me moving and rising to the top throughout my career. I am convinced that they can help you too:

1. Never put a lid on your own thinking

If you’re familiar with Zig Ziglar, you may know his flea parable. As the parable goes, when the flea trainers placed fleas in a jar and left the cap off, the fleas jumped up and down endlessly and escaped the jar.

Once they covered the jar with a lid, the fleas jumped high and hit the lid again and again, creating a limitation they learned they could not overcome.

Over time, when the trainers removed the lid again, the fleas could no longer jump out. The limitation was now in their minds, even though in reality it was no longer there.

2. Don’t expect a seamless career

My father sold insurance, and as a boy I sometimes followed him from door to door. I know there were times when he just wanted to go home. But he had to keep going and he did. That was my introduction to the business world.

When I started my own career, I made sure I not only did what I wanted to do, but also what I needed to do. It may not have been as well planned or seamless as I had hoped, but the truth is, no career is.

You will be given opportunities – and it is up to you to recognize them, conventional or not, and take full advantage of them.

I had already visited and worked in the United States, but had not yet decided to settle here. I was still a young man when I received a prestigious scholarship from British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC) – manufacturer of iconic brands such as Austin, Jaguar, Morris, MG, Triumph and Rover.

In my role there I had the opportunity to work at virtually every level of the company, from the production line to attending senior management meetings.

But I saw how even this impressive brand and leadership team could not overcome the wider fault lines in British society at the time. The company was paralyzed by confrontational labor relations, and I knew there were no easy solutions.

Instead, I decided that in order to continue progressing in my career, I needed to make the move to America. I’ve never looked back.

4. Find your niche

I realized that I loved the world of sports; I had played semi-professional football for Oxford City Football Club when I was still in England. I also enjoyed helping organizations grow.

So I combined them into my own niche, focusing on monetizing and building a fan community for startups and turnaround situations, and helping sports organizations refocus, build and grow driving – on the field, on the field and on the ice.

That included the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Colorado Rockies, the Denver Grizzlies, the University of Denver athletics department, the National Basketball Association and the Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Thrashers and Philips Arena.

When I founded my sports marketing company The Aspire Group, I served first as CEO and later as Chairman. I knew I wanted it to continue to grow and all my decisions were based on that goal.

Aspire became one of the leading outsourced revenue generating companies worldwide, generating more than $125 million in new and improved customer revenue per year, and more than $1.75 billion for our more than 300 iconic customers worldwide.

When I sold Aspire to Playfly Sports in May 2023, I knew this was the best way to grow Aspire as Playfly is the fastest growing company in sports multimedia rights, marketing and technology.

6. Seize challenges as opportunities

This is a simple one, but it is an important mindset change. If you have a goal or a dream, go for it. For example, if you want to rise in the business world, you must be willing to climb the ladder, no matter how slippery it is.

If you are faced with a challenge, see it as an opportunity and go for it.

7. Just spin the wheel

Back to Zig Ziglar, whose wisdom has taught me so much. Change is necessary to move forward. Sometimes you will have to turn the wheel even when there is no momentum.

Being able to decide for yourself which direction to go does not have to be the starting point. If you can’t decide, just start where you want. Once you’re moving, you can adjust to the right direction.

There are always consequences for every action and inaction. But that first action, that first step, even if it doesn’t go entirely in the right direction, is often the key to success.

I’m at the stage where I’ve shifted my focus from building a career to making a difference. But I can take the lessons I’ve learned over time and bring them into this new venture, and I can make a difference because I have the track record and success to carry me forward.

That’s the bonus of carefully guiding your own career. Once you recognize that you are ready, you can use your experience, strength and self-confidence to help others too.