Many employees of the contemporary economy feel trapped in their current position, and grimly brood about getting stuck in the same salary bracket for the rest of their professional careers. Despite the gloom that can come with feeling trapped in your place of work, it’s important to keep your chin up, as a spell of luck is often just around the corner. With some hard work and the right attitude, too, you can even turn your feeling-trapped-blues into a robust energy that will help you secure a promotion.

Here’s what to do if you’re interested in getting a promotion but feel trapped in your current position, and how you can persuasively deliver a speech to your boss or manager to help you along the way.

It’s all about steady progress

Many workers who are feeling trapped mistakenly believed that they’re not going anywhere in life, and struggle to find the energy to get out of bed in the morning and trudge to work. This is often caused by one serious failure – an inability to steadily progress in your workplace and demonstrate consistent growth. If you’re not constantly pushing yourself to attain new personal heights, your bosses will notice, and you’ll contribute to your own growing sensation of feeling trapped all the while. Luckily, some strategies can help you get out of your work-rut and back on track.

First and foremost, you should review your level of enthusiasm for your current position and ask yourself what kind of energy you bring into your workspace on a day to day basis. That’s because gloomy employees who are feeling trapped often don’t appear to be at their best visually, which can have a detrimental impact when it comes to securing a raise or a promotion. Making sure you’re clearing out the negativity from your workplace and bringing in positive energy is a great way to relieve the office blues and stand a cut above the rest.

Next, you’ll want to review contemporary trends to see if you’re doing everything you can to fit into a modern office environment. The trends that will get you a promotion in 2018 aren’t the same that would have secured you a raise or a better position in 2017 or 2007, for instance. Being up to date with the most popular ways today’s employees are making themselves stand out is a surefire way to see if you’re relying on old tactics to achieve a new goal.

Of course, you also need to review the things you’ll absolutely want to avoid, both for when it comes to getting rid of the sensation of being trapped in your work and for when it comes to getting a new and better position with a higher salary. After all, make one wrong move and you could tarnish any chance of climbing the corporate ladder.

Know what to avoid

When you’re making a pitch to your boss or manager that you deserve a raise or promotion, there are certain things you want to avoid. First, you should be aware that every statement and pledge you make to your employer needs to be backed up by hard facts. If you’re claiming to be the most productive employee, you’ll need the info or sales figures to back it. Bolster your argument with facts and hard evidence of your productivity, and you’ll see much better results when it comes to negotiating a more favorable salary or a better position in the office chain of command.

It’s also worth going over the common social flubs and rhetorical mistakes that too many rookies make when asking for their first raise. Approaching your boss, even if he works in legal firm management, s in the hopes of getting a promotion is never easy, even for seasoned business pros, but by studying up on what to avoid as a first-timer you’ll drastically improve your chances. Finally, you need to deal with the sensation of being trapped in your current position before even approaching the prospect of a promotion.

Employees who are unhappy with their current work and feel trapped should remind themselves why they got into their current industries in the first place. Often times, once-visible passions and vibrant opinions that motivated you to get into a certain field of work lose their luster over time, and we need some reminding about why we’re in the positions we find ourselves in. Don’t ever be afraid to take a deep breath and a mental health break, as your wellness is an insanely important part of securing future promotions.

Above all else, never lobby for a promotion
you’re unprepared for, as there’s no surer way to destroy our career prospects
than to fail at a new position the minute you’ve been promoted. Resist the
sensation of feeling trapped, take a deep breath, and understand that you won’t
be here forever. Before you know it, you’ll have secured a promotion and a
raise in no time. 

Author(s)

  • A digital nomad and an internet entrepreneur with a thirst for food and travel.