Unless you're incredibly lucky, instant gratification does not occur immediately when you start a new job. Instead, gratification in your new job requires persistence and patience, but hang on in there, as once you've settled into the role; your personal and career development opportunities could be boundless.

The reality is that in any new job it will take time to settle into a new role, build key relationships with your new colleagues and develop your career in the direction you want to take it. This will take place over a period of time; however it could take a little longer than you had hoped, and therefore could leave you disappointed and frustrated at times.

So what can you do to help you gain as much gratification as possible in your new role? Here are some useful tips:

1. Acceptance

You need to accept and understand that it will take time to adapt and grow into your new role. Adapting to working in a new environment will enable you to settle into your new role and the challenges that it presents all the quicker. Acceptance will give you the power and control to succeed, expecting instant success will not.

2. Make the decision

There comes a time in your career when you have to decide that no matter how long or hard you might have to work for the job you want, you will go after it anyway. This does not mean that your goals have to be difficult to obtain or take forever to reach. It does mean that you have to want it. You have to want it a lot, or that niggling doubt will always continue to stop you. There will always be something in the way, but don't let it stop you!

3. Planning

Planning is critical for your success. If you can see it, you can do it! If you can't visualise what you have to do, then it's harder to do it. Goals are reached one step at a time, so map out the steps you will take to reach yours. Break your steps into blocks of time such as time to think, time to plan, time to implement your plan, and time to adjust your plan. Smaller pieces help make you career goals less overwhelming. They are also easier to work on and plan for.

4. Act

You must trust that if you work on your career goals on a consistent basis, you will reach them. This means taking a leap of faith, but really, it's having faith in yourself. When you work towards something that's important to you, it materialises. It may not be in the timeframe you want, but you will get there.

There may be an occasion when after giving some time and application to a role you come to the conclusion that the job is just not right for you. That's ok, do not be afraid to look for the right role rather than stay in a job which is not satisfying to you. It is much easier to stay in a job in which you are not happy, rather than look for the right job for you. With a strong letter of application or personal statement and a well crafted CV (resume for our US readers) then the world is your oyster and opportunities will present themselves.

We hope that by following these four free tips that you will have the ability to become a happier person in your work. The key is that, even during hard employment times, you should not feel trapped by your job. To paraphrase the philosopher Confucius 'find a job that you enjoy and you will never work a day in your life'.