The moment you rest on your laurels is the moment your competition overtakes you, says billionaire Sir Richard Branson.

Businessman extraordinare Mr Branson was musing on his success in a LinkedIn blog post which stressed the importance of embracing change or risk having your career stagnate.

“If we hadn’t embraced change, we would have become stagnant – and you probably wouldn’t be reading this article,” he wrote, reflecting on the success of the Virgin Group.

• Why it’s never too late for a career change
• The story every procrastinator should read

Feelings of being stagnant and mediocre at work are phases that everyone will experience throughout their careers – it’s how you act that makes a difference.

Take risks

Taking risks such as going for the promotion, pitching the idea or following your passion can have huge pay-offs and lift you out of feelings of mediocrity.

Entrepreneur Rebecca Field credits taking risks in her career for the success of the talent agency she started when she was 24 years old.

After finishing a degree in naturopathy, Ms Field followed her gut instincts and opened Mode Talent Management, which now has 200 clients on the books.

“I listened to my gut and I thought ‘what is my passion? Was it something I had been doing all along?’,” Ms Field says.

“I took the leap and I started Mode with a small amount of business experience and it worked out in my favour because I did what made me happy.”

Is it time for a career change?

Rebecca Fraser Career Consulting founder Rebecca Fraser says people should first establish why they are in a rut at work, and then work out if they want to stay in the role or change career paths.

“If they want to stay in the organisation, then what is it that they want to achieve from the role?” Ms Fraser asks.

“If they’ve identified that they don’t want to be in the organisation and they’re stuck in a role, then what is it they want to do?”

If you want to change roles, Ms Fraser suggests looking at what you do like about your current role, and taking that into your next job.

Show initiative

If you want to stay in your current role but aren’t feeling motivated, speak to your manager and try to show some initiative.

“Go that extra mile,” says Ms Field, speaking from an employer’s perspective.

“Be proactive, be willing to learn, think of things ahead of us and put in your own input.”

Ms Fraser suggest taking on more tasks to challenge yourself and take your career to the next level, instead of just sitting back and feeling stagnant.

“This is where they need to start using a bit of their initiative and talking to their manager and saying ‘this is what I would like to achieve while I’m here, how can we make that work?’,” Ms Fraser says.

Don’t compare yourself

If the reason you’re feeling mediocre at work is because your colleagues are succeeding, try focusing on your own work and thinking about your own strengths, says Ms Field.

“I never really look at what any other agencies are doing because I was always very keen on doing something that was my own and making it unique and following my own passion,” she says.

That means not even looking to them as inspiration and instead setting your own goals and doing what is best for you.

“I would never look at competition, whether that even being to compare yourself to or to aspire to. I don’t take any notice. I just go out on my best foot and do what feels comfortable and right for me,” Ms Field says.