Set the Right Goals

Goals, Career Goals, Define your Goals, Career Strategy

The first step to having a well-rounded career strategy is identifying what your goals are. As in, taking the time to really think about what you want to achieve in the short-term and long-term. Setting goals in life is important, setting career-specific goals is no different. To achieve the greatest success, you first have to ensure that your goals are realistic and achievable.

How to start setting goals:

To set attainable career goals, start by reflecting on the following:
  1. In 5 years time, I want to be... 
  2. I want to be earning...
  3. What skills will I need to do this?
  4. Will I need to change my career to achieve this?
By asking yourself the simple questions above, you'll begin to get a clearer idea of what you want from your career and what you'll need to do to achieve it.

Need to survey your strengths & skills? 

Determine your key strengths and make a list. Your strengths don't necessarily need to be work related, just include all of your strong points. You never know which strengths will fit into which position.

Once you know your skills, you'll know what you're capable of achieving. Then take action to make the most of your strengths!

Changing careers with your current skills?

In order to successfully change careers to capitalize on your skill set, start by looking at your current role and think about what you'd most like to change. This will give you a great idea of what you don't want to do in your next job so you can find an opportunity more suited to your desires.

Obtaining new skills to go for your dreams?

When deciding on a new career, be realistic. For example, if you want to be a teacher, yet you have no teaching credentials, it's going to be tough to make that transition without further training. Think about what you want, but also determine what you must do to make it achievable.

The key is to decide what you really want and then take appropriate action to make it happen. When you do these things, success will be yours!
6 Top actions that help you achieve your goals:
 If you're tired of making resolutions and goals that you never accomplish, a new approach may help. Conventional mindset goals can fall apart for several reasons. Once you're aware of why this happens, you can prevent it or fix it so you can be on your way to achievement. Try these techniques to achieve your goals: 
  1. Pick realistic goals - One of the most frequent issues is that you may pick goals that aren't realistic. Perhaps you want to travel around the globe, read hundreds of books, and lose an enormous amount of weight. However, many of these goals are simply not possible any time soon. You may not have the money for travel, you don't have the time to read, and you can't lose weight that quickly. It's important to make your goals tangible. For example, instead of trying to lose a hundred pounds, focus on losing five pounds at a time. 
  2. Break goals into a journey - It's easy to set a goal, miss it, and get upset. Instead of doing this to yourself with each resolution, try a different way. View your goal as a long-term journey, where each leg of the journey leads up to where you'll finally arrive. Create a plan that will get you to that goal. Set milestones and rewards along the way. 
  3. Measure your progress - In some cases, you may be close to achieving your goal, but you give up too soon. By measuring your progress, you'll be able to see what you're doing more clearly. You'll be more motivated to stay on the journey and keep pushing toward your resolution. Set up a system to track your progress. Try different tools, such as calendars, journals, or logs to keep track of your goals and see which system works best for you. 
  4. Ask for help - Sometimes you might fail simply because you don't ask for help and try to do everything by yourself. Perhaps a little help will bring you success! It's normal to need help along your journey. You may need an entire support network behind you to achieve your goal. Turn to friends, family, coworkers, and others for support. Asking for help can help you achieve your goals faster and make the entire process easier as you work toward your target. 
  5. "Calibrate" your goals - You don't have to stick with an old goal. Sometimes goals need to be changed and modified. You may evolve as a person and realize that your earlier ambitions are no longer relevant. Your present is constantly affecting your mindset and the way you perceive things. You accumulate knowledge, wisdom, and experience over time that affects your goals. 
  6. Stay aware of your growth - You will continue to grow even if you don't reach your goals. In some cases, failure may be a blessing because it teaches you valuable life lessons you wouldn't have realized before. Without failure, you may not change enough to grow.  Failure isn't the end, and you can always set new goals. It's more important to grow and become stronger than to reach every goal on your list. Remember, your list will also change, so it won't look the same as when you started. Be proactive about your goals! Take effective actions that support you and your goals, and you'll find that achievement comes much easier.