Regardless of whether you want to change your career, boost it with a better position or you’re still in the process of finding the perfect first job, you should keep in mind the importance of setting career goals that stick. Otherwise, the process of it all may overwhelm you and prevent you from focusing on what’s really important for your professional and personal happiness. In order to understand what achievable goals are all about and how to position yourself in the right direction, take a look at the following tips.
1. Stop comparing yourself
With social media taking over our free time, it’s almost impossible not to follow others and keep up with their goals and achievements. This particular aspect of digital age can be very damaging since it instantly leads to people comparing themselves to others. However, your personal goals should always be your own. It may be hard, but you have to detach yourself from what other people are accomplishing as well as what’s “expected” from you. Reflect upon what YOU want to achieve. The passion you need will only come from your own goals.
2. Summarize your different goals
Even though your plan is to master setting career goals that stick, career goals won’t be the only ones putting pressure on you and cluttering your mind. There are numerous aspects of your life that will undoubtedly make you want things and strive for something more. This can really overwhelm you if you don’t know how to cope with it all. Therefore, you may want to put all your goals on paper and group them properly. This will allow you to de-stress and view your wants and needs clearly. What’s more, such practice will allow you to narrow down your different goals from the same aspects so that you can connect them and focus on them more efficiently.
3. Balance your SMART goals
It can easily happen that you get burned out simply because you put all your energy into one big goal and worked on it for weeks without satisfactory results. This is due to the fact that you’re not just your career. You also need other things in life that make you happy. Therefore, it’s paramount that you keep that balance in mind. Not to mention that your goals should always be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based).
4. Break down your goals
Once you have your main goals laid out, it’s important to view them in the most personal way possible. In that respect, there’s no need to get anxious about the how of it all. You’ll get there, but first, you need to consider and explain to yourself why you want to achieve this goal, what makes it so important to you, is there someone else who can help you achieve it as well as where you’ll be when you achieve it. Thinking like this will help you understand the purpose of this goal in your life and provide you with enough motivation to deal with the how.
5. Plan backwards when setting career goals that stick
This is a very interesting concept and can help you achieve your goal(s) effectively and analytically. Basically, this is where the how starts. So, instead of planning into the future, start planning backwards, from the future realization of your goal back to tomorrow. It may sound confusing right now, but what you have to do essentially is set a date for the time your goal will be realized. For example, you can be as specific as possible and set a date for a year from now, writing a statement such as “I work as at [type of company]” next to it. Then you can go backwards and set dates for every month about what you should do in order for the final statement to be true. By doing this, you’ll literally write down more plausible and realistically achievable how-to for your desired career goal.
6. Think and act small to achieve big
The end result is definitely a big career goal that you’re trying to realize. However, don’t miss the opportunity to make the journey easier and more motivational. You can do this by setting smaller steps and focusing on each of them first. Even if some of the steps are as simple as looking up the job boards, treat them as real achievements. This will keep you motivated and hyped up throughout your journey to career development.
7. Consistency in daily life is the key
If setting career goals that stick has been problematic for you so far, the issue may be in the lack of consistency. Even though you want to break up your goal(s) into smaller steps, you should still try to incorporate the big picture into your daily life. Change your being by changing your doing so that you direct your whole path and lifestyle to the path that leads to the successful realization of your goals.
There are various ways to make progress with your career goals. For instance, you can allow us at Systems Personnel to help you, so feel free to contact us, or look through the jobs database, and make the first and secure steps to making it big.
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