Have you been thinking about how to get where you want to be in your career in the future? Are you unsure about how to set realistic career goals?
Whether you are looking for a new job, thinking about moving to a new role in your current company, or thinking about the future of your career; goal setting is an important skill for every professional.
Your career goals are where you see yourself in your career path. What would you like to be doing in 5 years or 10 years? What would be your perfect career, and how can you achieve it? When you set goals, it helps you decide the direction you would like your career to move in and how you’re going to get there.
In this article, we will discuss how to set achievable career goals – no matter where you are in your career.
Step 1: Write Down Your Goals
Writing down your goals helps create a vision in your mind of how you want to be in the future. According to Forbes, when you write down your goals, you are actually more likely to achieve them. Physically writing your goals down makes them tangible and real.
As you write down your goals, use words like “will” instead of “would like to.” This small change in wording has more power and gives you confidence that you can achieve the goal.
Be sure to remain positive while you are writing your goals and write your goals down using positive language and intentions.
Step 2: Create a Specific Plan of Action for Each Goal and Breakdown Your Goals into Smaller Tasks
Create a specific plan for how you will achieve your goal, writing down each step along the way.
Remember, not every goal you would like to achieve has to be immediate – or within the near future. You can set goals for 5, 10, 15, (or more) years in the future. During this step, if your goal is more long-term, be sure to set a timeline of how you are going to get to your end goal. Remember that a long-term goal can be made up of smaller stepping stone goals.
The process of writing down the steps and then crossing each one off as you accomplish it can be personally satisfying and keep you motivated, reminding you that you’re getting closer to achieving your goal.
Step 3: Establish What Your Priorities Are
At any time, you may have multiple goals in different stages of completion. Due to this, deciding which steps to achieving your goals are more important—or perhaps just more time-sensitive—is critical.
By learning to prioritize your goals, you will be able to choose which tasks matter most to you and act accordingly.
Step 4: Reward Yourself for Completing Tasks Along the Way and Track Your Progress
Checking in and evaluating the progress that you’re making toward each of your goals is an important step for staying motivated.
If you realize that you’re getting close to your goal, it can inspire you to work harder to achieve it, and if you realize that you’re not as close as you feel you should be, you can re-evaluate on how to get back on track and
Don’t forget to reward yourself for reaching goals and for reaching the next steps in your plan of action. Rewarding yourself can help you to stay motivated and on track.
Step 5: Be Open to Advice and Suggestions
Remember to be understanding that plans and goals can change as time goes on. Be open to advice from others who have been in the same shoes as you before – they might be able to help you work out any bumps in the road or show you a faster way to achieve your goals than you had originally planned.
Our recruiters offer tons of resources to help you throughout your job search. Talk to us today to find you a job that will help you achieve the next step in your career goals. Jobs@AllMedSeach.com or 858-509-1464
