Tips for Setting Your Career Goals

 

Goal setting is an important contribution to the success of your career as well as personal growth.  Setting goals will help you have a satisfying career.  Your goals, and the steps you take to achieve them, are your road map. Don’t make the mistake to delay setting long-term and short-term goals for your career. People with goals are successful and achieve success. Setting and achieving meaningful career goals provides three essential career benefits: increased job satisfaction, higher self-esteem, and improved quality of your life.

A short-term goal ranges from six months to three years.  You may need weekly, monthly or quarterly time frames.  Long term goals have a longer time line; they can range such as three years, five years or twenty years.  Use your imagination to envision the career you want and aim high.  Write it all down or use a vision board. Don’t forget to review your goals regularly to monitor growth – monthly, quarterly and annually.

Tips to Increase Your Chances of Achieving Your Goals

It is much easier to define a goal than it is to achieve it. Your hard work toward achieving it  plays the biggest role in your success, but if you don’t formulate your goals properly, it will be much more difficult to reach them.  A simple way to think of this is to use the SMART acronym; goals need to be: Specific, Measurable, Achievable and Time-bound.

 

  1. Your goals must be specific.Make to do lists and a plan to quantify.
  2. Set Timelines. Make long term goals and then determine your short term goals to achieve those.
  3. Be Positive. Make sure your goal is something you want rather than something you want to avoid.
  4. Keep your goals realistic. Make sure your long-term goals are compatible with your abilities and skills.
  5. Tie an action to each goal. Read books, blogs and sign up for on going education or classes
  6. Be flexible about your goals. Review and modify your goals as your career, job and technology changes.

Goal-setting techniques are used by successful people in all fields. By setting sharp, clearly defined goals, you can measure your progress and continuously motivate yourself to progress toward the vision you have for your ideal work life. You will be able to see forward movement in what might otherwise feel like a long, pointless grind. By setting and taking action toward your goals, you will raise your self-confidence.