Setting career goals is vital if you want to chart out a path to professional success. However, setting goals without a plan to achieve them is just wish-casting. You need a clear, concrete plan to make your goals for your professional life a reality.
Some of the key steps you should take to set achievable goals and check those goals off your list include:
- Break down goals into manageable chunks: If your goals are too big and broad, it can be difficult to know where to start. This leads to inaction caused by decision paralysis. If you set small goals, you’re much more likely to follow through and get things done. Consider what you ultimately hope to achieve and break this big goal down into small steps you can take on a regular basis to get you closer to your final destination.
- Have a clear definition of success: It’s important that your goals are specific enough that you can determine if you have achieved them. In fact, it is best if you have clear, quantifiable and objective measures for success. For example, if you’re involved in a job hunt, you could set a goal to contact two companies a day. If you’re trying to build your online brand, you could plan to post two blogs a week or post to a LinkedIn group at least once a day. When you have objective metrics, it’s much easier to see if you’re making progress.
- Establish deadlines and hold yourself accountable: If you create open-ended goals to accomplish sometime in the future, you may never get started on achieving your tasks. Instead, set goals with specific deadlines and make sure you’re making progress. You may want to tell a friend or relative about your goals so you have someone else to report progress to as this may help you to follow through.
If one of your goals is to find a great new job you love, you can get help from High Profile. Our staffing service has helped many job seekers in Dallas, Fort Worth and surrounding areas achieve unparalleled professional success by landing their dream job. To find out more about how our staffing professionals can help you, give us a call at 972-991-7900 or contact us online today.