A Career Coach Who Understands

Posts Tagged ‘setting career goals’

Recently I read this quote about decision making and with the new year being right around the corner I began thinking about New Years Resolutions and why so many people fail to make them happen and how it also relates to career mapping. It really does boil down to taking decisive action.

A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided. Tony Robbins

For many, the decision is more about making the resolution and less about making the behavior or life adjustments necessary to truly create change in their lives and their careers. So let’s take a look at what an effective career resolution looks like.

Tips For Setting Career Goals

• Be specific and targeted with your decisions. You can’t make “pie in the sky” types of resolutions. If you have decided you want to get a promotion this year, then you need to also create an action plan to make it happen.
• Break down the big picture into manageable steps. Most big changes only come about in baby steps. By focusing on these smaller steps, you are more likely to achieve big changes.
• Take one step at a time. Once you have outlined the steps needed to get the results you want, you need to tackle one step at a time. Master one before moving on to the next.
• Set a deadline for completion. When setting up your action plan, you need to include a timetable for each action. Otherwise, human nature will kick in and allow you to procrastinate on completing the necessary tasks.
• Hold yourself accountable. We are programed to resist change. It is more comfortable to stagnate. If you have missed a deadline you have set out for yourself, it is time to take a look at why and how you could do things differently to make sure you succeed. Do not lay the blame on anyone else or make excuses. You are the master of your own destiny and therefore you are also responsible for your own failures.
• Learn from your mistakes. We all hit bumps in the road. What is important is to learn from them and make adjustments that will allow you to overcome the obstacles in your plans.
• Be committed to your career decisions. Picking yourself up and getting back on track when you hit an obstacle is important. This is a critical step. If you don’t, it is at this stage that many people abandon their dreams and goals and just give up. Make sure you plan ahead for these miss-steps because they are almost certain to happen at some point.

When all is said and done, the actions you take to affect a change will determine just how much you really wanted the change in the first place. Real decisions require decisive actions.

Technorati Tags: career goals, getting a promotion, how to set career goals, new years resolutions, setting career goals

Career Coaching – Goal Setting

When setting goals, many people get so caught up with the final destination that they lose their focus on the road they need to take to get them there. Once they lose the road map, the destination seems to get further and further away and often times it feels like arriving at their goal has become an impossibility. This generally results in frustration and eventually giving up on their dreams altogether.

Instead, if they had only focused on the road map they would have progressed steadily toward reaching their ultimate destination one step at a time. This focus on smaller achievements not only will give you a greater sense of accomplishment to reinforce that you are on the right track, it is also a measurable means to evaluate your progress.

Here are a few tips to help you set and reach your goals:

1. Set a daily plan of action. Do at least one thing every single day that will advance you toward your next goal. End your day by reading your goals and setting your plan of action for the next day. Put it on your night stand so it is the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing you see at night.
2. Give every goal a deadline. Unless you have a set date to reach each step you will have a tendency to procrastinate.
3. Do a weekly, monthly and yearly evaluation of your progress. Were all of your goals met? If not, why and what can you do to change it?
4. Make sure your goals are measurable. If your goal is to make more money, put a dollar amount to it. If your goal is to lose weight, specify how many pounds. Be very specific and make sure you can monitor your progress in a very real way.
5. Hold yourself accountable. If you miss a goal do not find ways of blaming it on other people or circumstances. Instead, look to see why it was missed and how you can prevent yourself from being distracted from your goal in the future. If you did not get your plan for the day accomplished because a neighbor dropped in for an unexpected visit do not blame it on the neighbor. Recognize that you allowed yourself to be distracted. You could just as easily have told your friend that you are happy to see them but that you need to get 2 hours of work done that evening so you will need to cut the visit short and maybe make plans to get together at a later date.
6. Forgive yourself. There will always be occasions when we do miss goals for one reason or another. Do not allow yourself to focus on the failure. Forgive yourself, put it behind you and focus on getting on track again.

Goal setting is the map to success. Without it you cannot possibly reach your full potential. Be realistic, be consistent and be proud of your achievements.

Technorati Tags: Career Coaching, career mentor, goals to success, setting career goals, Setting Goals, setting job goals