Yogi Bera (a great baseball player, for those who don’t know), once said ” You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going , because you might not get there.” In other words, without a goal or destination in mind, you’ll never know if you’ve accomplished what you set out to do.
In terms of your career, there is no truism more important than this one: You have to set goals … both long and short term ones … or you may not ever fulfil your career dreams.The first step in establishing your career goals, is to ask your self : What are my career dreams? if you have not thought about this in a while (why not?) , now is your chance. Take out your career notebook, or ipad or wherever it is you write your thoughts, and write down any career dreams you have ever had for your career.
Write all of them down, no matter how big, or how small or how crazy or preposterous they might have been
Next, take a close look at what you wrote. Which are your “must have” dreams?
“Must have” dreams are the ones that are essential to your definition of career success, happiness, and a sense of fulfilment.
What you want to do, is to think long and hard about which of these “must have” dreams, mean the most to you. Then put them in order of prioirty, so that you can consider how you can achieve them. Write about them, using as much detail as you can – The goal is to turn them from vague ideas into vivid, concrete goals.
Make sure to set yourself a time frame for achieving your goals. Peter Drucker recommended setting goals you can accomplish in 18 months or less.
Some of my 18 month goals are ” Honing my negotiation and litigation skills.”, “Completing my Masters in Law” etc.
What are your methods for setting your career goals? Discuss in the comments below!