Establish your career goals! 

 

Take this time to reflect on where you are now and where you want to go next. Having clear goals and objectives will get you to where you want to be.

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Establishing Career Goals to Achieve Your Dreams

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If you’re looking to move forward in your career, it’s important to have a vision for your future. No matter what position you’re in now, establishing career goals can steer you in the right direction of where you want to go to and lead you to success. Without career goals, you can stay complacent and lack the motivation to further develop your career. Successful leaders do not end up in their current positions by accident; they get there by having a clear vision of what they set for themselves.

Read more on how to help you get started with mapping out a plan to get where you want to go.

 

Where am I now?

To figure out what your next career move will be, it’s important that you start with self-reflection. Analysing the current position that you are in and the projects that you are in charge of or working on is a good place to begin.

Ask yourself these questions:

Does this current position allow me to maximize my potential? What skills have I already developed that will be useful for my future? Essentially you are trying to determine whether you are headed in the direction of where you want to be. Consider which aspects of your life you would like to change and plan your career destination.

 

Where would I like to be in 5 or 10 years?

Think about the future career goals you have for the long term. This is what you ultimately desire to achieve in your life. Imagine your life in five or ten years and decide what will make you the happiest. How do you define success? How do you want your career to evolve? Instead of Director of Business Development, you want to be Vice President of Business Development. You want to run your own business or you want to expand your current one. You want to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. It’s important to establish a career goal that is concrete and measurable.

 

What can I do to get there?

With your clear goal in mind, list the steps you must take to accomplish this. What skills must you develop in order to get closer to your definition of success? Develop these skills by changing them into strategic plans that you can put into action. Improve your leadership skills by taking the initiative to read influential books 30 minutes a day. If you need to know more about marketing, sign up to attend webinars about extending your company’s reach. Connect with key influencers in your industry by attending annual networking events. Each item on your action plan should support your objectives in achieving your long term goal.

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