When it comes to having career goals, it’s important to aim high. I’m always encouraging people to grow their careers and challenge themselves. Part of this process is setting ambitious goals.
The drawback of having ambitious goals is that it can overwhelm some people, and sometimes we can be our own worst enemies by putting too much pressure on ourselves.
I believe that it’s possible to be ambitious without being overwhelmed.
It’s OK to have a lot of ambitious career goals, the problem comes when we take too much on at once in order to accomplish these goals practically overnight. The key with any goal in life is to chip away at it. Try setting monthly mini goals.
For example, if you’re trying to lose weight it may not be in your best interest to say “I want to lose 10 pounds this month.” That’s a hard number to reach and there are so many factors that could impact it. Instead set a goal of increasing your gym time or taking on other healthy activities or eating habits. Every healthy habit you increase is like an investment in yourself that helps you gradually achieve your weight goal.
It works the same with your career goals. Instead of saying “I want to be promoted in two years,” simplify the goal by saying, “I want to do something every month to help grow my career.”
It could be taking a month to focus on courses or certifications that will help you upskill, or using another month to put greater emphasis on your networking efforts. When you break large career goals into monthly mini goals, it makes things a lot more manageable.
While I can’t guarantee that you’ll get a promotion in two years, I can say that you’ll grow professionally, which is a major factor in getting promoted.
Do you feel far away from your career goals and don’t know where to start?
Here are three challenges to help make your career goals more attainable:
- Take Work It Daily’s FREE Workplace Persona Quiz. This will help you organize what your best skills are, and give you a better idea about how you add values as an employee. From there, you can build on your strengths, and put together a plan to address your weaknesses. Having a clear understanding of your strengths and weaknesses is crucial in establishing long-term and mini career goals.
- Build better career habits.This is similar to setting mini career goals in that you’re taking small steps in order to achieve a larger goal. So, what are these habits? It could be something as simple as cutting out 20 minutes of daily social media time, to instead focus on your career, or making it a point to reconnect with one LinkedIn connection a week. With better career habits, it’s easier to think ahead to longer term goals.
- Incorporate the 3 C’s Into Your Plan. Whether you’re looking for a job, aiming for a promotion, or are just a career growth junkie, make room in your life for the 3 C’s:
Content: There’s a lot of great information on the internet (i.e., video tutorials, online quizzes, blogs, etc.), that can help you plan your career goals. (Hint: We offer all of this at Work It Daily).
Coaching: Whether it’s an online coaching platform like Work It Daily, or consulting with a trusted colleague or friend that has had career success, take advantage of the knowledge of others. Even the best athletes need good coaching, it’s no different for the working professional.
Community: Whether it’s a coaching community, or someone you know also trying to get their career in order, it’s always best to not address career challenges alone. In addition, it never hurts to have positive reinforcement.
It’s OK to have big career goals, just remember it’s the small steps that you take along the way, that will help you obtain these goals.
All the steps I’ve touched on above are small steps, but if you take them on little by little over time, I think you’ll find yourself a lot closer to your career goals.
P.S. Let Work It Daily Help You With Your Career Goals
Coaching and community are two resources that can help you reach your career goals, and we have those both at Work It Daily.
Work It Daily has a team of trained career support specialists that will work 1-1 with you to come up with a specialized plan to help. All of our memberships offer private 1-1 coaching along with unlimited networking potential, and a library of exclusive career courses. Additionally and for no extra cost, you’ll also receive unlimited resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile reviews by our trained specialists as part of our membership.
Try our FREE 3-day trial to see if Work It Daily is right for you!
AND, If you don’t think a membership to my company’s career coaching service is for you (yet), check out Work It Daily’s Free career growth tools: