4. Do I like what I’m doing right now? 5. What am I passionate about?
6. What could I be doing that would make me happier than I am right now?
7. Would I be happier simply switching positions or getting a promotion; or would I be happier changing careers all together?
8. Why am I still working here?
9. What is stopping me from leaving this job or getting that promotion?
10. What is stopping me from leaving this job?
These are all vital questions that you have to ask yourself before deciding what your career goals are going to be. If you are honest with yourself, you will know exactly what direction you should be going in.
Without being honest with yourself you can’t expect to better your life, you can only expect to have to ask yourself these questions all over again until you find happiness.
Career Goal Setting Plan
The following table provides you with a simple outline of the factors you may want to consider and identify when setting and analyzing your career goals in a step by step format.
Career Goal You must Define and write them down in order of priority Benefits and Advantages of achieving this goal Listing these may help to motivate you.
Key Steps That you Need to Take
When Will I do This? Give Yourself deadlines
Support and Resources (What support and from whom do I need, what resources, such as time, money, contacts)
Outcomes and Reflection (Record whether you achieved the goal and what worked or did not work along the way for future reference)
The above sort of shows you the who, what, where, when, and how of career goal setting. It is just like finding the facts for a story. Journalists have to answer all of these questions in order to get the full story.
Do you see what I’m talking about now? All of these questions have to be directed before you can begin to work on your career goals.
They will take some real thought and honesty to set them properly. When you have answered these questions you next have to begin to prioritize them. Let me show you an example.
John Smith wants to be the President of his company one day. Right now he is a mere data entry clerk. His company is a large corporation that works with computer repairs and security. John knows everything there is to know about computer repairs and can fix almost any computer he will ever look at.
He is efficient at using and finding hackers and securing computers are not hacked into. His boss is currently ignoring his advice so John is not so sure how to go about getting his dream of being president of the company someday which he is more than capable of doing already. What should he do?
This is a time when John should begin to prioritize and decide how he can get to his goal. His ultimate goal is to be company president and he wants to accomplish this in 10 years.
When you see that your company needs help on something work in secret and bring in a finished product at the right time or schedule private meetings with your boss.
