Most professionals have heard that setting goals is a critical part of success. However, many choose not to formalize their goals, a move that potentially leaves them at a disadvantage.
Whether it’s overarching goals for your career or objectives for projects, goal-setting is a potent tool. Along with making it easier to focus your energies, it creates opportunities to make targets more manageable to hit.
If you’re wondering precisely how clear career goals make a difference and how you can start setting targets, here’s what you need to know.
Why Setting Clear Career Goals Is Essential
As mentioned above, goal-setting is a critical tool if you want to excel in your career. It allows you to identify high-priority targets, as well as create functional paths for achieving the chosen objectives.
Without goals, a person’s career can end up haphazard. You don’t have a guiding plan that you can factor into your decisions, increasing the odds you’ll head in a direction that won’t make your objectives a reality by mistake.
Essentially, well-designed goals serve as a career progression roadmap. For overarching objectives, you set long-term goals for your career. Then, you use short-term goals to move you in that direction, creating a path you can follow toward success.
Along with giving you a framework for success, the approach can make even lofty targets feel more manageable. Short-term goals let you break long-term objectives into small, manageable pieces. As a result, you’ll feel more confident about your ability to reach your target, all through the power of goal-setting.
How to Set Clear Career Goals
When you need to set clear career goals, it’s typically best to use the SMART approach. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound, giving you explicit guidance for what your goals should include.
Ultimately, you want to hone your goal carefully, removing any ambiguity. For example, instead of wanting to “increase my sales numbers,” you would create a goal closer to “increase my sales by 10 percent in six months.” That gives you a measurable target and a timeframe, as well, making your end objective incredibly clear. Plus, if you are a sales professional, it’s appropriately relevant.
When it comes to the “Achievable” part of the equation, that simply involves selecting targets you can reasonably reach. While they may be challenging, they’re also doable, ensuring you aren’t choosing a goal that’s so lofty it’s impossible to attain.
Ultimately, precisely how your goals will shape up is personal. The career journey you’re on, your current expertise, and your vision for the future all play a factor. However, by creating SMART goals for your career, you’re giving yourself a critical roadmap for success. In turn, you’ll know precisely what it takes to excel, increasing your odds of making it happen.
If you’d like to learn more about the power of goal-setting and how to choose effective targets, the team at PrideStaff wants to hear from you. Contact us today.
Leave a Reply