Become a goal digger
Being given a list of measurable KPI's is one thing, but defining success for yourself and setting achievable goals is what really accelerates growth. Creating your own roadmap for career development will keep you motivated and inspired.
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Your professional goals act as guideposts for what you want to achieve and where you want to go in your career. The most effective people have a composite of short term goals and long term aspirations.
Hope is not a strategy.
Sorry.
Why are goals important?
Studies have found a direct correlation between setting goals and achieving success. Properly defined goals help trigger new behaviours and help you focus on what’s important to you. Setting yourself a reasonable goal or two can also make you happier because the reward systems in our body are triggered when we move toward our goals.
If this is a new space for you, here's a few ways you can get started:
Consider your passions.
Part of the process for how to set goals should be clarifying what inspires you and what your values are. It's going to get hard, so you need to be passionate about your goals if you want to achieve them in the long run. Your goals need to be meaningful to you and provide you with a sense of pride once you meet them.
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Set goals you can actively influence.
Your goals must be 'you' centric - not dependent on other people. They also shouldn’t be reliant on external factors that you cannot influence. Be realistic about what you can and can’t be directly responsible for.
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Imagine your future.
Take some time to really think about what you’d like your life to look like. What does your ideal future entail? Where are you this time next year? In 5 years?
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Create a plan.
Having a big lofty goal is an excellent start. But a goal without a plan is just a dream. To achieve your goal, you need to break it down into smaller parts and ensure you have the resources necessary to execute.