What Are Your Career Goals For The New Year?
5 Questions to Help You Define Your Career Goals
You know that I always tell you how important it is to take ownership of your career, right? Well here are 5 questions that I'd like you to ask yourself to help you determine what your career goals are for the new year, and how you'll achieve them!
Now may be you're thinking to yourself, 'Tonya, why do I need to ask myself a set of questions to determine what my goals are for the year, can't I just list them out?'. Well, asking yourself these questions will ensure that you're more intentional about your goal setting. We're always so 'Go, Go, Go!', but today I want you to just take a moment to reflect back on last year and think about the year ahead. This will give you more of a full picture of where you're at versus where you want to be, which will make it easier for you to determine what your career goals are.
If you're currently employed, then goal setting is likely already part of your employer's annual process. Whether that process has already taken place or is coming up soon, these questions are always valuable to think through throughout the entire year as your desires and priorities change.
1. Reflecting back on the past year, what are some areas that you want to develop in? Maybe there's a particular skill that you want to improve on, or a particular project that interests you.
2. Are you happy at your current level, or do you aspire to achieve the next level in your role, or even a leadership position?
3. What training, resources, or additional support do you need to achieve your aspirations?
4. By what date do you want to achieve these goals? Then work backwards from there to determine what you need to do to meet those deadlines. Now you've got your own career development plan!
5. Thinking more short-term (because it's important to take things step by step to avoid overwhelm), what 5 steps will you take TODAY to begin taking action on achieving your goals? Consider who you need to talk to, what you need to research, or who you need to make aware of your goals (i.e. your manager) to help you get there.
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