Time to Set Career Goals For The Year

A new year is a popular time to make resolutions, as the change in the calendar brings an exciting energy and a sense of possibilities. In addition to promising to eat better or lose weight, take advantage of this fresh-start period to redefine your career goals. With clear steps and milestones, you can take the actions that move your professional life to the next level.

Evaluate Job Satisfaction

The first step in setting career goals is to make an honest assessment of how your current job lines up with your inner values and passions. Don't worry if you can't list your passions off the top of your head. Instead, examine your emotional and physical reactions to work. Do you hit the snooze button 10 times before getting out of bed? Do you dread going to work? Do you feel exhausted and mentally checked-out at the office? These are all signs that your work is unfulfilling. Use these feelings to identify the things you're missing. If you fall somewhere in the middle ground, consider the things that make you feel enthusiastic, excited or inspired at work. These are potential directions for growth.

Identify Areas for Improvement

Based on the results of your job-satisfaction inventory, identify possible ways to alleviate negative emotions and do more of the things that excite you. If you find that doing detail work drains your energy, consolidate all small-scale tasks to one afternoon per week or ask to be included on big-picture planning. If hours fly by unnoticed when you're doing graphic design, consider taking a course at a community college or volunteer for more design tasks at the office. By forcing yourself to make multiple achievable suggestions, you can avoid getting stuck in professional limbo and make progress toward creating solid career goals.

Choose Large and Small Goals

Once you have worked through the emotional component of your job, it's time to make practical career goals. Brainstorm a list of goals, writing down anything that comes to mind without worrying about whether it seems possible. Examine the list and mark the goals that resonate deeply. Select both short-term and long-term goals.

Create Actionable Steps

Break down each of your selected career goals into smaller steps. If you want to be a vice president in 10 years, what experience do you need in the interim? If you want to take on more of a leadership role in the next six months, how do you need to change your current behaviors and workload? Set milestones for each goal, and create actionable steps between milestones. Each step should feel doable. If it is too overwhelming, break it down further. Keep your list of steps, milestones and end goals on hand to keep you motivated and focused.

Depending on your current position, setting meaningful career goals might require a great deal of soul searching. Taking the time to work through your thoughts can give you a clarity of purpose that transforms the new year.

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