It is the end of the year and if you are like most you are setting goals for next year and beyond. It’s important to set meaningful career goals but be realistic. It is important to develop goals you can achieve. Doing so can increase job satisfaction, improve your quality of life, and boost your self-esteem. Although the goals should be ambitious, they still have to be realistic and achievable. According to research scientists, you don’t have to be the smartest or luckiest person to be successful in your design career. It’s actually more important to take an organized approach to setting career goals. Below are some tips for setting career goals you can keep.
Define Success
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” — Albert Schweitzer
Not everyone has the same definition of success. Some people value money while others want to really make a difference in the world. Start with determining what success means to you. It’s perfectly acceptable to have a vision that is different from your friends and family. Short- and long-term career goals need to be based on what makes you happy. Here are some questions to consider when defining success:
- What are you truly passionate about?
- What lifestyle do you want to achieve?
- Where have you already experienced success?
- What lessons did you learn from that success?
Set Attainable Goals
First, you must understand the difference between realistic goals and dreams. Setting achievable goals is the key to making your dreams become a reality. It’s easy to separate goals from dreams because they require specific actions to accomplish. But achievable goals have even more important elements. They also have to be measurable, relevant, and time-bound to be effective. From improving your communication skills to continuing your education, setting short-term goals like these is the path to achieving long-term career objectives like getting a promotion, starting an interior design business, etc. Although your professional goals should be realistic, a career roadmap should also challenge you to get outside of your comfort zone on a regular basis.
Revisit Your Goals
A list of goals is like a GPS that provides you with step-by-step career directions. But there could be unanticipated detours that pop up along the way like layoffs, relocations, etc. Refer to goals on a regular basis to determine whether they should be updated based on any new information. If you’re struggling to stay motivated, then make a list of the reasons why you set the goals and stay focused on self-care.
Your career roadmap will be unique based on your definition of success. Once you lay out your vision, you can work towards setting career goals that you can use to guide you to achieving your professional dreams.
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