4 Ways to Set Achievable Career Goals

Do you ever think about where you want to get in your career in the next 1 year or a few years from now? If you want to take your career to the next level and achieve success, then you need to set your career goals the right way. These goals are things that describe what you want from your career.

Most workers think that setting career goals for themselves is a waste of time but that is a total mistake. Because without career goals it might be impossible to achieve success in your professional life and everyone need to know their destination to get where they are going.

Career goals give you a road map to follow in your professional life. They also help you to determine the type of experience and skills you will need to get to the next level of your career. These goals also make you are focused on your career.

But this doesn’t mean go and start setting any kind of goals. Goal setting is a skill that should be learned. In the article, we’ll be revealing some of the best cool ways to set goals for your career and achieve maximum success.  

1. Set measurable goals

Setting measurable goals will ensure that your career goals are effective. Before setting any goal, make sure you have criteria that will help you determine if the goal has been achieved. If someone’s goal is to increase their income then they go is not measurable. Because he might increase to a certain amount but want to know exactly what he is aiming for. But someone might set a goal to increase their income by 20%, now that is a measurable goal. This person knows the percentage they want to get.  

2. Set challenging but attainable goals

Career goals should be about identifying the balance between being challenging and attainable. Setting goals has to do with pushing yourself to take action to move your career to the next level, to do something different which you haven’t done before. So your goals need to be challenging and great career goals should put you out of your comfort zone.

This goes should be accomplished with some feelings of doubt, fear, and uncertainty. There has to be a risk or consequence that will come up if you don’t put effort to achieve the goal. Such goals will make you grow and also lead to achieving them. Creating goals without putting in efforts to achieve them makes no sense.

However, you should avoid setting goals that are too ambitious for you. Some goals may be challenging but at the same time not attainable. For your career goal to be effective, you need to make sure it is also attainable. The goals should be relevant and related to your abilities and skills. You can gain the skills required to achieve the goals if you do not have them already.

For you to know whether your goal is attainable you need to consider your limitations. Find out those things that might act as an obstacle to stop you from reaching your goal. Then, look for ways to overcome them.  

3. Be specific with your goals

Most people do the mistake of having so many goals are the same time. It is good to set goals but make sure they are clearly defined. They do not lead you to a specific destination. You need to be very specific to set achievable career goals.

There are a lot of benefits that come with setting specific career goals for yourself. It will make you clear about what you need in your career and how to achieve it. Specific goals will also motivate you to work towards the goal compared to when you set goals that are not clear to you. You will also have a higher chance of achieving your goals when they are specific. 

4. Write down your goals

After coming up with achievable and realistic goals, you need to write them down. You can get a piece of paper or notebook for this point. When writing this goal, make sure you use the word “will” instead of “would like” or “might”.

Using the word will provide you with commitment, willpower, and passion to achieve your goals. However, using “might” or “would like” only shows that your goals will be nice to have but you don’t need it at all cost.

When you are done writing down your goals, keep the notebook in a place where you can see them every day. It might be on your refrigerator, bedroom mirror, bedside table or desk just make it visible to you. Most people set goals without writing them down but this is a very important step.

Writing down your goals helps you to visualize them clearly in your mind. This will motivate you to work harder and increase your chances of accomplishing the goal. Those who visualize their goals are likely to achieve them more than those who don’t.