According to some studies, people with clearly formulated goals that are written down are 42% more likely to achieve those goals than people who do not put pen to paper.
By writing your goals down, you are creating a vision in your mind of what you want the future to look like. It gives you clarity and focus on how to move forward, as well as giving you meaning and purpose in what you do.
One of the main reasons people feel stuck in their career is because they don’t have a clear direction of where they want to go and how to get there.
As we start the New Year, it’s a great opportunity to take some time out to think about your personal and professional aspirations, to set meaningful goals, and then create a realistic action plan to achieve those goals.
Here are my top tips for setting goals for the new year:
- Make your Goals Challenging
An effective goal should stretch you outside your comfort zone and encourage you to achieve great things.
Career goals should be specific whilst at the same time being flexible enough to allow you to change course and make small tweaks along the way. You never know when the perfect job opportunity that you hadn’t considered becomes available.
- Consider your Why
When we connect our goals to our personal why and to our values, it becomes more meaningful. Consider questions such as:
- Why is this goal important to me?
- How will I feel when I achieve this goal?
- What will achieving this goal enable me to be/do/see/have?
- What sacrifices am I willing to make in order to achieve this goal?
- How is achieving this goal going to support my long term vision?
- Document your Goals
By writing down your goals, you are creating a clear picture of what the future looks like. By taking your goals out of your head and onto paper (if you’re old skool like me), it brings them to life, making them visible and real.
You’re creating the conditions to achieve those goals and emotionally connect with the outcome you’re seeking. By writing your goals down, It helps you focus on what’s important and prioritise where you spend your time on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, helping you take meaningful steps to advance your career development.
- Break down your goal into actionable steps
Sometimes when we set ambitious and challenging goals, we can become overwhelmed and not know where to start.
By breaking down your goal into key milestones with actionable steps and deadlines each week and month, it builds momentum and creates the right conditions to achieve your goals.
Create a timeline of your key milestones and assign tasks and deadlines to each one. In doing so you break down the seemingly impossible goal into a series of doable steps, and start building momentum.
I hope you’ve found these tips useful. In my next article, I’ll be sharing the VOSTEK model which I use with my coaching clients to help them take control of their career success.
Final Word
‘A goal that is not written down is just a wish’ source unknown
‘The best way to predict the future is to create it.’ Abraham Lincoln
About the Author
Angie is the Founder and CEO of Women in Tech forum, a global membership and coaching platform to help people accelerate and grow their career in tech.
Prior to founding her company, Angie held senior leadership positions for world-leading tech companies including SAP, TripAdvisor and Mimecast. Angie has spent 11 years working in Asia and is now based in London, UK where her company is headquartered.
Angie has received international acclaim for her work and has most recently been awarded the ‘10 Most Impactful Women in Tech 2021’ by Analytics Insight magazine, and has been named a finalist by the UK IT Industry Awards for the ‘Most Inspirational Leader 2021.’
www.womenintechforum.com | [email protected]