CAREER SPECIAL...Five Ways To Set and Achieve Career Goals

Five Ways To Set and Achieve Career Goals 

Fresh resolutions go hand-in-hand with a new year. But unlike most new year resolutions that go up in smoke, setting new career goals requires extra effort. Do it right, and it could be just the push you need to propel your career to the next level.

1 Identify your Gifts One needs to start by identifying his or her “flow” days, according to leadership and transformational coach Santhosh Babu who leads OD Alternatives, a specialist consulting firm. Essentially, these are days when the person experiences a perfect flow, expressing core competencies in a challenging and exciting task. “One needs to think about what kind of a role, project or task would give them more such days in the future. You need to plan your career in such a way that you have more flow days because the challenge is about what gives you satisfaction and joy,” he says.  

2 Share your Aspirations Discuss your aspirations, your personal vision and the career and role you want with your superior well in advance, suggests Santosh Babu. The boss will be in a position to give you suggestions on how to go about achieving your goals, or even set you straight if the goal or aspiration seems unachievable in the current organisation.  

3 Set Attainable Goals
Don’t overreach yourself. “Your goals should be realistic, based on your resources, skills and weaknesses,” says Vivek Sharma, a marketing professional in an FMCG company who made a successful move into the sales side. “Play to your strengths, and at the same time, work on your weaknesses. If required, take someone’s help. Your new career goal should be within reach.”  

4 Track Yourself You need to break your goal into smaller goals, set deadlines for each step and take action. “Along with this, you need a tracking mechanism to see if you are moving in the right direction,” says Santosh Babu.  

5 Persevere Keep your eyes on the finishing line and don’t let the occasional setbacks deter you. You may need to revise your goal as you go along, depending on the circumstances, but hang in there till you succeed.

Sreeradha D Basu ET130101