Hi! I’m Joy M. Hutton, a Grow with Google Digital Coach.
Today we’re going to talk about why defining a career vision is important,
helpful ways to approach your career goals,
and how to begin making a plan to achieve your goals.
Having a vision, goals, and a plan are important elements for helping you succeed and advance in your career.
Your vision is the outcome you’re working towards, and it’s rooted in what you’re most passionate about.
Your goals are the steps that contribute to you attaining the end result of that career vision.
Your plan is how you will achieve those goals.
You need to know what you are aiming for.
Start by asking yourself what your values and passions are.
What do you care most deeply about? What lights you up most when you think about it?
Once you have a clear idea of these, you can find the common links between your passions and values.
Understanding this will guide you in getting a clearer picture of your vision.
Many people set their career vision around a future job title rather than a vision-driven outcome, which can sometimes be a mistake.
If your vision is all about a specific title, such as “Be CEO of my current company”, that leaves you vulnerable to external factors,
like a company relocating or you changing companies or careers, which could derail your path towards your vision.
So instead, focus on the details of the destination.
For example, “I want to be in a position of influence, leading a department and have a direct report line to the heads of the company,
to ensure I have influence over key decisions and people.”
So you have thought of your career vision, now it’s time to think about the goals you’ll need to achieve to realize that vision.
A key step in identifying your goals is thinking about what skills you already have, and what skills you might need to gain.
Once you do that, you can then set goals which will help you attain those skills.
Take time to think about and write down the skills you believe you have right now, and what you need to gain.
When it comes to defining and setting your goals, it’s important to choose goals that are S.M.A.R.T.
Aka – Specific - it describes the exact goal you want to achieve.
Measurable - So you know exactly when you’ve reached your goal.
Actionable - A goal you can actually achieve and do something about.
Relevant - In this case, relevant means the goal gets you closer to achieving your career goals.
Time-bound - You need to achieve your goal by a specific date.
You can write them down in your calendar.
Now it’s time to create a clear and simple outline of your vision and goals.
First, you need to put pen to paper.
It is easy for goals to remain vague if we never write them down.
Following these 3 steps will help you structure a clear career vision statement.
Start with your vision.
For example, “I want to work in the healthcare industry for a company where I can provide people with the care they need.”
Then, describe how you are going to get there, your goals.
For example, “I will achieve this by taking 2 relevant courses online this year,
and by reaching out to at least 3 people I already know within the industry within the next 3 weeks.”
Finally, create short-term milestones.
Short term milestones are extremely important for creating momentum for your plans.
Having a long term vision and bigger goals is great,
but you need to have milestones that you can check off every week, if not every day.
For example, “This week I will create a spreadsheet of relevant courses I need to take,
including how much they cost and what skills I will learn from them.”
Everyone likes to check off boxes on a to-do list... I know I do.
and short term milestones lets you do that for your career.
Understanding your own values, vision, and goals is a continuous process.
So, what now?
Practice and repeat.
Share your vision statements with family, friends, colleagues, and mentors.
Get feedback from them on whether they feel it’s clear and focused.
Use this process to continue to refine your vision statement.
Once you feel confident in your vision statement, it’s time to share it with people who can support you in reaching that career goal.
This will help you gain the support you need.
Remember, people don’t know how to help you if they don’t know what your goal is.
Once you have a clear vision and goals, share them with people!
Now that you know about the importance of values, passions, goals, and your vision,
let's take a moment to review the key takeaways so you can feel confident in your next steps.
A career vision is the outcome that you are aiming for, and can be focused on what you hope to achieve,
the type of job you want, or the impact you want to have.
Your goals are how you will get to your long term vision.
When it comes to defining and setting your goals, it’s important to choose goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Creating a plan and putting pen to paper on your vision and your goals is an important step in the process,
including setting short term goals.
Once you feel confident in your vision statement, you can share it with people who can support you in reaching that career goal.
This will help you gain the support you need.
Alright, that’s it!
Thanks so much for tuning in!
To continue growing your skills and career, be sure to tune in to our other videos and subscribe to our channel!
You can also access free resources, virtual workshops, Google Career Certificates, and more at our Grow with Google website.
See you next time!