How to Set and Accomplish Your Career Goals

1. How to Set and Accomplish Your Career Goals Easier 2016 is in full swing and hopefully you have a solid, documented plan to accomplish your career goals. Writing down your goals will help you to execute them to ensure you don’t fall short of your career vision and aspirations? These key points will put your plan in motion to achieve your goals for 2016. Grab a coffee, pen, paper or whatever you need to get started on this very important step in life. http://resumes-for-teachers.com/

2. 1. Set Realistic, Specific, and Measurable Career Goals: You will need to have a vision, daily goals, strategic year plan, and use many of your characteristics. Many studies have shown a direct correlation between setting specific career goals and finding greater success. • Goal setters are shown to be more productive because their goals keep them accountable. • Goal setting helps you identify what you want to accomplish and what you need to do to get there. 2. The End of Your Life Reflection Question: When envisioning yourself at the end of your life, what will you have wanted to accomplish? • When developing your goals, start from the end goal and work backwards • Write down the 3-5 main points that come to mind • This exercise will help you determine what is most important to you and the main goals you should be working toward this year 3. Reflect on Your Past Career Achievements: Take some time to think back on 2015 and what your job achievements were – write them down. • How far you’ve come can help you to figure out where you want to go next in your career. • Self-reflection is a great activity for growth

3. 4. What Do You Value in Your Career And Personal Life? In order to set lasting career goals, you need to know what’s important to you in life. • It’s important to align your goals with your values • When your goals match your values you will get more enjoyment and meaning out of them 5. Be Ambitious: • Be ambitious about what you want to achieve • You can’t expect to achieve great things if you don’t allow yourself to dream them • It’s okay to dream big – it is okay if people don’t think you can do it – prove them wrong • Dream big without talking yourself out of it – don’t get discouraged 6. Set Goals that Are SMART: SMART refers to goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time framed.

4. Specific: the goal should be precise and descriptive Measurable: the success of the goal can be measured Achievable: is the goal realistic? Realistic: does the goal fit into your overall career aspirations? Time Frame: Are there milestones throughout the goal process? Is there a set deadline? 7. Be Specific When Writing Your Goals Down: If the goal you set is too broad, it will be much harder for you to achieve it. It needs to be specific and descriptive. • Be specific about your career aspirations and professional goals that you’ve set • For instance, just saying that you want a new job or a different career path is not nearly specific enough to know where you should start to achieve that. • If you don’t know how to make your goal more specific, then perhaps it’s time to brainstorm and reflect on what you really want. Once you have a concrete end goal, it will be much easier to figure out the plan to get there. 8. Understand Your Motivation for Each Goal You List: You will more likely commit to your goal if you fully understand the purpose behind setting the goal in the first place.

5. Identify the motivation behind the goal • Ask yourself: why is it important for you to achieve this goal? • Ask yourself: why do you want to achieve this goal for 2016? 9. Break Your Career or Personal Goals Down: Your goal can be big, but break it down into manageable chunks to keep it from becoming overwhelming. Break up the large goal into smaller chunks to keep you motivated and help you feel that you are constantly progressing toward your goal Prioritize what needs to be done when in order to accomplish the larger goal within your time frame 10. Share Your Career or Job Goals: Once you share your goals with others, it will become more real. • Write down your goals • Tell others about your goals • Once you’ve told others about your goals, you will become more committed and accountable to them Set yourself regular reminders via an app or a calendar to keep you accountable, motivated, and on track

6. 11. Make a Plan: Do you know what steps you’ll take to start the process? • Write out a plan or a to-do list to help you get closer to achieving your goals • Figure out what you need to do to get started on the right path 12. Assess the Risks of Accomplishing Your Goals: Identify any obstacles that might get in your way of achieving your goals. • Don’t expect everything to go perfectly – be as proactive as you can • Figure out what may go wrong so you’ll be better prepared to deal with any possible hiccups along the way • You may need to be flexible and come up with alternative ways of doing things 13. Identify Your Resources: What courses, people, or websites, etc. can help you achieve your goal? • If you are starting from square one towards your goal, it can seem daunting. So it can be very helpful to find out what resources you have at your disposal to help you get started. • You might be able to get help or advice from a mentor, colleague, family member, friend, or professional network • In order to achieve your goal, you may need to take a course, seminar, or go back to school to get a different degree

7. You may need to update your resume, cover letter and LinkedIn profile. • If you are an educator, there are many resources available for your career or job search here. There may be books or websites you can read to gain knowledge about your goal. 14. Set a Reasonable Time Frame: Make your action plan even more formidable by setting it to a time-frame. • People are more productive when they are working towards a deadline • Consider how long each step toward your main goal will take, and then set a due date next to each one 15. Stay Motivated: Achieving your goal should be your motivation. It is the driving force that propels you forward. What is your motivator?

8. More money, time off, respect on the job, opportunity for advancement, smaller class sizes? • Ensure you have a support network. Lean on your friends and family. It can do wonders to help you through tough times • Even though you should carve out some time each day to work towards your goal, don’t forget to have fun and give yourself some much needed breaks. These will help you recharge so you can refocus and stay motivated • Pick different places to work. If you’re bored of continuously working in your home office 16. Stay Focused: Identify your priorities to help you spend your time wisely and on the right tasks. • Track your efforts in order to minimize time spent on tasks that don’t contribute to your goals • By staying focused on the task at hand, you will accomplish more, more quickly • Ensure your work-space is organized to help you focus • Stick to your to-do list 17. Hold Yourself Accountable: Hold yourself accountable to the goals you’ve set for yourself.

9. Make sure your goals are achievable within a realistic time-frame • Make sure to accomplish something every single day toward attaining your goal • Don’t let yourself lose momentum by slacking off on your progress; it’s very hard to regain momentum once lost 18. Reward Your Efforts: When you’ve completed an action or step towards your goal, reward yourself. Rewards will help to keep you motivated Make the reward match the difficulty of each step – a larger reward for a more difficult step in the process 19. Evaluate and Fine Tune Your Progress: It’s important to consistently check in with yourself to see how you are progressing

10. Evaluate your progress • Assess which areas of your plan are working and which areas might need to be tweaked • Make any necessary adjustments to keep yourself on track and progressing 20. Get Yourself a Mentor or Accountability Buddy: Enlist a mentor or friend to help keep you accountable to your goals. • Just like a workout partner or personal trainer can help you get in shape, so can having a mentor or accountability buddy help you with your career goals • A friend or mentor can offer you help, support, and encouragement • They can help to keep you accountable

11. Don’t get behind on your New Year’s goals. Candace Alstad – Davies toll-free 1 877 738 – 8052 or email: candoco@telus.net will help you get started on your career goals for 2016 now! Whether you need job search assistance, resume writing, LinkedIn profile writing, social media career networking, or job interview coaching, I’m here to help you ensure 2016 is your best year yet! Referrals are always greatly appreciated! YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/c/ResumesforteachersCandace Follow Us on G+: https://plus.google.com/+ResumesforteachersCandace Like Us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ResumesforTeachers Connect on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/candacealstaddavies/ Follow me on Pintrest: https://www.pinterest.com/candacedavies1/ Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/Candace_Davies Follow me on Instragramhttps://www.instagram.com/candace_alstad_davies/