New Year’s Resolutions

Every January people race to set New Year’s Resolutions…..of which the majority statistically break by February 1 each year. In fact, according to the New York Post, 68% of Americans break their resolutions well before February. Why can’t people commit to their resolutions? And what does this mean for achieving your career resolutions (or goals)?

Let’s consider Michael. He recently approached the Wilbanks Consulting Group because he had chased his career goal to acquire THE promotion, complete with the title, money, and corner office - and he achieved it! What he realized after earning these things was his dreams weren’t actually fulfilling. The promotion he had pursued was taking him down a completely different career path than he desired, he was losing time with his young children, and he was pretty miserable. When he initially set his longer-term goal to achieve this promotion, he thought it would bring happiness - but he didn’t consider all the implications of it. He ultimately wanted a balanced role that enabled him to be a technical expert in his field, but he was now managing people and engaging with key stakeholders 90% of the time.

Michael quickly realized that he wanted to make some changes in his career, and he needed assistance to get back on track. Perhaps you have had a similar experience, and when you accomplished your career goals, you didn’t get the satisfaction you expected. Or, perhaps you weren’t even able to accomplish your goals because you set lofty goals without identifying a path to achieve those goals, and you quickly gave up. You first must determine all the good (and bad) impacts of achieving your longer-term career goals, and then you must set a path to attain your goals. Many long-term career goals are achieved by focusing on shorter-term or immediate outcomes. You should spend time identifying the correct goals to achieve NOW to realize your ultimate goal LATER. When setting goals, ensure a balance of long-term career goals in which you focus on the future and where you want to be, recognizing that you also need to develop the path to achieve the goal. This also provides the opportunity to readjust (if necessary), if you suddenly discover the long-term goal is not actually what you were expecting it to be.

When developing career goals, it is critical to consider the future implications of meeting the goal, as well as the immediate implications. The experts at the Wilbanks Consulting Group (WCG) are available to challenge you to think through your career goals and ensure you have a long-term focus in setting (and achieving) your goals.

What Is a Long-Term Career Goal?

Indeed defines long-term career goals as “objectives you plan to achieve in the future” that typically have “a larger timeline for completion.” These objectives may take multiple months or even years to achieve, and they typically consist of smaller goals that you achieve along the path to realizing the ultimate longer-term goal.

Said another way, The Helpful Professor says “long-term career goals provide a framework for professional growth and guide decision-making. These goals are often specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART), allowing for clear tracking of progress. They serve as a roadmap, providing direction and motivation to work towards desired outcomes.” Long-term goals could consist of leadership positions, additional certifications, or even advanced degrees. But what is important to note is that they are achieved by utilizing smaller goals as stepping stones to attain the ultimate goal.

As you consider your own career goals, it is good to have a balance between shorter and longer-term goals. While a short-term goal might be as simple as completing a project on-time and on-budget, a long-term career goal may be focused on salary increases, promotions, leadership roles, or relocation opportunities. Indeed gives 18 examples of longer-term goals, if you need help thinking of themes when setting your long-term career goals.

Why Set Long-Term Career Goals?

Long-term career goals can help you develop dedication and progress toward a future goal. However, because the future can be uncertain, this can be unsettling to some. BuiltIn states that “long-term career goals don’t have to be set in stone…they are flexible and can change based on new jobs and experiences.” Give yourself grace and recognize that the entire purpose of setting long-term goals is to give direction and a roadmap. It helps you then define short-term goals with purpose, aimed toward a bigger goal. As life brings changes, your long-term goals can (and should) also change.

Recognizing that your goals may change over time, you may question the advantages to even setting long-term goals. However, there are several advantages to setting long-term career goals, even if you adjust them over time. BuiltIn says that long-term goals provide a stronger sense of direction, which then improves your motivation and self-esteem. If you have purpose and direction, you suddenly feel as if you are a part of something bigger than yourself. It will also help you expand your skill set and possibly even explore different roles and career paths. Which, in turn, will continue to deepen your sense of direction and purpose.

How Do I Set Long-Term Career Goals?

Long-term goals often take more time to achieve, so it is important to spend time reflecting on what is truly important to you when defining these objectives. Assess where you want to be in a year, three years, five years, and ten years; however, this can often feel ambiguous and abstract. After all, a lot can happen over a ten year period. For this reason, continually assess your career goals to make sure they align with your professional and personal desires. If either of these seems off, it is time to reassess your long-term goals.

When initially setting your goals, BuiltIn suggests talking to other colleagues to learn more about their goals. Ask people that you respect how and why they set their goals. And then ask them how they advanced within their own careers. Understanding various career paths may help you identify opportunities for advancement in your own career.

Consider where you see yourself in retirement, and then work backwards to identify how you might achieve that dream. By looking at the end goal, identify if your current path is aligned to help you reach that future state. And if it’s not, now is the time to change it.

Somewhat aligned with that is identifying “why” you want to pursue future endeavors. If the normal path is management; however, and you have no desire to manage people, consider other long-term career goals. Make sure that your career path aligns with your personal goals rather than rigidly accommodating “company norms.”

Implement a good check and balance when setting goals by discussing your thoughts with your manager (and other trusted advisors/mentors). They can provide insight into how realistic your goals are and provide additional learning opportunities to give you the experiences you need. This will help you identify if your goals are achievable at your current company, or if you should consider making a career transition.

As you write your career goals, ensure they are SMART:

Specific - you should know exactly what you are planning to accomplish. You can’t ascertain if you have achieved your goal if it is too ambiguous;
Measurable - you need to know how to measure achievement. In order to recognize completion of the goal, it must be able to be measured;
Attainable - make sure the goal is not so lofty that it cannot be accomplished. While you want to set stretch goals, you also want to ensure that your goals can actually be attained;
Realistic - ensure your goal is realistic. Do you have the tools and resources to achieve it? Have you set enough time to achieve it?;
Time-Bound - your goals should have a due date; goals without an end date in mind tend to fall lower when prioritizing actions.

And finally, once you have honed in on your longer-term career goals, stay motivated by breaking the goal into shorter and more manageable steps to achieve successes quickly. This will help give you the motivation to stay the course and see more instantaneous results. Remember Michael from the introduction? He achieved his long-term career goal, but it actually wasn’t what he desired. If Micheal had set shorter and more manageable goals along the way, he could have reflected and recognized he was headed in the wrong direction. This would have made it much easier to get back on the path he desired, saving himself and his company time and resources.

How Do I Achieve My Long-Term Goals?

After identifying and setting your long-term career goals, you should also spend appropriate time developing your path to achieve those goals. MentorcliQ identifies hard work, careful planning, accountability, and perseverance as important characteristics to achieve your goals.

While it does take all of these characteristics, MentorcliQ also identifies a few concrete steps you can take to achieve your goals.

Prioritize your long-term goals - write down your goals and highlight the ones that are most important. Set due dates, then prioritize exactly what you should work on, and in what order, to achieve your goals.
Break your long-term goals into smaller short-term goals - We alluded to this earlier; however, setting bite-size goals in which you can see immediate results will help you stay motivated to succeed on your long-term goals. Make sure that the short-term goals you set are also SMART. And if you prefer, you can even use a project plan with key deliverables to achieve these bite-size goals.
Plan diligently - Work your goals into your daily plan, so that you are always progressing toward accomplishing them and keeping them top of mind.
Share your goals with others - Whether you are sharing with family, friends, a mentor, or your manager, you should openly share your goals. This will bring accountability, as these trusted advisors can periodically check-in to see how you are progressing.
Identify challenges along the way - You will encounter challenges. The more foresight you have into potential challenges, the better you can address them when they arise. Think thoughtfully about what could happen and how you can overcome it.
Be persistent, but also be open to change - Life will throw you a curveball which may, or may not, change the trajectory of your career goals. Be persistent to continue to succeed, but also recognize that you may need to be flexible and adjust goals too.
Don’t be afraid to fail - In order to succeed, you may experience some failures. Recognize that this is part of learning and growing as an individual and a leader. Learn from your mistakes so that you can continue to develop new skills. Also consult with your trusted advisors to encourage you when you encounter mistakes and failures.

Micheal (from our promotion story above) took some time to recognize his goals didn’t align with his personal desires, but he did finally realize he needed help. He reached out to the Wilbanks Consulting Group, and with a little coaching made some big changes in his career. He is now in a senior technical leadership role, which gives him the balance he desires while also challenging him technically and professionally. He learned from his mistakes, realizing that goals should be flexible, and it is important to reflect on progress when achieving goals.

"When we give ourselves permission to fail, we, at the same time, give ourselves permission to excel."
Eloise Ristad

Discipline with Long-Term Focus

If you struggle to stay on track to achieve long-term goals, perhaps you should work on developing your focus to help you achieve those goals. There will be setbacks and disappointments, but perseverance and a long-term focus will help. Mindtools shows that “people who maintain focus on long-term goals can achieve much bigger things than those who jump from idea to idea, or those who give up after the slightest setback.” In fact, many of our scientific advancements in vaccinations and treatments are because of people who had a long-term focus to achieve a goal, instead of getting distracted by obstacles or alternate ideas they encountered along the way.

So how do you develop this long-term focus, especially when you have daily tasks and distractions demanding time in your schedule? Take these simple steps to ensure you can persevere and stay the course as you work to achieve your goals:

Ensure your goals are meaningful - if your goals aren’t personally meaningful to YOU, then you will lose the desire and motivation to achieve them. Don’t set goals because your family, manager, or professor wants you to achieve them - set goals for yourself. And your goals should align with your personal values.
Write your goals down - and after you write them, put them in a prominent place so that you will see them daily. Being reminded of your goals will help motivate you to achieve them. Do you look in the mirror every day? Perhaps tape them to the mirror. Or, if you prefer, tape them to your computer screen. Just ensure that you constantly see your goals. And give yourself time daily to reflect on your goals and progress toward them, even if momentarily.
Strengthen your self-regulation - according to researchers Thomas Bateman and Bruce Berry (Masters of the Long Haul), self-regulation is the number one determinant to achieving goals. This is inclusive of self-discipline and the persistence to achieve, as well as self-efficacy, or the belief that one can achieve. By developing self-confidence, one will strengthen their ability to
stay disciplined and believe they can achieve success.
Set time to work on your goals - this is critical. If you don’t have margin in your schedule to work on your goals, you will prioritize all of the tasks with more immediate deadlines. You need to set time to work toward achieving your goals, so that it becomes a natural part of your daily agenda. You might need to develop new habits to allow time in your schedule, such as waking up earlier or blocking time on your calendar.
Stay on course - make sure that you continue the hard work, even when things get difficult. Rather than continually adding new goals every time you have a new idea, make sure it aligns with your longer-term career goal. If it does, add a new sub-goal to achieve, but if it doesn’t align, capture the new idea to focus on as time allows. Of course, if you recognize your new ideas are a better fit for your personal desires and needs, it might be time to reassess if your long-term goal is still the right goal to pursue.
Recognize progress - celebrate the milestones along the path. Even small successes deserve praise, so that you can recognize all the work you have done. Celebrating successes gives you the motivation to continue to work toward achieving longer-term goals. Also, see these successes as new learnings and growth, which will also drive you to continually grow and develop.

“A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.”
Greg S. Reid

Staying the course and preserving is one of the major differences between people who achieve their goals and those who do not. During challenging times, reach out to your support network for encouragement. And during “normal” times, continue to prevail and move forward, advancing your personal and professional objectives.

Your hard work will pay off when you wake up one morning and look back at the path you took to achieve your current reality.

Conclusion

If you struggle with setting long-term (and short-term) career goals, you are not alone. Or perhaps setting goals comes easily, but it’s a struggle to stay on track after you have set your goals. This is where the experts at the Wilbanks Consulting Group can partner with you. With the appropriate coaching, you will soon feel confident setting purposeful long-term goals that are supported with shorter-term objectives to continue to catapult you forward. Reach out today and let’s discuss how we can help you achieve your career goals.

New Year; New (Long-Term Goal Focused) You!