Читать книгу Prep, Push, Pivot - Octavia Goredema - Страница 12

When you've chosen a goal to pursue, start to outline the next steps you need to take to make this goal happen. Often, professionals I work with assign a deadline to a goal, for example:

“I want to secure a new role by the end of the calendar year.”

As a coach, I think it's fantastic that you have a time line in mind for what you want. However, I always recommend focusing on the time frames to the actions you will take to pursue your goal. For example, the steps you need to take to do that might include updating your résumé, talking to your network about opportunities, and of course, spending time looking at job postings. Assigning time frames for key tasks, or including the frequency for key tasks, is what will propel you forward.

Including when you will do the tasks creates an action plan, which could look like this:

 “Create an updated version of my résumé by the end of the month.”

 “Set aside time twice a week to reach out to people in my network to ask for advice about my search.”

 “Allocate Sunday afternoons as uninterrupted time to review job postings and prepare applications.”

I believe the best way to stay on track with your goals is to focus entirely on the actions you need to take. We can't control the outcome of our actions, but we can control what we do. By scheduling time for the actions required, and doing them, you may land that new job before the end of the calendar year, or after the end of the calendar year, but you will be moving forward constantly.

Sometimes our goal seems so far removed from our current reality that we don't know where to start. When that happens, it's not uncommon to feel deflated or even downsize our visions to something more achievable. This why breaking the big, scary goal into smaller pieces and scheduling the steps is so crucial. Setting your intentions to pursue the goal is the secret to success. Goals will only become accomplishments if you act. The best way to do that is to just start. Don't worry about what comes next; just take it one step at a time.

Create a strategy to hold yourself accountable, especially during the tough times. Maybe you choose to tag team with a friend, where you each share a goal you're working on and give each other encouragement along the way. Perhaps you journal about your process. Maybe you work with a career coach. Or perhaps you schedule time on your calendar to act and plan your next steps. Do whatever works for you.

When you've decided on and scheduled your next steps, you should plan how you'll celebrate each step. Yes, I advocate celebrating every step, not just reaching the end of the goal. It could be something small, like reserving time to do something you love or something bigger, like treating yourself to a special purchase. You get to decide. This will reinforce that you're making a continuous investment in your professional development and signifies that every step matters.

Here are some questions to help you stay on track with your goal:

1 How important is this goal to you?

2 What ideas do you have about next steps?

3 How could you break the next steps down into smaller pieces?

4 What's the next action you should take?

5 Who can you ask for help with this?

6 How will I celebrate the completion of each step?

7 What will you commit to doing next?

As a final step, use your career values and goals to create your own road map. This is something you can revisit every quarter and adjust and update as you need to. In chapter 9 you will find a blank Career Road Map worksheet for you to use.

Your Career Road Map should include:

 Your career values

 Milestone moments so far

 Short-term goals

 Longer-term goals

 Ideas for how to progress

Ideas for how you will celebrate

Career Road Map
Use your career values and goals to create your own road map.
MY CAREER VALUES Do work that channels my creativity. Collaborate on exciting projects with talented professionals. Become respected in my industry for my skills. MILESTONE MOMENTS Landing my first promotion. Seeing my first campaign launch and gain traction.
SHORT-TERM GOALS	LONGER-TERM GOALS
Gather assets from previous campaigns and update my digital portfolio.	Complete my certification.
HOW TO PROGRESS	HOW TO CELEBRATE
Dedicate one day a month to professional development.	Invest in new equipment.
Find a mentor.

Figure 1.1

Channel all your energy into taking those steps toward the career you're building. One step at a time. Focus on what you can control: your own actions.

Decide that if there are obstacles standing in your way and impeding your goals, you will do everything in your power to push them out of the way. Commit to asking, more than once, for what you want. If that doesn't work, commit to finding an opportunity that meets your needs.