How to Set long-Term Career Goals
Goals are the ideas of our future or things that we want to achieve and the plan or process to achieve these goals is the most important part. Goals are a great way to hold ourselves responsible, even if we fail at any point in our life. Our goals keep us motivated in that we should still keep working hard to achieve our desired goal and position in life.
Though all of us have a long bucket list of wishes and dreams which we want to fulfill. Setting goals helps us to prioritize our wants and needs. If you keep on working without setting goals, you may not be able to reach your desired position in life.
In this article, we will describe how you can set long term career goals.
What are Long-Term Career Goals?
This is the question we often ask ourselves whenever we want a change or we want to boost ourselves. With the passage of time, our experience changes, that changes our vision to see things. As a result, we decide to change ourselves and our position also.
The effect of this sudden change led us to ask this question from ourselves: what are your goals? And now it’s time to reprioritize them. Many people seek this as a career opportunity and they leave their jobs in order to pursue a new career. And after some time when they achieve huge success, it proves that their decision was correct.
Long-term goals require more time to be achieved because they need more hard work, and effort. These goals are not easy to achieve but once you achieve them you can enjoy its benefits in the long run. Long-term career goals keep you on the right track.
To achieve long-term goals effectively, you require the following:
- Hard work
- Accountability
- Careful planning
- Perseverance
Long-term goals also motivate us intrinsically when you feel a need for recognition, you will work hard for it. You will work day and night for achievements to earn recognition, earn self-respect, and make yourself satisfied that you are doing something productive.
Goal-Setting Theory
Goal-setting theory was proposed by Edwin A. Locke in 1986. He was an American Physiologist and was a founder of goal-setting research. He originated this theory in his article ”Towards a Theory of Task Motivation and Incentives.” This theory states that employees are more motivated by goals that are more clear and more specific as compared to unclear and indefinite goals.
He also stated that when employees receive appropriate feedback their motivation boosts. Challenging goals also play a vital role in motivating employees to achieve their goals.
When employees work hard on challenging goals it helps them to emerge new skills and polish their previous ones in order to achieve something new.
1. Basic Purpose of Theory
The prime purpose of this theory is to better grasp the relationship between how the goal-setting process motivates the employee’s performance.
From there, teams and subordinates can get knowledge about motivating their employees and increasing their performance.
This theory provokes employees to work more diligently and efficiently. It gives us a direction to work and leads us to the path of a successful career.
2. Basic Principles of Goal-setting Theory
As mentioned above, goals should be clear and specific so that they can be achieved more effectively. This way you can make a clear mindset and a clear plan for the achievement of your goals.
Locke determined 5 principles for his goal-setting theory:
i. Clarity
In accordance with this theory, clarity about the purpose of the goal should be a must. As much as your goals will be clear and specific, there are more chances that you will achieve these goals In less time.
Because there will not be any kind of misunderstanding in your mindset between you and your goals. This way you can achieve a higher level of success.
ii. Challenge
Your goals should also be challenging. If your goals are hard to achieve, you will work harder for them and your motivation level to achieve these goals will increase.
As a result, it promises huge success. Because you work on them with your complete focus and pay your whole attention to them.
The goals which are easy to achieve such goals diminish employee motivation.
iii. Commitment
Employees should have an effective commitment to their goals. If employees are not motivated to their goals, it is more likely that they will lose interest and will not be able to achieve their goals.
Employees should adopt buy-in behavior toward the achievement of their goals.
iv. Feedback
Feedback is an important element of goal-setting theory. Regular feedback helps employees in understanding how they are doing.
Are they going on the right track? Or should they need to improve their work and efforts? It aids employees in their future work plans.
v. Task Complexity
The goal should not be too complex and burdensome, it can have negative effects on employee motivation. So, a leader should break down complex and big goals into simpler and smaller goals.
It will seem easier to employees to achieve these smaller goals as a result of these achievements, they will advance towards larger goals.
Importance of Setting Long-Term Career Goals
Setting goals in your life is very important for your personal development. Setting career goals acts as a foundation for developing your professional career. It provides you with the help to be the best version of yourself.
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory of needs, it is stated that we human beings are motivated by our needs. Setting long-term goals will provoke you to lead, achieve, and grow.
Here are some reasons why we need to set long-term career goals
- Motivation
Maslow identified that when people work on self-actualization their motivation and efficiency also increase. Setting and achieving goals will help individuals advance to a higher level.
- Self- Development
Setting long-term career goals helps you improve and refine yourself professionally and personally. Individuals will work on new skills and learn leadership skills in this way. And adopt all the necessary tools and skills to help you reach the next level in your career.
- Personal and Professional Growth
Each individual has a desire to thrive professionally and personally. We want to earn a good reputation and want to be proud of ourselves by achieving long-term career goals.
- Direction
When you become determined to achieve your goals. You start thinking about them and initiate by developing plans on how to achieve goals and fulfill your needs. It gives you direction for your efforts and helps you to be on track for the achievement of your goals.
How to Achieve Long-Term Career Goals
There are many ways of achieving long-term career goals. Here we will discuss a few of them:
SMART Goal-Setting Framework
It is said that Edwin A. Locke provided the foundation for the SMART goal-setting framework. SMART stands for:
Specific
You should make your goals specific and clear as much as possible. You must have every detail about what you desire to achieve. You should have a clear vision in your mind. You should write your goals in a concise statement.
Measurable
Your goals should be easily measurable so that you can easily measure your success. You can take the help of metrics to evaluate your success. If you are working in an organization your superiors must have some strategies to evaluate your progress.
Attainable
Your goals should be practical and sensible. They should be achievable in a specific timeframe. You should have resources available which you will use for the attainment of your goals.
Relevant
Goals should be relevant and compatible with your career. Your goals should not be the opposite of your current position. When developing your goals you should consider all the relevant factors that might affect your goals.
Time-limited
You should set a deadline for the achievement of your goals. This practice will motivate you to do everything on time. You must develop a schedule for each task. It will also help you to manage your time.
Brainstorming Your Goals
Brainstorming is generating as many ideas as you can without taking care of their chances of achievement and without any judgment. It will help you to cultivate something new or generate a new or innovative idea. Such as you can think of getting a new job in a different sector or seeking a managerial position.
You can think of anything in brainstorming. After you have made a list, now you need to prioritize your goals and amend your goals. Setting those long-term career goals that you really desire to achieve can also increase your productivity.
Write Down Your Goals
This is a great idea to elevate your motivation. Write down all of your goals, it will enhance your passion. And While writing your goals you should use words like “will” instead of might. In this way, you will make sure to yourself that you’re actually going to achieve your goals.
You should write them on a notepad or on sticky notes so that you can paste them on the wall in front of your desk. So, you can see them easily or you can also paste them on your mirror. It will make you more enthusiastic about your goals.
Make a Plan
Lastly, you need to make a plan for the achievement of your long-term career goals.
You should select the right plan and then you should align all the activities which you are going to do for the pursuance of your plan.
Then, you should execute your plan and start taking steps on the way to achieving your goals.
Examples of Long-term Career Goals
Here are some examples of long-term career goals you can adopt. Which ones influence you the most? Which are more relevant? Long-term goals can take multiple forms. Let’s take a look at these examples:
a. Increase Salary
While working on the same salary, we often get demotivated. We want an increment in our salary so that we can work with more devotion. You must talk with your boss about this. In this case, you also need to increase your productivity so he can accept your request easily.
b. Gaining Experience in Leadership
Sharpening your leadership goals are frequent long-term career goals for employees. You can attend classes for this, to polish your skills and to enhance your capabilities. You can also pursue 1:1 meetings to gain leadership experience.
c. Set up Your Professional Network
Your social network should be vast. You should have large numbers of contacts in it. It will help you immensely in learning, seeking new opportunities, and having a better understanding of current market trends, conditions, and demands. It will be very beneficial for you to grow your professional network as much as you can. Thus the network will also become an aid for you to reach your long-term career goals.
d. Obtaining Experience Globally
Having global experience with your job can be a plus point for your career. You can gain this global experience by participating in international conferences. You can also enlarge your social network with global contacts. You can have this opportunity by informing your boss about your interest in such foreign trips to your workplace.
e. By Publishing Professional Reports
You can also achieve long-term career goals by participating in research work. Like you can start research work solely or with your team on any current affair of your industry. It will help you grow your skills and abilities. In this way, you can also earn a good reputation once your research work is published.
f. Developing a New Set of Skills
You can also give a boost to your professional career by adopting new skills. The skills mentioned on your resume are the ones that your employer is already aware of when you will introduce your new skills. Your boss will surely be impressed and he will offer you new opportunities. For instance, you can learn a new language to deal with your foreign clients.
g. Become an Adviser or Mentor
Becoming a mentor has a lot of advantages. You can earn a good name in your social circle and also you can also get satisfied and honored by helping a professional. This will also enhance your knowledge and information and can also offer you more opportunities for other senior professionals. And they can offer you mentorship once again.
h. Switch Your Career
You can also switch your career in order to achieve your long-term goals. This can be risky if you will do this without proper planning. Firstly, you properly need to understand your capabilities which you need to work on and refine them. Only then you can switch toward a new career and can enjoy a lot of new opportunities.
Final Thought - Setting Your Career Goals
Setting your career goals plays a crucial role in your career development. When you will have a clear idea of where you want to see yourself in the next 3 to 4 years. It will be very convenient for you to work accordingly and act accordingly. It also provokes you to work with more effort and devotion.
You must believe in yourself that you can achieve your goals. No goal is unattainable that you can not achieve. You must follow the right directions and right track. By reviewing several goal-setting examples, you can get a better idea of how to generate your goals.
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