Career goals are targets and objectives you set out to achieve for your professional growth. These can include work experiences, income growth, knowledge expansion, favourable working conditions and promotions among others. In order to get ahead in your career, you have to plan ahead for where you want to be and the targets you want to achieve in your career span. Setting these goals calls for making use of the SMART strategy, according to experts. SMART- a well-known tool that guides with goal setting-It stands for; Specific-What do you want to achieve? Why is it important for your career? And what do you need to do in order to achieve it? When setting goals, it is recommended that you make them specific; they need to be precise enough in order to be particular with what efforts to put in and where exactly they need to be put. Measurable- Having measurable goals can be helpful in terms of tracking progress. This is also key with staying motivated. A measurable goal needs to be quantifiable in a way that one can answer the ‘how many’ or ‘how much’ questions. Quantifying career goals in this form makes it easier to track progress. Attainable- In order for goals to be successful, they need to be realistic. Goals are said to be most achievable when they are within reach. That’s why they need to be objectives that one can actually accomplish. Hence, contemplating on possible limitations is ideal too in this case. Relevant-A relevant goal is one that holds substantial benefits in line with your overall objective. Pinpoint the relevance of a particular aim you set for your profession and evaluate why it matters to you and your career. Timely- Goals need to be time-bound, otherwise without a deadline it might be hard to focus. There should be a well-defined time period, such as when to begin and when a goal has to be reached. How to reach your goals It’s important to set goals accordingly for them to be attained, according to Christian Cyuzuzo the founder of Global Engineering Agency Ltd. You set the objectives accordingly; these can be short term or long term. What matters is having a clear strategy for achieving them, he says. He recommends breaking down these goals into small parts in order to simplify working on them day by day, month by month up to a year. “After setting them, make sure you set out to accomplish what you ought to do.” Local entrepreneur Gaelle Igisubizo is of the view that knowing what you want in the first place will help you to set your goals clearly. She says, when you set out to have a clear goal for your career, you need to give yourself the time limit for when to achieve them. “Work on your goals passionately, which goes with self-discipline. And lasting persistence is very important to achieve your goals; no matter your ups and downs, do not give up,” Igisubizo says. It is recommended to have a goal partner. Finding a person who can be responsible in terms of encouraging and reminding you of your goals can be of great help in sticking to plan. They can also be helpful in keeping you accountable and evaluating the entire process.
