Long-term goals can change your career trajectory

Remember those childhood moments when someone asked you, ‘What do you want to do when you grow up?’ As a child you might have spun some nice story about how you wanted to be that great doctor who changes the world. As a child your expectations were limited just by your imagination and not the hard realities of the world.

When you grew up, your world was shackled with the ‘limited possibilities’, and you started looking at what is achievable from your current position and started to just define the next milestones. ‘What is the point of looking too far?’

You desire to find your place in the world. But the world is not a small place and the paths are limitless. So how do you know what path will lead to unleashing your potential?

Having a goal is more than having the next few milestones. When you are on a well-travelled career path, from your point of view, the next few milestones seem very clear — the next promotion and so on. You do not know where these milestones might eventually lead, but they sure look like progress.

It is really important that you make some decisions about what you want to do over a slightly longer period of 5–10 years. My discussions with various leaders over time have led me to believe that having long-term goals has a significant impact on the career journey.

Quantifying is tough

It is a difficult task. It is easy to dream and desire a designation, a salary. But sitting down and working on the clarity needs focus, time and patience. In a Harvard study conducted years back, researchers found that only 13% of the graduates from its 1979 MBA program had goals. Just 3% of them had their goals clearly written down and had created plans to accomplish them.

Ten years later, they found out that the 13% who had goals were earning twice compared to those who had no goals. And the 3% who wrote down their goals were earning 10 times!!

Fears can hold you back

What if I chose wrong goals? What if things change and my goals become useless? What if I set goals too high? What if I do not have the ability to achieve my goals? What if I fail? Fear can hold you in the comfort zone and you may like to sit and think about the goals and even discuss them with others but not actually set them up.

Cut the fluff

First, setting goals is not a formality, it is not ‘tick in the box’ or another task on the list. Even if you are setting the goals on the request of your organisation as part of the development planning, please own it completely and do it for yourself. Do not feel like it is a fad and that nobody really cares. You should care and that is all that matters.

1. Be precise and clear: Identify the roles that you would want to do, not the titles that you want to have.

2. Not glamorised: Make sure the goals are very realistic.

Be ready

Goals are like defining your own strategy, and it may mean saying ‘No’ to certain opportunities. There may be sacrifices or pains associated. Are you ready for that? For example:

1. You want to lead the research and development (R&D) for one set of products globally, and you are making great achievements and adding new patents. Your manager offers you a promotion to lead a new vertical, but this will take you away from the product line that you so love. You can get the promotion in your chosen path but that will take up a few years longer. Would you be willing to let that promotion go and take your chances?

2. Would you be willing to relocate without your family to get a two-year international business experience that will be essential for the role that you seek?

Stay focused

Goals certainly provide the clarity. But you need not be obsessed with them; instead of focusing on goals all the time, you must focus on how to achieve them in your world. I mean you must not be reviewing your goals every now and then. Goals are longer term and it takes time before you can review progress and decide any changes.

(Edited excerpts from Get Your Next Promotion by Manbir Kaur, published by SAGE Publications India)