Career Success: Step # 3: Set achievable and measurable targets.


This is Post #4 from a Series of 6 Posts
Previous post in the series: Step # 2: Breaking down your success targets.


All said, there is no harm in aiming for the stars, in fact, you have to aim for the stars when it comes to long term goals, but, wisdom lies in breaking down that long journey into multiple milestones that lead to the stars, like tree-tops. So, aim for the smallest available tree-top, climb that and then attempt to climb the next higher tree-top.

Setting ambitious goals takes a long time to achieve and it also needs a lot of focus. The common people that we are, time always tends to stifle or suppress our drive to achieve.

A wise man once said, "What gets measured gets done".

So, the next step after you setting the smaller goals in place, you must further breakdown each goal into achievable and measurable actions.

In the earlier example; your long term goal was to be a renowned automobile designer. We had defined the first and the first short term goal as "Obtain Qualification in Automobile Design". Taking a closer look on the short term goal, you will find that it an achievable goal, but it is not measurable.

For the short term goal to be achievable and measurable, we need to state what that qualification is. So, our short term goal may be modified to; Obtain a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design from University of Washington (Automotive Design is a part of an Industrial Design Program).

Another example: Being a good Project Manager is not measurable, while, earning a PMI's Project Management Professional certificate is measurable.

That brings us to the question, what is the benefit of measurements? This is because, the measure or metric justifies your capability or skill, you don't have to go out of the way demonstrate that you are a good with your skills, your certificate says it all.

Going forward, continue to define measurable and achievable targets for all your short term goals.

My next post deals with the effort that you have to put in to achieve your short term goals.
Next post in the series: Step # 4: Be prepared to put in extraordinary effort

Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Talent: The education system Funnel! (Post #1 of 4)

This is Post # 1 from a Series of 4 Posts Note: This post is not to criticize our education system or various professions, rather, it is intended to highlight the need for a student or for an early to mid-level career professional to do a bit more. Read on to find out... Looking closer at our education system, I find that it is a Funnel first and a Learning System later. More often than not, it is a system where we Learn how to Learn ! We are exposed to a historical account  of a subject's evolution first, irrespective of whether it is an Arts course or an Engineering course. As far as technology is concerned, the students are also exposed to the technical details that enable them to solve problem simulations. In the end, it is left to the student to apply their learning in the real-life scenarios when they take up jobs. Another observation I made was that very few people apply very little of what they learn in their graduation course as they progress in their career...
Read more

Talent: Talent-based education system (Post #3 of 4)

This is  Post # 3  from a Series of  4 Posts Previous post in the series :  Talent: Determining Talent (Post #2 of 4) The need of the hour is an Education System that focuses on the Talent!. For this, the system should do the following; Identify talents  in the students, early on. Explain the student's talent to the student's parents  first and get them onboard with the concept of talent and how it helps in the future. Determine ways to  nurture and develop the student's inborn talents . Determine and provide the options to move forward  (higher education, career etc.) The student's parents play a pivotal role in the whole process, so they must be involved from the beginning. If the parents are not on board with the idea, it is sure to fail. And, this must be an optional enrollment for the parents. If they are not convinced, there is no point for the teachers to bang their heads against a wall! Usually, the parents are driven b...
Read more

How your Skill drives your Motivation at work!

Image
We all face motivation challenges at work from time to time. In my professional experience, 95% of the people I have come across have complained about low motivation levels at work. The situation has not changed much in the last 10 years and I am sure that there will be no change in the next 10 years if we don’t do anything about it. People who complain of low motivation levels at work can be broadly classified under two heads; Category 1 : Those who are working in their chosen jobs, doing what they love doing. Category 2 : Those who are working on jobs that are forced on to them (those who were unable to get the jobs they desired but eventually compromised to take up what was available) . The following argument holds good for those in Category 1. The argument also stands for Category 2, but only when the individual is willing to pursue their current career path and do well in the years ahead. Prof. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian psychologist and distinguished Profess...
Read more