career goal

2. Career Goals Handbook What is your age? Looking at career goals will vary greatly depending whether you are 20 or 50. There are three important things in setting your career goal: happiness, contentment and fulfillment. Let me explain! 1.Happiness: When you go to whatever is going to take your time and give you money, some people call this a job, do you think you will look forward to each day? If you don’t, you won’t be happy. 2.Contentment: When you’re working, will you feel appreciated? How about being pleased with the work? 3.Fulfillment: Will you get pats on the back for a job well done, even if it’s your own business? Will you be proud of your contribution? What we are looking for is an occupation that makes you happy and supplies the money you want. Finding that right opportunity may not be easy, but once found, rejoice! If you are happy and content every day, when the day comes, you may not want to retire! There are people out there that love what they do so much that they don’t want to stop. It’s not work, it’s a passion. I try not mentioning, going to a job! J. O. B. stands for Just Over Broke. Most people that go to a job are not happy, content or fulfilled. They go only for the money. Once you find the dream career, it’s no longer a job! Let’s start crafting a career goal. You need to find what is going to make you happy but still provide an income. If your goal is money at all cost, this brochure is not for you. To find the right career, you have to ask a lot of questions of yourself. You may have to take less money to start, but if you are happy, it will be worth it.

3. “Money never starts an idea. It is always the idea that starts the money”. Your first question may be: I would like to do THIS! ( This, being anything you want, CEO, musician or?) But how can I make money at it? Let me relay a story. A lady was homebound. She watched soap operas every day. She needed to come up with a way to make an income. She started a magazine that told what happened that week on the different soap operas. This was intended for those people that worked and weren’t able to watch the shows themselves. The magazine was a huge success and she has all the money she needs. You have probably heard the term: out of the box thinker! Let me give you another example. Let’s say you like working with numbers. So the easy and logical thing to do is go and learn accounting. When you start checking, the market is flooded with accountants. So now what? Start by looking at all the places that need accountants that are not in the main stream. Let everybody else keep looking the regular way. You could find a small company that needs an accountant but would want that person to handle other duties. If that fits, go for it. I wrote a book about 51 ways to make an income from a home based business. Right at the beginning of the book, I said that the 51 ways are just a starting point to get your mind thinking. You have to go out of the box to really get what the book was all about. There is probably 5100 ways to make money with these ideas. I gave this example: Yard work is a great way to make money, but you don’t want to walk behind a mower all day. What else works as yard work? Landscaping, planting, raking, tilling, pruning, making a compost bin and on and on. Can you see where I am going?

4. I got a review that said there was nothing new in the book! If it’s hard for you to think out of the box, find someone to help you with this. I say the most important thing about choosing a career, is finding a position that will make you happy. If you go every day and can’t wait to see what’s in store, you have found the right career. I had one such position. I would go to the company, get busy, and I would look at my watch, and it was 2 in the afternoon. I said I better go get some lunch. I got back and the next thing I knew it was time to close up the store. So, what are you interested in doing? Age does play a part in this question. At 20, you are able to look for interests without having a long work record to contend with. By that I mean, if you have picked the wrong career and have been doing it for years, it’s hard to just change. That paycheck is mighty important especially if you have a family. You can still change your career, but it makes it a lot tougher. Once you have longevity at a job, changing is not easy. If you have a family, you need their support. With the families support, every step of achieving a new career goal is a lot easier. If you have no family, it’s a little different. One thing to do is lay out a realistic plan of action. Whether you have a family or not, being able to achieve each step of the way to a goal shows you are serious and on track. When we were teenagers, we could look at all the fascinating occupations out there. I thought I wanted to be a truck driver. The first time I drove on a long trip that idea went out the window. I could not see myself behind the wheel day after day. How about this scenario? There have been doctors in the family for generations. Everybody thinks you will be a good doctor, but you hate the sight of blood. You want to be an architect. I guess you could call this being between a rock and a hard place. It is

5. your life and happiness, not theirs. Don’t be swayed by others. They are not living your life. In one of the real estate seminars I went too, the instructor relayed a story about one of his partners. The partner was doing well at real estate buying and selling, but one day he came in and said he was changing professions and leaving real estate. He had always wanted to be a painter (artist). Painters don’t usually make a lot of money with their paintings until they are dead! His family was onboard, so the instructor wished him well and bought his first painting. At lunch in that same seminar, I sat next to a man that was an ER doctor. He was pushed into being a doctor by family. He hated it and wanted to make a career change in his forty’s. You can make that big life change any time before you die. If your family does not support you, than it may be decision time. Let me relay my story. Unless you have a few years under your belt, you would not know or remember the Air Traffic Controllers strike. My wife asked me if I was going on strike. I told her that I felt I should. She came back and said “you can’t go on strike” That’s all I needed, I went on strike. There was no talk, no request, just a statement. I know that if we had sat down and talked about it, whatever the decision, it would have been by both of us. That almost ended our relationship. Your first assignment is to write down what occupation will make you happy. If you already know which occupation you want to pursue, fine, if you are not sure, write down up to three that interest you. Now it is time to do research. Talk to people that are doing what you want to do. Ask them all sorts of questions. Do they like or not like what they are doing? How long did training take? You want to get the feel of the occupation. Can you shadow them? Get a good feel for what you want to do.

6. Can you make the kind of money you want doing what they are doing? What kind of training do you need? Once you are in the chosen field, will it take 1, 5, 10 years or longer to earn what you want. Underwater basket weaving is your love, but not much chance of making money at it. There has to be a balance of a satisfying occupation and money you want to make. This first step is probably the most important one you will make. Once you have this nailed down we can go ahead, but happiness is primary. Set that career goal for 5 but no more than 10 years. Within 5 years you will know if what you chose will make you happy in the long term. I say 10 years for those occupations that take a longer time to finish training, like a doctor. If you are happy with your choice, you don’t need to go more than five years in setting a career goal. Within 5 years you will know if what you chose will keep you happy, content and fulfilled for the rest of your working career. I find it counterproductive to set a lifetime goal, unless it’s to live as long as possible! At any time you can tweak or even change your goal. Let’s say you have been driving a truck for 3 years and you really don’t like it as much as you thought you would, but you want to stay in that field. Maybe scheduling or dispatching or organizing loading will work for you. There is nothing saying you can’t switch your goal completely. There may be people that criticize you for changing, but that’s their problem. You need to do what makes you happy. If you give in to what others are saying, you need a dose of self-esteem. Whether it’s your first stab at a career or you have a lot of time working, if you have an idea where you are going, it’s time to make a plan.

7. One primary thing is to set a tentative date when you want to accomplish your goal. Take that date and start working backwards to the present day. Now is when you can massage the dates to make the completion date and all dates in between manageable and realistic. Depending on the size of the goal, set as many in between steps as you want, so with each step you see progress toward your goal. Just think you are climbing stairs toward your goal. If you have to go to a school or college, set each course as a small step in the big step of school. Each course, semester and year are steps to your goal. Get a stack of 3 x 5 cards. On every card write down each step you need to take to reach your goal. At the top, write the end goal. If you have to take English 2.01, make a card for it. Number the cards in order, starting with now. Set the cards in a stand so you see the present goal, every morning and night. Keep every card as you complete it. Check it off. When you finally reach your goal, you can look back at all that you have accomplished. You can do the same if you feel you are not getting anywhere. Look at what you have accomplished so far, so get going. Here are some of the other things you can bring into the mix. Tell only friends that will support you, of your goal. Select people that will stand beside you and encourage you. You can make a recording of your goal and the steps and play it often. Make cards for more than one location. The more you see it, the easier it is to keep working toward your goal. I see other Gurus try to make things simple by making calendars and graphs to help you along the way. If that helps you, then fine. My feeling is that if you make them yourself, you are engaging yourself more and more into the success of your goal.

8. Now it’s time for the rubber to hit the road! If you don’t do something every day toward your goal, you will stall. This is something you chose to do, so make it happen. Let’s do a short review: 1.Find your career goal. 2.Research. 3.Write your goal down with the planned completion date. 4.Write down all the steps it will take. 5.Start at the tentative completion date and work backwards, list each step and date. 6.Check and move any steps and completion date if needed. 7.Write down each mini goal on a 3 x 5 card. 8.Multiple cards placed where you will see them. 9.An audio recording of each step. 10. As each step is accomplished, check it off and save card. 11. Check off last card. This goal is done. 12. Start the process of your next goal. What are you going to do NOW, TODAY toward your goal? You can’t walk a mile until you take that first step. This is your life and your happiness. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can get more in depth satisfying goal setting by getting the three video series. The videos cover attaining satisfying goals in any field. http://goalsettingandachievement.com/get-videos/ If you would like to be part of an up to 9 person group and me, sign up for the help and support group. You can sign up for the group course by following this link. http://goalsettingandachievement.com/GoalsClass