Episode Transcript
Part of your career care regimen is setting goals. Setting goals and checking up on yourself to ensure progress is being made.
You realize that people who set goals make better progress in their careers. But you also know that it gets to be a bore.
Even for people (like me) who love to set goals and make new year’s resolutions, it can be tedious.
BUT you can reframe that.
You can shake up the goal-setting routine you’ve been following for too long.
We’re gonna look at some ways to help you get away from the tedious routine of setting career goals.
And explore how you can create goals that you find meaningful. And love to pursue.
How to Shake Up the Goal-Setting Routine in Your Engineering Career
Setting goals is a way to break down milestones along the path toward your career vision. And make progress in the direction of your dream career.
It’s a way to assess that you’re still on the path. A way to help you identify your engineering career needs and gaps.
Without goals you’ll tend to lose your way or wander onto a less efficient career path.
Without goals it’s hard to see that you’re making progress. You pay less attention to your professional growth.
You’re less likely to make the contribution you want to make. To have the influence you want to have.
Setting Goals that Inspire You to New Heights in Your Engineering Career
So today I’m offering you 6 insights on goal setting for your engineering career.
Use these insights to get out of your rut. Use them to set goals that inspire you to new heights in your career.
- MAKE IT EASEFUL
Whether or not setting and achieving goals is natural and easeful for you, think about how you can make it that way. For example,
- You can simplify your goals by setting fewer and making them clearer.
- You can break them down into smaller segments or add in-between steps.
- You can create a ta-da list to mark your progress and celebrate the goals you’ve completed.
- BE ACCOUNTABLE
If you have a hard time following through on your goals, get yourself some accountability.
Find an accountability partner, like a boss or a mentor.
Better yet find a colleague who will go through the goal-setting process with you.
- DO IT YOUR WAY
If you can’t see a good reason for setting goals in a particular way or at a particular time, you have the power to structure them in a way that makes sense to you.
If you don’t like being held to the same goal-setting expectations and standards as everyone else, do it your own way.
Whatever way gets you to the engineer and leader you want to be.
- SET GOALS, NOT JUST RESOLUTIONS
There’s a difference between resolutions and goals. Resolutions are usually more general statements of intention. Whereas goals are more detailed.
You’ll vastly increase the chances of realizing your intention if you set SMART goals. I’m sure you’ve heard this before.
SMART is a mnemonic that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
If your goal is all of these things it’s easier to accomplish and measure. It’s no longer vague or ambiguous, like resolutions tend to be.
- HAVE SMARTY GOALS
Take SMART goals a step further and make them SMART-Y. You add a Y on the end to put more emphasis on You.
SMARTY goals take into account your preferences and philosophy. With that in mind, let me redefine what each letter means:
S – not only specific, but also aligned with you and stated in language meaningful for you.
M – not just measurable, but goals that follow your own measure of success. Finish this sentence: “I’ll know I’m successful when…”
A – achievable goals that also stretch you in the direction of your vision.
R – realistic goals that also challenge you without overwhelming you.
T – goals that fit within a timeline defined by you.
Y – goals that feel aligned with your energetic center and your dream career idea.
- HAVE POSITIVITY
Set positive goals that energize and encourage. Not goals that demotivate or punish.
Focus more on building your areas of strength. And not so much on trying to improve your weaknesses.
Your weaknesses tend to stay your weaknesses. It’s not really worth trying to turn them into strengths.
Instead find other ways of using your strengths to accomplish what your weaknesses can’t.
Goal Setting is a Critical Part of Career Care for Engineers
Goal setting is a critical part of career care. Don’t get bogged down in a routine that keeps you from creating a plan and getting inspired.
I challenge you to use the insights I’ve shared today.
Disrupt your tedious goal-setting habit and transform it into a process you love.
It’s not hard. In fact most of these suggestions are designed to make it easier on you.
But if you’d like some help with your career goals, sign up for a strategy session with me.
We can work together to make goal setting – and career care overall – work better for you.
Be motivated.
Challenge yourself to new heights.
And watch your engineering career soar.
Next time on Her Engineering Career Podcast, our topic is what to look for when you’re interviewing for a new job. You won’t want to miss Episode 138.