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Hello!
Sorry for the delay in sending this edition of my "weekly" newsletter! Rossiana (my fantastic team mate) and I have been busy building a whole new suite of ways for you to access OnUpBeyond's career advice and the support of our fantastic coaches. We're really excited to be making this unique expertise more accessible than ever before. More on that to follow in the coming weeks.
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This weekend, I ran the Chester marathon. And it got me thinking about goals - why they matter, how to set them and how to achieve them.
I was inspired by a chap, James, whom I got chatting to for about 60 minutes in the middle of the race (I did check every so often that he was happy for me to natter and didn't want me to leave him alone!)
On the same day last year, he'd come to support a friend. And he'd quietly set himself the goal of completing the marathon himself next year.
Fast forward 12 months...and he'd lost 35kg - transforming his whole life in the process (before he set that goal, he couldn't walk up the stairs without becoming breathless).
Not only did he complete the race. But he ran it in under 4 hours - an amazing achievement and especially so for a 1st marathon.
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Why career goals matter.
No matter your career type, stage or seniority, "intent" is a word I use a lot when sharing career advice. If you make every step in your career intentional, you stand a high chance of finding yourself in a career that's successful and fulfilling.
Pardon the marathon pun, but it's all about "running towards and not (just) away".
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How to set your goals.
The most common mistake I see people making is not taking enough time to reflect regularly on their career and plan ahead.
My top tip is to block the same day every year on your calendar. Take proper time off and don't try to do this in a stolen hour before or after work. Go somewhere peaceful. Reflect on the year just gone. What are you celebrating, and what can you learn from?
Then look forward. What are your priorities for the next 12 months? The 1 or 2 things to achieve this year that are most important for making progress towards your 3-5 year career goal? What do you need to do and who do you need to involve when, to make those 1 or 2 things happen?
Bonus points for setting aside a couple of hours every quarter to check in on and celebrate your progress against the plan!
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How to achieve your goals.
Much like marathon training, the key with any plan is to make it realistic. It is far better to stick to a less ambitious plan that is sustainable than to be over-ambitious and give up partway through.
That's why it's vital to break any goal down into bite-sized chunks. And career goals are no different. In order to get where you want to go in 3-5 years, you need to be clear about the sequence of small steps you need to make every year, every quarter.
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Taking an example...
...of reengaging with your network (how to get the most out of your network, being a topic I've covered in a past newsletter and always a popular session in my career advice).
If you aim to meet 50 people over a quarter, you'll likely meet 15 and then meet nobody for the rest of the year. Aim to catch up with 2 or 3 people per month, and you'll have created a habit you can sustain for the rest of your career.
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The best thing about sticking to a realistic plan?
You'll feel the progress.
And the positivity of progress will fuel your momentum even further.
To take my marathon friend, James, as an example - his 1st mini goal was to be able to run 1km without walking, then 2.5, then 5 and so on.
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So ask yourself this question - when did you last take time to reflect on the year just gone and make plans for the year ahead? You might just find that when it comes to reaching your full career potential and striking a sustainable balance between "life" and "work", it's the most important "time out" you'll ever take.
I hope you enjoyed this edition of my newsletter. Have a great week ahead.
Best wishes,
Rich
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