Once you have a clear idea of your current position, you can start identifying the barriers between where you are and where you want to be. Such includes analyzing internal factors like your daily habits and external factors like the level of entry for the desired job position. You can achieve this by performing a personal gap analysis to see what qualifications, skills, and attributes you need to work on to meet your goals. You may, for instance, identify that you need to improve your reputation within the workplace or online. Or that you need to improve a skill, be it a soft skill such as public speaking or a hard skill such as coding.
Step 5: Write Down Your Action Plan
Now that you have a clear set of goals and know the barriers to achieving them, it’s time to write your action plan. That is, the steps you will take to overcome your obstacles. Whereas your main goals may be aspirational, the smaller short-term goals and tasks you set out here need to be SMART:
– Specific
– Measurable
– Achievable
– Relevant
– Time-Based
In other words, it should be clear what you’re trying to achieve, when you’re going to achieve it, and how you will measure your success. As a result, you should write down the steps you are taking in the form of a schedule with dates. Just remember, though, to keep your timescales flexible. Things can and likely will go wrong, and you don’t want your plan to be so rigid that one misstep or setback throws everything out of place.
Also, be wary of setting yourself up for failure by taking on too many tasks and goals at once. Instead, focus on the most important things you need to do to progress in your career. That way, you can focus your energy on where it’s most needed.
Reviewing Your Plan
It pays to make a habit of keeping your plan up to date. Checking it will remind you of your ambitions and help you track your progress. But it’s also essential to check that it is still relevant. Discovering what you want out of your career is often a case of trial and error. And your plan should be viewed as a helpful guide rather than anything set in stone. If you later find that your development plan is no longer relevant to you, it may be time to make some alterations.
Conclusion
Planning out your career can be a daunting task. But it’s essential to have a sense of direction and aspirations to avoid finding yourself in a career rut. Just spending even a few hours putting together a plan can help you steer your career in the desired direction. And now, you should have all the information you need to create a plan of your own.
