Companies often announce goals for the upcoming quarter or year, a list of benchmarks that managers and decision-makers believe are important for the company to build on success and bring in more revenue.
But people can have their own goals as well! Goals can keep us focused and motivated; working toward a goal can give you the extra boost of concentration you need when things aren’t going your way.
Have you set your own goals at work? Do you know whether you’re on your way to achieving them?
Here’s some advice on setting goals, why they matter, and tracking your progress.
Select goals that are interesting to you.
Some plans others might set for you could be generic and job-based. That’s fine. But if you set a goal for yourself, if you’re doing this on your own and for your reasons, make it something you care about. Don’t decide to learn a new coding language for your office’s database just because you think it’s a good idea. If you’re interested in becoming more tech and computer savvy and think this skill would help advance your career at work AND you think it’s cool, dive right in! Learning new things can be difficult and frustrating, but working toward something you want to do can be that much more rewarding and worthwhile.
Write them down.
A list of goals in your mind is nice. But like a verbal agreement, a mental list of things to achieve is only worth the paper it’s written on. Once you’ve thought about what inspires and interests you, write down your goals and put them somewhere you can see them easily and often. You’ll want to be reminded of what you’re working toward and why, plus it’ll help keep you on track. Another way to stay focused is…
Embrace the idea of SMART goals.
A nifty tool for making, tracking, and feeling confident in your progress toward your goals is the acronym SMART: This is a system in which goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based. By deciding and selecting goals based on these five concepts, you’re more likely to be specific rather than vague, and you can tell whether you’re making progress. By incorporating a time-related element to the goals, you have a deadline by which to accomplish things, keeping you focused and moving forward, or, on the other hand, you’ll be able to know whether you’re falling behind. It’s a very powerful motivating tool that successful people highly recommend.
Check-in on your goals and progress from time to time.
After you’ve set your SMART goals and decided on a timeline for achieving them, set reminders to check in on your progress. It might be once a week or once a month, but it’s essential to look at the steps you’ve outlined for reaching your selected goals and understand whether you’re making the progress you need. If not, it’s time to get back to it! If you are, congratulate yourself for staying focused. Either way, be honest and credit yourself for trying. If you’ve fallen off course because things have been busy, gently nudge yourself back on track.
Celebrate your wins.
Whatever you’re working toward, it’s important to acknowledge your progress when it happens. Maybe you’ve achieved a goal faster than expected — time to treat yourself to a fancy coffee! Perhaps you’ve inspired someone to join you on this journey; it’s time to buy that book you’ve been eyeing! Whatever it takes, whatever strikes your interest and feels like a reward for hard work, keep celebrating yourself and your achievements until you mark everything off the list. When that happens, do something special for yourself — you’ve earned it!
Goals can be difficult things, especially the ones you set for yourself. But your career and your life are yours; what you do for yourself is important. Put in the hard work and see how far you can go!
If one of your goals is to find a new job in the medical field, it’s time to call AMEA Healthcare. Our recruiters can help you determine what skills you have that can help you find a new job in the medical industry if you’re not working in it already, or they can help you find new uses for those skills you’ve picked up working in healthcare. We’re here to help you achieve your goals — give AMEA Healthcare a call today!