Time to get S.M.A.R.T. in your career

Today’s workplace demands multitasking, managing an overloaded work schedule, and producing high quantity results. Somewhere along the way the goal of you having to enjoy your work environment and delivering those great results seems to be lost at sea.

As a result, you probably feel more pressure than ever before. But do not let anxiety get the best of you, we have got some tips to help regain motivation, build self-confidence and help reduce work-related stress in your career.

It’s great to set goals, but you won’t get very far in achieving them if they aren’t realistic and detailed. Thankfully, we have found a simple framework to help you to set your goals called the S.M.A.R.T. plan!

Let me break it down for you:
Specific
The more defined and specific a goal is the easier that you will have a good idea of the progress you are making.

Ask yourself the six W questions: Who, What, Where, When, Which, and Why? Instead of setting the goal of learning how to use Microsoft Excel, which is too vague, turn it into something like “I want to learn how to use formulas and pivot tables.”

Measure
There has to be a measurable element to each goal one sets so that you can track progress towards this goal. This will give you more of an idea of how much time and effort you need to put in to accomplish your goal.

Attainable
Is it safe to assume that you can actually achieve the end result you are looking for?
Sure, it’s easy to learn how to draw tables on Microsoft Excel, but it would be much less realistic to assume you’ll learn fifty other things and remember them.

Realistic
It is important to ask yourself the question of whether or not you are willing and able to achieve whatever goal you have set for yourself. Set a goal that will challenge and force you to reach and draws upon more motivational power that is easy.

Time
Give yourself a reasonable deadline to stay on track. Make sure you assign every goal a specific completion date “I want to start a new job by March.”

Setting your SMART goals
Setting goals is more than deciding what you want to do. That’s only the first step, like picking a destination on a map. To be more successful, you need to map out how you will reach your destination and figure out how long it will take you to get there. Now you have the fundamentals of successful goal setting. Keep the SMART acronym in mind to help you remember the basics. The next step is translating this process to fit your needs.

So, I’ll ask again: What do you want to get out of your career? Do you now have a better idea after using the smart method to set your goals?

Let us know what your goals are in the comment box below.

If your goal is to find a new job, we can help!

We have Finance jobs in accounting, auditing, taxation, and corporate finance jobs. A variety of IT jobs range from developers to architects, consultants in CRM and ERP, through to project managers, systems engineers BI, and BA. Engineering jobs in industries like civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, electronic, engineering sales, production, and trade. Supply Chain jobs as well as Freight jobs in procurement, production, logistics, freight as well as warehousing and distribution.

Apply directly online or contact one of our branches today!

Image Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net by Stuart Miles