Achieving your career goals without a strategy is like travelling without a map. Have you ever travelled without planning your journey? If yes, you’ve probably had times when you suffered delays or encountered avoidable obstacles on your way.

The same goes for your career. 

It is pertinent that you take an active role in shaping the future of your career. When you do not have a plan or career map to help guide your career goals, there are possibilities you’d take a longer time to attain the level of success you want, regardless of how long you’ve been in the workforce.

Here are four steps to help you map your career goal.

1. Take a self-evaluation

Beyond the notion of living a purposeful life is staying true to oneself. Understand who you are, your interests, strengths, personality, skill level, and much more. 

Whether you already have a job or lack work experience, you can analyse your soft skills to know what direction to take or where to begin your career journey. Your soft skills include your communication skills and your level of critical thinking, among others. 

A personal SWOT analysis also helps highlight the areas you need to improve. It will analyse how marketable you are, the low points you have to work on, and the industry you may fit. 

2. Consider a timeline of action

As is commonly said, “A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.”  

After you evaluate yourself, you can begin to draft action plans. These actions must be specific, measurable, realistic, and time-bound. It is where you determine what you are doing in a year, where you want to be 2-3 years or even 15-20 years from now.

Action plans help you break down your dream into small steps and give a benchmark to assess growth. For instance, if you want to become a marketing executive without experience or certification, the plan can start with you working as a marketing intern for a year or six months. And while that is ongoing, you get a certificate in online marketing. The following year, you can then apply for a marketing executive role. These plans help keep you on track at all times.

3. Have mentors

For every career path, there’s always someone more experienced than yourself. Connecting with such a person and having them guide you is a great way to achieve your career goals fast. 

Research shows that 70% of your professional growth comes from your work experiences, 20% from your interactions with others, and 10% from your formal education. So, learning from people’s experiences gives you an edge in your career.

4. Network with people

The famous saying goes, “Your network is your net worth.” The number of people you know can fast-track your career goals, so be intentional about networking when making a long-term career plan. 

Plus, social media has made it easy to find people and associations relevant to your career industry and connect with them. If you want to learn how to do this, read our post on How to Build and Leverage a Professional Network.

Following these core steps will give you a good foundation for success in any career you want to pursue.