Food For Thought When Defining Your Career Path

There are certain elements that are party to a sound decision.   Here are a few applicable cliché’s to bring the point home…

“A failure to plan is a plan to fail”

"If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there."

“You must know where you are to get where you’re going”

These are common and frequently heard colloquial sayings that are often misunderstood in their real world “My Life” applications.

The long and short of it is that anyone seeking gainful employment who fails to invest the required time to assess and understand where he or she is and where they desire to ultimately be, runs the distinct risk of passing by valuable opportunities, that lay directly in their path.

The good thing is that the process is not nearly as daunting as it may appear.

Tips on how to navigate your individual career path are available all over the web

But the simple truth is that the clearest path for you to follow is resident within you.-- including when it’s a good time to stop and re-evaluate whether you're continuing to move in the right direction that's best for your short, medium and long range objectives…

Creating a plan

A disciplined and thoughtfully prepared career plan is key to developing an executable plan of action for your own future. If you focus on creating this life map you will be better positioned to focus on where you are heading and not the focus diverting influences of your daily working life and activities.

It’s important to remember that your goals define your primary objectives.   If your personal goals are not clearly and succinctly defined, your realized career path will likely be indirect to your goals.

Here are some relevant questions to add to your personal career planning mix:

• Do I want to lead, support or follow?
• What career Interest would you like to pursue?
• What would constitute a successful career results within your organization?
• Is entrepreneurship your intended direction? If so what steps will best position you to realize that goal?
• What issues capture your attention to focus your entire career on addressing?
• What type of environment do you want to work in?
• What type of people do you like to work with?
• What compensation (salary, benefits) do you desire?
• What type of work/life balance is best for you?

Situational awareness:

This is about knowing where you are and what you want.  It begins with a clear and objective introspective examination of yourself.   Let’s not look lightly upon the importance of a frank and honest appraisal of our own place in the world.  This is key to understanding your ultimate goals.

Entrepreneur & business consultant Milo Pinckney often says “work backwards from your goal to your current position” he suggest that you need to focus on the desired end result and then work out the details that will get you to your objective.  The process enables you to identify the path most likely to get you where you want to be.  The executable details will present themselves as you execute the process. Make each goal attainable, not easy.  They should have small clearly defined action points of measure and be able to be presented as definitive steps to guide you on your way to getting there.

Re-evaluating goals

Don't think of a career path as tablet carried down from the mountain top etched in stone.  Remain flexible as you traverse the bumpy road that career life ultimately will be. This is not a path from which you can never divert. Find a way to embrace the unknown, establish a schedule upon which you will occasionally re-evaluate that you are getting where you want to go. Take time to decide if your still on your best route of travel. Don’t forget that life has an end and you don’t have an entire lifetime ahead of you to make it to the top, Mom just told you that to help you develop patience. Pay attention to your life….. it’s yours and nobody else’s to foul up if you don’t get to your objectives.

Life is fluid and your interest and tolerances will change. Map out your career in 6-10, 10 to 15 years into the future.  Beyond that may and will likely prove to be difficult.  There are many life impacting variables that affect a person's career, such as the changing economy, marriage, children, home purchase, health and most importantly changing focus on lifestyle priorities.

While it may seem that conceiving and formulating an executable career path would be limiting in the face of changes and challenges that seem outside your sole and individual control; the opposite is actually more likely to be your experience.  A well-conceived and carefully designed career path plan makes for substantially easier navigation.  Take some time and draft a picture of the larger life view.

As a side note;  A career plan regardless of life goal and attainment  times -- helps you develop a realistic long tail view of your potential working life. You'll be able to evaluate decisions in terms of what's best vs. what's most expedient . You’ll be able to assess what's personally fulfilling vs. what's easy.

Invest time to figure out  where you want to go, and chances are you'll likely get there.