Clear professional goals don’t happen by accident, they require serious intention and reflection. Setting one-year goals helps you move beyond reacting to day-to-day demands and instead enables you to focus on where you want to be in 12 months’ time, the skills you want to develop, the progress you want to make, and the career direction you want to shape.
Step 1: Visualise
Begin by visualising your professional future one year from now. From a work and career perspective, ask yourself what you want to achieve and work towards over the next 12 months. It can help to conduct an inventory of where you are now to orient yourself:
Where am I now? What do I enjoy about my current role, work? What are my strengths? areas of development? What don’t I enjoy or is not aligned with my strengths. How do I want to progress my career/role?
This future snapshot provides valuable insight into your aspirations and priorities.
Now you can see it you are ready to define your goal/s. Aim for goals that are ambitious yet achievable, stretch yourself while remaining realistic about what can be accomplished in a year.
Step 2: Know Your Why?
As you define your goals, reflect on why they matter to you. These goals are for you alone, so ensure they align with your values and long-term career direction.
Step 3: The Plan
Now you know what you want to achieve and why it matters to you, you are ready to plan how you are going to do this. This step is essential to you achieving your goal/s.
Consider what you need to do to achieve your 12-month goal – write a list.
This may include developing new skills, gaining experience, pursuing academic or technical learning, changing roles or organisations, stepping up to take on a special project or strengthening your professional network.
It’s also important to acknowledge potential obstacles, whether practical or psychological. Identifying these early allows you to plan around them rather than letting them derail your progress.
Once you have a 12-month overview of what you need to do you can break this down into manageable achievable steps and create 90 Day, 30 Day, 7 Day bespoke plans. Careful planning has both practical and psychological advantages. It will reduce overwhelm and it provides a method to prioritise, monitor progress and adapt your plan as needed so you stay on track to achieve your goal.
Step 4: The Secret Ingredient
Alongside measurable achievements, consider your personal development and working on enhancing soft skills such as confidence, communication, networking, visibility, and professional relationships.
Step 5: Emotional Connection
Finally, reconnect with your What & Why – the future vision you’ve created. Imagine the confidence, credibility, and opportunities that will come from achieving your goals. This emotional connection you’re your future goal, becomes a powerful motivator, helping you commit to the daily, consistent actions needed to turn your aspirations into reality.
With clarity on where you’re heading and why it matters, you’re perfectly positioned to break your goals into actionable steps and move forward with purpose. Enjoy the journey.
You can view my one-year professional goal setting exercise on my YouTube channel or via the Pocket Psychologist app.