Career Goals Worksheet
from career goal setting to career goal achieving
There are 3 reasons your career goals don’t work:
1. Your career goal doesn't get to the heart of it (yet)
You’re busy. You’re under pressure. And your professionalism and commitment to work have
you on autopilot. And that makes it very difficult to set career goals that get to the essence of
who you are, what you’re about and what you really (and I mean, really) want from your career.
2. You haven’t finished setting your career goals (yet)
Setting a career goal is just the beginning, not the end, of the goal-setting process. What you’ve
been setting until now have been “End Goals”. We need to complement that with Performance
Goals and Work Goals to give you the framework for achieving that PERFECT career.
3. You’re not fully aligned with your goal (yet)
To achieve our goals, we have to want what we’re working toward. Many of us set goals that we
don’t actually want. So we must align with our goals and check that if we achieved it, we’d really
want it. Anything less, and our goal pursuit is destined to fail.
Addressing these 3 issues is crucial if you want to set career goal that are worth their weight in gold.
Goals that you actually ACHIEVE, not just set.
Using this worksheet
1. Setting your career goal.
You’ll start the process by drafting a goal statement that captures the essence of what you really,
really want from your career. Go deep with your thinking here: what’s the goal behind the goal?
2. Aligning with your career goal.
Next, you’ll identify the values behind your career goal; and acknowledge the feelings that are
inspired by – and will themselves inspire – the goal. This alignment will propel your goal pursuit.
3. Setting your career performance goal.
To complement your career goal, you’ll next set a career performance goal, describing the
necessary performance levels you believe will give you the best chance of achieving your goals.
4. Setting your career work goal.
And finally, you’ll complete the goal set with a career work goal: the investment you are willing to
make to achieve your goals.
5. BONUS TIP: Performing a final ecology check
Significant changes require an ecology check: to understand and accept the effects of a change
within the wider context. Ask: if I had this, would I want it?
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Career Goals Worksheet
My Career Goal
Ask yourself the following questions. As you reflect on the answers, bring your thoughts together in a
single statement that captures the essence of your thinking. Answer the question: “what do I really
want?”
What do I really, really want? What else? What else? What else? … And what else?
What would that get me? What would that lead to? What’s the bigger goal?
What is the One Big Thing that will tell me (and others) I’ve achieved my goal?
When I achieve this, what will be most different from today?
My Career Values
To align with your goal and pursue it with all of your energy and resourcefulness, you need to
understand the values behind your goal. Ask yourself the following questions and note your values.
Some examples of values might include: Contribution, Autonomy, Recognition, Challenge, Harmony,
Creativity. And so on.
What is most important to me about my career goal?
Does my career goal move me towards or away from my values?
What additional values could help me achieve my career goal?
What values-based changes do I need to make to my career goal?
My Career Feelings
There are few stronger intrinsic motivators than the feelings we attach to an endeavour. So it’s useful
to connect with the feelings around your goal. The feelings that are inspired by your goal will also be
the feelings that will inspire your goal. And they’ll also give you a sensory-based measure for your goal.
How will it feel to achieve my goal?
What are those feelings telling me?
What can I do to honour the intention behind those feelings?
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Career Goals Worksheet
My Career Performance Goal
Your Career Performance Goal describes the performance level you believe will provide you with the
best chance of achieving your career goal. Define your performance goal only in terms within your
control.
Fast forward in your mind to a time when your end goal has been achieved. Really connect
with your end goal. Create a vivid picture in your mind.
Now answer the question: "what did you have to do to get to where you are now?"
Describe your performance levels in succinct, specific sentences: one sentence per metric. Be
sure to compose your performance goal ONLY in terms you control, 100%.
What level of performance do I need to hit to give myself the best chance of achieving my
goal? For example: cut costs by 10%, increase revenues by 15%, improve performance by
20%.
My Career Work Goal
Your Career Work Goal is about the processes and routines necessary to move you from where you
are, up to our target performance levels and desired career goal. To achieve our goals, we have to be
willing to invest ourselves fully in the process. Or to put it another way: expect to get out what we put
in.
How much work am I willing to invest in this process?
What sacrifices am I prepared to make to achieve my goals?
Now, review your performance goal. What regular commitments do you need to make to
achieve that performance level? How much time and effort is needed? What extra do you
need to do?
Write-out your work goal as a series of commitments you intend to make. For example: make
15 extra sales calls every month. Study for 4 hours a week towards a new qualification.
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Career Goals Worksheet
Career Goal Summary
My Career Goal
To leave me feeling …
Driven by my core values …
The performance I’ll deliver:
The work I’m willing to invest:
BONUS TIP: Perform a final ecology check
Because you are developing high-impacting change plans on something as significant as your career,
it's crucial to perform a final ecology check.
"Ecology" is about taking into account the effects of a change on the wider system of which it is a
part. Every outcome we set and achieve for ourselves, however small, creates a ripple effect: for us,
the people around us and the wider world. Ecology is about the consequences for the whole system.
So: revisit your career goal above. And now ask yourself:
What will happen if I achieve this?
What won't happen if I achieve this?
What will happen if I don't achieve this?
What won't happen if I don't achieve this?
Go back to your career goal and make any changes you need to.
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