Do You Struggle to Achieve Your SMART Goals? Try These Professional Goals Instead.

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As we close out last year and commence a new year, many professionals will begin to create new goals. Reflecting on last year, did you reach all of your goals. Reflecting a bit more, have you struggled to achieve your goals in any of the years before last year? If so, you are not alone. There are studies showing that 80% of new year’s resolutions fail and that most fail before February.

Every new year lots of professionals create goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, reliable, and time-based (SMART). A great level of discipline however is required to achieve SMART goals. Unfortunately, most people don’t have the discipline or find it stressful to track these goals. So, what if instead, this year you focused on open-ended goals where any progress can be considered a success?

Below are some goals that vary in difficulty to achieve, but the wonderful thing about each one is that you can work on them at your own pace. For each goal, I have provided links to sources or helpful tips to help progress the goal. Remember that incremental progress is a positive for these goals.

Update Your Resume

According to a Monster poll, at least 40% of professionals do not update their resumes after finding satisfactory employment. An updated resume is important because most times you never know when you’ll need to use it. You may need a resume for a sudden internal job opportunity within your organization. There will be times where you aren’t actively looking for a job outside of your company where an updated resume will be handy. An updated resume may also be required for a customer project where you must show your past work experience.

Further Reading

• “How to Update Your Resume in 30 Minutes — and Turn in an Impressive, Typo-Free Version” by Sara McCord (The Muse)
• “4 Better Ways to Organize Your Resume, Depending on Who You Are and Where You’re Going” by Lily Zhang (The Muse)
• “6 Things You Need To Update On Your Resume” by Ashira Prossack (Forbes; January 19, 2021)

Grow Your Professional Network

If you aren’t actively building your network, then you’re actively sabotaging any career development that you desire. Networking allows you to develop relationships that are mutually beneficial. Networking can make you more visible within your company. Networking can also lead to open doors that are typically closed to people outside of the network. Although growing your network may seem daunting, it’s definitely worth spending the effort if you want to advance your career.

See below for a few tips for growing your network:

• Attend networking events
• Attend company social events
• Join affinity groups at work
• Become active on LinkedIn
• Join a professional organization
• Volunteer with a charity aligned with your interests
• Utilize alumni connections

Find a Mentor

A mentor is an experienced and trusted person that can provide advice, guidance, and direction. Mentorship is important because the right mentor can change the course of a person’s career.

A great mentor can help you reach your goals by:

• Providing coaching
• Providing encouragement
• Granting access to their network
• Providing constructive criticism
• Presenting opportunities for development
• Creating accountability

Professional Plus Tip No. 1: Finding one person that can serve as a mentor and meet all the points above can be tough. If you can’t find one mentor, instead maybe you should consider a personal advisory board discussed in the next section.

Professional Plus Tip No. 2: Mentorship should be a two-way relationship. Some companies practice reverse mentoring where a younger employee mentors a more senior employee. This type of reverse mentorship can help senior employees become more culturally aware. Younger employees can also help senior employees incorporate newer technology into their daily routines. Since young professionals have much to offer, you can make yourself more beneficial to your mentor by contributing your knowledge to the relationship.

Create a Personal Advisory Board

An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. Many successful corporations utilize the services of an advisory board. If a successful corporation makes use of advisory boards, why can’t a regular person utilize an advisory board, especially if we think of ourselves as a corporation called YOU?

A personal advisory board can function as an advisory board for a corporation. Your personal advisory board could be a small group of trusted individuals inside or outside of your company that you seek counsel for to advance your career. These advisors should have strengths in areas where you would like development.

A personal advisory board can benefit you by providing many of the same benefits of having a mentor. The remarkable thing about a personal advisory board, however, is that you don’t have to rely upon a single mentor to provide advice and guidance. It can be difficult to find time in a busy mentor’s calendar, but it might be easier to find time with one of your advisory board members.

Another important thing about a personal advisory board is that it can be a formal board where you make a request for someone to join your board, or it can be informal where you consult with individuals without asking them to commit to your board.

Further Reading

• “4 Steps To Build a Personal Board of Directors (Because You’re the CEO of your career)” by Arpad Szakal (LinkedIn; November 29, 2020)
• “1 Mentor Isn’t Enough. You Need to Build a Personal Board of Advisers” by Glenn Leibowitz (Inc.; February 23, 2018)
• “Do You Need A Personal ‘Advisory Board’ As A Leader?” By Dianna Booher (Forbes; August 26, 2020)

Maintain a Work Journal

A journal is a great way to keep track of your progress throughout the year. Work journals are generally great for documenting any of the following:

• Goals
• Achievements
• Issues
• Lessons Learned
• Ideas

Journals are especially handy if you must provide weekly or monthly updates to management. Journals are great when updating a resume or justifying a promotion. They are also great when applying for licenses, special programs, and graduate school. Lastly, a journal can help prepare you for your annual performance review with your manager.

Professional Plus Tip: A work journal could be daily or weekly. It can be as simple as a bullet point list. An easy way to remember what you did at the end of each week is to review your emails from the week. Also, review your work calendar as that can help you remember events that occurred.

Develop Your Personal Brand

Your personal brand at work is how you want yourself to be perceived by others. Your brand is a unique combination of your experience, talents, and personal accomplishments. In a crowded workplace, a well-developed personal brand can separate you from your peers. Networking is important, but it is typically a one-to-one experience. Your brand however speaks for you when you or not in the room.

Further Reading

• “7 Ways to Build Your Personal Brand and Elevate Your Career” by Kenneth Flakes (Professional Plus; February 19, 2020)
• “10 Golden Rules of Personal Branding” by Goldie Chan (Forbes; November 8, 2018)