Your Path to Success A Guide to Professional Goal Setting

Your Path to Success A Guide to Professional Goal Setting Your Path to Success A Guide to Professional Goal Setting 6Just like when you were in school and had a long essay to write, pen in hand and a blank page staring back at you, you have to start somewhere. The good news is that  everybody  has to start somewhere. Even the most accomplished C-level executives were interns or entry-level at some point, and the best way to accomplish anything is to have a strategic plan of attack. In the professional world this translates to always being prepared, anticipating opportunities, and also carefully considering how to achieve what it is you want. This is where professional goal setting comes into play. How long should you expect it to take to reach the peak of your success? According to  Payscale.com, women reach their maximum pay at age 39 with a salary of about $60,000 per year. Men reach the height of their career a little later in life, at age 48 with a salary of about $95,000 per year. What can you do to maximize your own potential and capacity for success? Time it. Use annual reviews to negotiate a raise or title change. Performance reviews are a great chance to shine, to demonstrate your skills, and to point out the benefits that you have brought to your company in the past year. Reviews are also a time when employers anticipate giving raises, and budgets have been allocated for this specific function. Know your worth. It is important to know how your current role is contributing to the big picture of your career. Maybe you want to be like one of the many professional women highlighted on Ms. Career Girl.  Or your work may be lacking in salary but valuable in experience, or you have found a work mentor to nurture you along. It’s all about the end game, and you constantly need to be strategizing about how to propel yourself (and your career) forward.  Glassdoor and Payscale  are excellent resources for researching salaries in your field and location. More often than not, it’s possible to leverage your current experience for a significantly larger salary at a different company. Fill up your professional tool belt. Never turn down an opportunity to learn a new skill, attend a seminar, or network. No matter how comfortable you are in your current role, make an effort to learn more. It is always possible to become more efficient and there is always an opportunity for professional growth. Take an Excel class to bolster those pivot table skills and decrease the amount of time it takes you to power through a spreadsheet. Most importantly, never become complacent. Be a leader. Be confident yet humble, and always know your stuff. Play to your strengths and learn to take constructive criticism. Ask for what you want, be willing to compromise, and learn to communicate well with others. Leaders gain respect and authority by putting in the time it takes to get the work done and dedicating themselves to their company. Be eager, willing, and always ready to help out where needed. Set goals constantly. Come up with three professional goals that you would like to accomplish within the next 12 months. Be sure that they are realistic and attainable. Write them down and always keep them in mind when you are frustrated or hitting a professional road block. Goals are great motivators and can help keep us on track and mindful of our actions during challenging times. Absolutely any goal is attainable if you are dedicated and persistent. Often it is necessary to be flexible in your execution of your plan, and everyone has been where you are at some point in their career. However, done right, professional goal setting will no doubt pave the path to your success. Readers, do you use these tips for professional goal setting? Share your success stories with us below in the comment section! Sarah Cueto earned her B.S. in neurobiology, physiology, and behavior from UC Davis. She is a resident of sunny San Diego, CA, and is currently working in a sales marketing capacity within the biotech industry. She is focused on her blossoming career and developing her identity as a young professional, and is an avid blogger. Sarah writes regularly about her experiences as a 20-something woman trying to figure it all out, and in the name of 20-somethings everywhere, on her blog  Twenty-Everything  and for  Ms. Career Girl.