What's Your Goal? Gaining Clarity to Achieve Greatness
Posted on March 17, 2023 by Nicole Horn, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.
What's your goal? What do you want to achieve in the next year? Clarifying your goal helps you to create a path to move forward and succeed.
Over my career, whenever I became frustrated with a client, project, or decision at work, that question was always a powerful way to start a thoughtful conversation. It was THE question my mentor often asked when I called for help. I’m sharing this today, because it’s still early in January, and you’re probably considering changes you’d like to see this year. But before you dive into planning all the things you want to do; I want to encourage you to first stop and ask yourself…What’s your goal?
If your goal is to get a promotion, think about the conversation you will have with your boss. Before approaching him/her document your recent successes and how you’ve gone above and beyond. Think about what you can bring to the job you want, and how you can demonstrate that now. Share your goal with your boss and ask them how you can get there.
If your goal is to start a new business, think about what success looks like a year from now. What are your financial goals? Revenue goals are a useful framework from which you build out a plan. This will help you understand how much you need to sell and how many clients you need to attract. This may also get you thinking about partnerships to reach that goal.
If your goal is to transition to a new job or career, think about people who are already in jobs like the one you want. Contact them, ask them out for coffee or lunch, and ask them questions about what they do. Informational interviews are a powerful tool as you look for your next job, and people typically WANT to help others. This process broadens your network and gives you insights to fine-tune your resume so it speaks to the job you want next.
No matter what decision you’re trying to make or the plan you’re trying to build, it never hurts to go back to basics and make sure you have clarity about what you’re really trying to accomplish. Not just the situation in front of you, but your driving purpose and long-term goal. Because that’s what really matters. And gaining clarity around that helps you keep the immediate situation in perspective and make more strategic decisions.
