Goals provide focus, direction, and momentum. They provide a way to track progress. Without goals, you can wander aimlessly. As such, there is no better time to get serious about setting goals than when you are in search of your next best career move.
I suspect that you have been taught to create SMART goals. These are goals that are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time based
SMART goals for a career transition might be to:
- Update my résumé by <date>
- Apply for X number of jobs in the next three weeks
- Update my LinkedIn profile by <date>, including securing three recommendations
The trouble is, when we create SMART goals in isolation, we think small — remember they must be achievable. We divide our work into small fragments, losing sight of the overarching purpose. We document the doable in neat checkboxes.
In times of career transition, I’d encourage you to start with HEART goals to help capture what really makes life worth living. HEART goals are:
- Holistic
- Enduring
- Aspirational
- Really matter
- Timeless
Some examples of HEART career goals:
- To build a career that enables me to live into my passion of <name>
- To find a role that enables me to leverage my strengths of <list>
- To work in a culture that honors <list>
- To integrate my career with family seamlessly
It seems that, at the end of the day, HEART goals are what really matter. By definition, they are aspirational and perhaps never totally achievable. Yet they provide us something to strive for. While amorphous, they provide meaningful guidance. They call us to be our best selves. And I’ve found that I intuitively know when I am living up to my HEART goals by doing a gut check — and without using checklists and spreadsheets. When I’m living by my HEART goals I feel alive, fulfilled, and focused.
The reason SMART goals are effective is that they provide a way to break big things into smaller pieces that can be measured. However, begin by identifying what the BIG thing is. My suggestion: start with a HEART goal and then — and only then — create SMART goals in support of what really matters to you in your career.
About the Author
Kris Taylor (M M’96) is the founder of Evergreen Leadership and cofounder of LEAP Consulting. In 2004, Taylor went out on her own and has built a successful independent consulting business, doing the work she is passionate about in a career that offers income potential and flexibility.
Taylor is the author of Owning It: Take Control of Your Life, Work and Career and The Leader’s Guide to Turbulent Times: A practical, Easy-to-use Guide to Leading in Today’s Times. She taught entrepreneurship at Purdue for five years.