What's the Difference Between Career Goals and Personal Goals?

Are you feeling stuck or frustrated in your current job? Have you ever considered that setting clear career goals could be your ticket to professional growth? 

As the hosts of this week's episode, we want you to think of yourself as the CEO of your own career, and we're here to guide you on that journey. Drawing from our personal experiences and professional insights, we illuminate how strategic planning and clear goal setting can be the catalyst for your career success.

We dive into the importance of having a clear set of career objectives and how they can address workplace communication issues that often hinder career advancement. 

We get personal, sharing our experience with setting small, manageable goals and maintaining visible reminders to stay motivated. To keep you organized and focused, we suggest tools like the "master list" and "breakdown list." We also delve into the significance of treating your career as a CEO would treat a business, offering tips on research, networking, and aligning your goals with desired certifications or programs.

One significant highlight of this episode is our discussion on goal setting as a preventive measure against burnout. From our own experience, we know how a limited mindset can be a roadblock to achieving professional success. We share our thoughts on creating a one-year, three-year, and five-year plan to reach long-term goals, and why it's crucial to recognize what we want and don't want in our careers.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, so don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to our podcast. Join us next week as we continue this enlightening conversation on career journeys!


Goal Setting Book Reccomendation: The 12 Week Year
https://www.amazon.com/12-Week-Year-Others-Months/dp/1118509234

We were not paid for this review. The 12 Week Year changed our lives in 2023!
It's a game changer! Take a read and let us know your thoughts.

Thank you for listening to Scale Up Strategies: The Business Growth Podcast for Coaches, Consultants, and Speakers.

If you enjoyed the show - follow, rate, and share our podcast with your network!

We'd love to hear directly from you:
bizscaleuppod@gmail.com


Connect with Laura and Mary on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraobashore/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryfainbrandt/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/scale-up-strategies-the-business-growth-podcast

Thank you to our Sponsors:
Streamyard
Grab your opportunity to elevate your streaming content with Streamyard: https://streamyard.com?fpr=maryfainbrandt

BuzzSprout
Thinking about starting your own podcast or leveling up by switching hosts? Use our code: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=2110162
Receive $20 through BuzzSprout's Refer a Friend Program

Transcript

Mary Fain Brandt: 0:02

Welcome to the Redefine Your Career Journey Podcast, where we help career minded professionals like you become the CEO of your career.

Laura Bashore: 0:11

I'm Laura Bashore and I'm here with my co-host, Mary Fiend Brand. Together, we have over 25 years of experience in career development and coaching.

Mary Fain Brandt: 0:19

We're thrilled to share our insights and expertise with you on this podcast.

Laura Bashore: 0:22

So grab your favorite cup of coffee, tune in and let's start the show.

Mary Fain Brandt: 0:30

Imagine being on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean and the captain announces he doesn't have a plan for getting the ship back to port. What he decides to, just let the ship go in any direction that the current takes it. It might go east, it might go north, it might even circle back to where it started. Does this sound like a good game plan? Probably not. Does this sound like your career plan or path? Are you a ship without a course or guide?

Laura Bashore: 1:04

Well, if it does, you're in the right place, because we're here to equip you with the knowledge and strategies to become the CEO of your career, and today's topic is a game changer. So, before we get into that, here's a surprising statistic that we want to share with you from the Niagara Institute what professionals see as their biggest struggle, mary, with communicating at work. So the struggles professionals have with communicating at work were fairly evenly split between four different categories that they gave them. However, the most common issue professionals have is saying what they mean at the moment when at work. So here's some stats.

Laura Bashore: 1:55

You know we love our stats, right? So 32% were saying what they really mean at the moment. So they felt that that was something they struggled with. So they felt that they were having the confidence to speak up and share their thoughts. And 24.9% have problems with hearing others out. They feel that they're sacrificing their needs when they're hearing others out. And then 15% are letting others speak and listening to them. And the reason why we're sharing these is because communication is key to setting real goals and maintaining the boundaries. That, and maintaining your boundaries, are what set you up for continued success. So, while many of us may think, yeah, we've got a pretty good handle on our career and what we're doing with it. The stats would prove differently, because if you're not able to communicate, I don't see how you're able to control the path of your career.

Mary Fain Brandt: 3:02

So great. I love those stats, laura. So today we're really going to dive into the world of career development goals and how they can give your professional journey a true sense of purpose, kind of like compass too right A guide. So nothing in life grows or improves without some sort of goal setting and planning. And if you know me at all, I love goal setting, I love planning in my personal life and my professional life. You can stumble through life without much direction or purpose, but that only gets you so far and sure you might have reached your final destination.

Mary Fain Brandt: 3:43

But imagine if the road was less bumpy and filled with unnecessary pit stops. That's why goals matter, because, just like we're career coaches and you might be looking for a job, you're going to get a job eventually. But how much quicker would it be and how much easier would it be and how much more clarity and confidence would you have if you worked with a career coach like Laura or myself? And if you are looking for a career coach, I just want to drop this in here that we have three caffeinated career packages. It's the latte, okay, the espresso and the nitro package. We're going to drop links to those packages in the show notes, but before we dive into the goal setting, I just want to share a personal story Two of them.

Laura Bashore: 4:32

I love stories.

Mary Fain Brandt: 4:33

Right, I'm just dropping so much about me in the last few podcasts I'm like, ooh, time to peel the onion back. So goal setting. So personally, I decided I was going to run my first half marathon. So I was not a runner, I had done some 5Ks for fun. And then a friend asked me she's like I see you run, I want to run my husband's being deployed. Do you want to run a half marathon with me and me? I was like, ok, why not? But I needed to have Right. So my goal was not to die running my first half marathon in San Diego, downtown Good goal Not to not to injure myself.

Mary Fain Brandt: 5:15

Right. Slow and steady wins the race and to finish with no injury. That's always my goal when I was a runner and I had to create a plan to go from 3 miles to 12.1, I think it is. You don't just go out and run if you're not a runner and go from 3 miles to 12 miles. You need a plan. So I had to build up on that plan to get and actually we only got up to 10 miles. They say if you can run 10, you can run 12. So there was a goal. There was a weekly plan, a daily plan of what I had to eat, what kind of other training like your back is super important as a runner, and your core Right, so we would stand on one leg at the grocery store. We learned all these little things to do. So this is about having a goal and setting those plans.

Mary Fain Brandt: 6:06

Now, as far as my career, I'm going to be honest. I didn't have a plan. Like career coaches weren't really the norm when I was starting off in my career. I just floated around and I accidentally, on purpose I don't know ended up as an executive assistant. So I was always in an admin role and it makes sense because I'm an organizer, I'm a planner, I'm an organizer, I'm a task person. Give me a task list and I like to go through it and check things off. So it made sense that I fell into that role, naturally, and it started with being in customer service. But I didn't have a plan. If I had had a plan, I would have learned that I am actually an educator, a trainer and a speaker, and I would have been an entrepreneur 20 years earlier. Laura, do you have any stories to share with us about careers and plan and goal setting?

Laura Bashore: 7:01

Yeah, of course I do. I think my story is that my journey as the CEO of my career came out of grief. So I lost my grandmother right before I turned 20, and it just completely shifted my life trajectory. At the time I lived with my grandmother and she was like a mother to me. So when she died I was still living at home, but I was floundering around at the local community college with no real direction, and I ended up feeling an overwhelming sense of just regret that my grandmother died without seeing my potential, and so I was just determined to change my story. So six months later I packed up one suitcase, which I still have with me and I even keep it displayed in my home. But I packed up one suitcase and I moved to San Diego and I began my real career and life.

Laura Bashore: 8:05

I come from a small town, so in my small town I had a whole story that was there for me, but it was never the story that I liked or that I felt was really who I was. So by moving to San Diego I was able to create my own story. But even just doing that I was able to create my own story gave me the confidence that people see me with now, which is that if I see something, I just go for it and it's sad that it came out of losing my grandmother. But you can either take something that was huge in your life like that and use it as fuel and energy to help you propel forward, or you can sit there. So I think you know.

Mary Fain Brandt: 8:49

I think a lot of people can kind of relate to that story. Like growing up in a hometown like you have a whole story, Like your plan was already there without you thinking about it, what your family felt that you should do, right, what your friends thought you would do, what your community expected of you. So my story was you know, I was always in this corporate role out of necessity. And then I saw my dad he was an entrepreneur, had his own business and I was like, oh hell, no, never doing that. Because I saw the roller coaster Things are good, things are bad, things are good, things are bad. I was like I never want to be an entrepreneur because of what I saw my dad go through. When it was good, it was great, when it was bad, it was awful. And I know you come from an entrepreneur family too. And you were like, no, that's okay, I'm not gonna do that. And then look at both of us.

Laura Bashore: 9:42

Yeah, well, you know, my one family vacation was the San Diego, and that's when I decided I'd move here. So, yeah, yeah, so it's. You know really, why do we need career related goals? Well, you know, that's what we're gonna explore here today.

Laura Bashore: 10:01

I think first we need to understand what career development goals are all about, because I think that's a little confusing in and of itself. So, according to Rebecca Dordel, these goals are about aligning the role of work in your life with your identities, values and or responsibilities. In the working world, setting goals is sometimes the difference between success and mediocrity, and I think both you and I are very much driven towards that. So, specifically with your career development goals, you know they give you something to look forward to each day as you work towards them. So, even if you're doing a job hunt or pivoting into a new role or industry, these goals lead you in the right direction and help you connect with the right people, elevating your entire professional experience and eliminating those unnecessary bumps. So these are personal and person specific desires that can be short or long-term, as long as they positively impact you, the goal setter.

Mary Fain Brandt: 11:10

Absolutely, and I you know if you're listening, don't worry, we have some great resources for you on setting goals. So we're really excited to share those with you. But before we do that, let's continue the conversation about career development. Goals are not your everyday goals. Losing weight versus getting a promotion, or pivoting in your career or moving to a different state and starting a new career A lot of people you know the pandemic Laura, that opened up a lot of opportunities for people to live or leave big cities and go live in the country or kind of like live off the grid. They didn't. You don't have to live in downtown Phoenix, downtown San Diego, seattle to work for the big company anymore, and so a lot of career goals shifted when the pandemic hit with the remote work and being able to work anywhere.

Mary Fain Brandt: 12:06

Career development goals they're your professional anchors and your compass in the working world. They're the difference between thriving and merely surviving in your career. Surviving is what I was doing. I was an admin assistant and then executive assistant and I went from. You know, I got recruited from one company to another, but I was just surviving. I wasn't thriving. It's not my organizing is my God given talent. But you know, in hindsight, hindsight we all know. Think about hindsight. You know, I'm really a trainer, I love training people and if I had really invested in a career coach, I think, at that time and created some really strong career goals, I would have become a trainer much earlier on.

Laura Bashore: 12:56

If you're setting, yeah, Sorry, I was just gonna say I think that's really interesting because earlier you mentioned that you didn't feel that career coaches were something that were around much. But you know, honestly, it's just that it wasn't talked about a lot.

Mary Fain Brandt: 13:12

Yeah, I mean they were there, but it was for the elite or it just it wasn't common knowledge, just like when I. You know my career journey is very different than yours. We're at different ages, which I love because we bring different perspectives, but depression and anxiety and stress weren't talked about either. You just sucked it up, buttercup, you went to work. It didn't matter if you're depressed or tired or stressed, right? And we didn't have career coaches. We didn't have access to career coaches back in my day, when I was starting off you know this was quite a while ago, folks.

Laura Bashore: 13:47

No, I mean, I agree I had to explain to people with all my you know job hopping that I was doing. I had to be prepared to explain that in interviews, Like, well, why did you leave this place? And I would, well, because I had different goals than what was set out there. So here I am, here's how I can help.

Mary Fain Brandt: 14:05

And you were on the yeah, you were on the cusp of when that was, you know, taking control of your career. Where my generation? You just worked, just got a job and you worked and you liked it and you know most. You know I had a job. I was 10 years at one of my jobs and I did do some hopping around but that was from being laid off and different things like that. And then once I found that job, I was there for 10 years and that was really more of the norm 10, 15, 20 years.

Mary Fain Brandt: 14:36

But that's not the norm today, and because it's not the norm, you need to take control of your career. You need to learn how to become the CEO of your career. So I got a question have you set your career developmental goals? So ask yourself what do I want? Write down whatever comes to mind and then turn that inward and actually listen to that voice within, and sometimes that's hard to do. But you'll know exactly what career goal is right for you if you put in the time Now.

Mary Fain Brandt: 15:09

These goals are all about your desired level of success, performance, growth within your working life, like at one point growing up to be the manager or the regional manager of a brick and mortar with something that I was doing. I would not want that today for many reasons, but it's not in my career goal plan now. But having these goals will help break you free of a limited mindset and you can get support for causes through your professional roles, and even they can help motivate you to upskill or reskill Right. So upskill or reskill, but you've got to start somewhere. So, really thinking about what your career goals are are you looking to become the VP of sales at Qualcomm?

Mary Fain Brandt: 16:03

I don't know. Are you looking to be on the brand strategy or at Coca-Cola Right, I'm throwing big names out there because there's no reason why you can't do that. But what is your plan of action? What are the tasks? Do you need to upskill or reskill? Having goals just really help you have a clear path on how to get from where you're at to where you want to be, and they can also help you avoid burnout because you're really clear on what you need to do, right.

Laura Bashore: 16:37

Let's take a pause right here to refresh your coffee and hear from our sponsors.

Sponsor TEAM Referral Network San Diego County: 17:07

That's the business, the boost that it needs. Team together, everyone achieves more.

Laura Bashore: 17:44

Yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense right there, because we all talk about burnout and I think we're all doing a better job of realizing that when we get to it. But what can you do to avoid that, more than just saying, oh, I just won't take on as much work? I really agree with you, harry. I think it's talking about taking control of your career and figuring out what's going to be moving it forward and what you can take off. So research even shows that there's a surprising connection between goal setting and burnout. It's kind of like if you're just being task driven right. So if you ever find yourself stressed and uninspired, setting some career-centric goals might just be the antidote you need. And remember, we're more than just employees or workers. We're multifaceted individuals, so it's important to separate goals for different aspects of your life.

Mary Fain Brandt: 18:41

Yeah, you should have personal goals, career goals and marriage goals. If you're married, like Joe and I, we have marriage goals, things that we are aspiring to. One was buying this house goal. Check, right, move to Arizona. Check, go to Ireland it's in process, like what. And then, under Ireland, like, how many steps do we have to do? What do we have to do to get to Ireland? Right, save a lot of money, ok, and plan it on during the off season, right.

Mary Fain Brandt: 19:14

So you know what are your marriage goals. What are your personal goals? Losing weight, cleaning, you know, getting rid of the clutter, I don't know, redesigning your backyard. And then your career goals what do you aspire to? You know what do you aspire to do in your career. And then, really tackling what do you need to get there?

Mary Fain Brandt: 19:34

I think I think people just think they're automatically like if I work at ABC Coca-Cola company, whatever, I'll start here, I'll get a promotion here, I'm going to be so great. My bosses are going to know that I want to transfer over to communications. My bosses are going to know that I want to become the VP of sales, and that's where that communication piece comes in. Right, you have to have really clear goals. So setting career development goals, it's a personal journey, you guys, and it all starts with understanding what you want and what you don't want.

Mary Fain Brandt: 20:10

I'm going to add that because I think understanding what you don't want in a career is just as important as understanding what you do want. So you guys should be writing down what you want and then distinguish between short term and long term. So you have to have goals so you can create different game plans. I don't know about you, laura, and I know we're going to dive into some goal-setting stuff. I'm going to, since we just talked about short term and long term. I like a one-year plan, a three-year plan and a five-year plan, do you do? I'm a big proponent of that.

Laura Bashore: 20:46

Yeah, I think that's a really good point because people will say, well, I'm going to set this career goal I'm going to be achieving in a year out. To be clear, even though I've been in many different industries in my career, I had a much lengthier goal than just what I was doing at that particular company. Honestly, the company didn't matter. It was about what I was trying to do. Don't tell them that, if you're interviewing. Don't tell them that if you're interviewing, they're the most important one.

Mary Fain Brandt: 21:22

right, but definitely line with what your goals are? Can you learn the skills that you need to learn at that job? Gone?

Mary Fain Brandt: 21:30

are the days of working at a company, 10 years. So you really I think he's one year, three year, five year. Like I always have a five-year plan, move to Arizona, buy a house in a community in a retirement community. Check Right. Next goal you know what my next goal is? There's another business adventure have it up and running and semi-retire in five years. I'm working on getting that goal, but I have a five-year goal and in that five-year goal, what is that first year? You know actually what is the first three months look like. So yeah yeah yeah and I'm.

Mary Fain Brandt: 22:07

What are your first three months looking like?

Laura Bashore: 22:10

And, and the thing is, is to realize what that's going to take you to. So I've always wanted to work in the nonprofit space, like I think maybe I watched too many 90s movies. You know they're always going to these benefits. You know, I'm saying like Harrison Ford, all the benefits that he would go to when he was in like clear and present nature and all these things. Anyways, that's how I envisioned myself that was. I was like, yep, that's made it. Even my son's name is Harrison, but not after Harrison Ford, but anyways okay, I thought he was named after Harrison Ford named after George Harrison of the Beatles, but you know so I liked the way that that looked.

Laura Bashore: 22:50

I wanted to be a person who would be in those environments and set that up. I never knew how exactly I was going to get there right. But if I look at where I am in my career right now, it's that everything I've done has kept pushing towards that. So when you're talking about a five-year plan, a three-year plan, a one-year plan, some of those goals are kind of dreams, right, the aspirational side of your goals. But here's where I put it differently. I never think that that's not possible. I mean, I just must have something wrong with me, maybe. Well, I'm just like, oh yeah, I'm gonna do that, and then I just keep moving towards it, and when I get backtracked or sidetracked, I still remember to bring myself back to it, because I constantly Re-evaluate where my goals are at, and I think that's what we're really gonna talk about right now.

Mary Fain Brandt: 23:42

Right, Well, I just want to say, because you said, something's wrong with me. No, you know what it is. You have the right mindset. Anything's possible. And I think that is the stumbling block with so many people they don't have the right mindset. I could never. I'm not smart enough, I don't have enough skills, I don't know, have enough experience. How can I ever become the CEO of that company? Or how can I ever become the communications director or the CIO of the company I want to work for? So I think it starts with a mindset number one number two what are your goals?

Mary Fain Brandt: 24:18

and sometimes when you, when we break down those goals, okay, so I'm gonna go when you, when you write down goals. Here's what I've learned over the last. Well, I'm looking at my goal board 2023 and I made one in 2022. Is I write down too many goals? Okay, and they become tasks, right and they become. Right, so three goals for the year.

Mary Fain Brandt: 24:42

What are your goals for your career? Is it make an impression in the six first six months? Introduce a new program. At two years you plan to have this, and at the five-year plan, you're the CEO. What? Are your or whatever it is?

Mary Fain Brandt: 24:57

It might be work at this company for two years, get the skills I need, get some recommendations, grow my network and at year three I'm out and I'm on to my next thing. Whatever your career goal is, you need to write that down. So three goals and then under each goal and I'm looking up at my, my goal sheet right now under each goal. What are the three actions that can help you achieve that goal?

Laura Bashore: 25:22

Yeah, and then papers, a spreadsheet.

Mary Fain Brandt: 25:27

I'm seeing spreadsheets here for those not not watching video on this spreadsheet, laura and you you sent me this book last Christmas is the 12 week method we both read that and to break your year down into 12 weeks. So if you're not watching the video, there is a really cool 12 week goal sheet and Eat. I only have three goals. That's all I'm allowed to have now, because the other goal list was a task list right, that's right so just three goals.

Mary Fain Brandt: 25:59

And then what are the action steps that I have to take Under each goal? And then you assign them a due date. What? Because, I'm sorry, a goal without a due date is just sitting on your calendar and it's just another thing that you'll keep.

Laura Bashore: 26:12

You know how you press the snooze button right, so you just keep pushing it back. Oh, move this to next week?

Mary Fain Brandt: 26:18

Were you following my phone this morning because I literally hit the snooze button three times? Oh I.

Laura Bashore: 26:25

Saw this other weird thing Okay, random tangent, but I was just reading two days ago where it's like 58% of people hit this news button at least once, and then I felt better about myself.

Mary Fain Brandt: 26:38

I hit this news button almost every day. I'm awake, but then I'm like, oh, I'll turn on a podcast or the news, and in the wintertime I'm more likely to hit that snooze button.

Laura Bashore: 26:50

I know I can't get out. I can't get out of bed.

Mary Fain Brandt: 26:55

I need some. Okay, so we're talking about goals and we're gonna put in the show notes links to the 12 week method book. I forget the name of it 12 week, the 12 week year yeah, the 12 week year.

Laura Bashore: 27:09

It's fantastic. It's such a good book. It really changed me because again, sometimes going back to the goal setting and burnout this links right into it, because sometimes you get so into goal setting that then things turn into tasks and that's where it gets overwhelming. So I thought that this book was such a big help to just kind of pare it down a little bit. So I'm glad that you loved it too, because I think it's such a beneficial thing.

Mary Fain Brandt: 27:35

And I just want to touch back on career goals. Right, because that's what this shows about your professional career goals. I think it's very important that let's say you're starting a new job, so what's expected from you the first three months, the first six months within the year? And those are your goals. That first year You're observing, you're learning, you're tweaking whatever it is you're producing, and to have meetings with your boss to review your goals. And if they don't suggest that, stop sitting on the sidelines expecting them to become the CEO of your career. Run your career like a CEO runs a business, a tight ship. Ceos check in with everyone what's going on. They want to know the pulse of the business, the pulse of the sales team, the pulse of HR. So ask your boss hey, I really want to make sure that I succeed in this position and that I meet all my goals. I'd like to have a meeting with you at the end of my first month and then every three months to review my goals and make sure I'm on track.

Laura Bashore: 28:38

And the boss is gonna say no to that, like what Exactly I was just gonna add in that you think that, oh, maybe I'll come across pushy. No, you won't. You will come across as someone who's taking burden off of your boss or your supervisor because now they don't have to think about when they need to schedule it. You've already said you want it and they will start thinking to you as their go-to person. And now, when they're thinking about promotions or who they can advocate for, that's you. That's exactly how you do it, mary.

Mary Fain Brandt: 29:09

Yeah, because you're showing initiative. Right, you're showing initiative and interest in not only like meeting your goals but having open communication. So, and then keep a written documentation like goal number one. Here's one we're gonna meet. Here's the three things I'm supposed to accomplish. And you have to reevaluate goals, as you were saying, because sometimes you have a goal and you start doing the task to achieve the goal and something goes wonky, something changes and you have to kind of shift. So just know that you set those goals, but you should be reviewing them before the deadline.

Laura Bashore: 29:45

Yeah, and not just the day before or three days before. You need to check in with us and going back to plugging the book that we were talking about. There's things put in there to help you do that. So if you need some extra help on this, we're suggesting this is the book for you. Yes, absolutely.

Mary Fain Brandt: 30:03

Endorsement and we get nothing from it. It's just such an amazing book that everyone should take a look. You can use it personally and professionally. Now we do have. If you're watching the video, we have a new little frame and there's a QR code in the corner, and you might be wondering what is that QR code for? Well, that's to take you straight to our caffeinated career packages. Laura and I have teamed up so you get two coaches for the price of one, and there's the latte package, which is the wait. It says espresso, latte and nitro.

Mary Fain Brandt: 30:38

We named them after coffee, something that we're both very yeah, something we're both very passionate about, and there's something for everyone where we can meet you wherever you're at in your career journey. There's a done do it yourself, done with you, and a done for you. So we encourage you to scan that little code, check out our caffeinated career packages and let us know which one that you're interested in and how we can help you. Hey, laura, do you wanna kick us off with seven ways to start creating a plan to establish your career goals? Sure thing.

Laura Bashore: 31:16

So first is start with some online research on industry trends, salary data and career related databases. So research a little bit. You'll be surprised how helpful that is. Or a lot or a lot.

Mary Fain Brandt: 31:32

I think that people don't A lot of it. A lot of it, I think. Yeah, I don't think people research enough. I think they're like.

Laura Bashore: 31:38

I'm qualified.

Mary Fain Brandt: 31:39

I'm gonna apply. Linkedin is good. My resume is great. I just worked with someone. They needed a deck created to present, so I had to help them create their deck. It's someone younger, so I created an amazing deck. I researched the company, I put their words in the deck and she said the interview went really well. That the interviewer said oh, you're very well prepared. I could tell you researched there, you go, I'm just laughing because I did the research, but it did help her.

Mary Fain Brandt: 32:10

She got to the final interview. But research is important and interviewers can tell the difference between a candidate who didn't research the company, the mission, the values, what they're looking for, versus someone who researched the heck out of it.

Laura Bashore: 32:27

Yeah, I, research is a strength that I always put forward because, you're right, not enough people do it. So start with research. Then number two is value the lived experiences of others through authentic relationships, so talking about speaking with those in your network, doing informational interviews or even asking to do job shadowing if it's something that you're transitioning into. And the third one is to find alignment between your goals and desired programs, jobs or certifications. So sometimes I have clients who think they should leave off the education pieces that they're working on currently, and I tell them it's just the opposite, because people want to see that you're a continuing learner or a lifelong learner. It's only a plus. So make sure that you're doing that. And then number four is begin with small goals before tackling larger ones.

Mary Fain Brandt: 33:28

Then you get a sense of accomplishment, like, oh, I did that, okay. So sometimes you need those little wins to keep the momentum going for those larger ones.

Laura Bashore: 33:40

You're right, absolutely. I think that's one of the things that professionals struggle with. So, after you're tackling some of those smaller goals, make sure that you are number five, keeping those goals visible.

Mary Fain Brandt: 33:56

It's right there on my wall Like, okay, just real quick for those that are watching, let me see if I can do this. See that, yes, that's the master list and then that's the break in it down. So it's not a very good picture. Who's saying this? But well, one is like the nine goals, big goals of the year, and then, you chose three, so you have to do a brain dump.

Mary Fain Brandt: 34:19

We're not saying only write down three things. What I'm saying is list the 10 things that you want to accomplish in your career and then choose three to focus on. You can't focus on 10 goals.

Laura Bashore: 34:30

No, you can't. And especially some of those that you've listed you'll find, once you write it down to your point, mary, and take a look at it, are things that actually fall under your other goals and they're more tasks. So it helps with that too. And then number six is establish goals you have control over. That's really important, because if you're listing something that you can't influence directly as a goal, that's not a realistic goal, that's not something that you have any control over. So make sure that it's something that you can make an impact with. And then number seven is to harness the power of writing down your goals. And I know a lot of us use electronics, but the coach in me wants to tell you that when you write it down physically, you are having to reread it again. You're getting body memorization from that and you're also thinking it again in your head, so you're getting all these extra layers. I love what Mary's putting on the screen right here right now. She's putting all the writing, all the writing.

Mary Fain Brandt: 35:39

No, because this is I'm working on my next 12 week year and so each posted if you're watching the video podcast. This is one of the goals and these are the things that we wanna accomplish. Guess, scripts, the cartra, the joint package sales how many sales we want, like literally my accountability cart.

Mary Fain Brandt: 36:03

It's up there, and then the insurance biz and the LinkedIn biz. So each this is how it starts. I start by writing it down and then it turns into a spreadsheet with dates and tasks. And again, I just want you to know, podcast. Goal number two was podcast get to a thousand subscribers and create the scripts and just really figuring out how we're doing on song. I feel like we met that goal this year. Good job, laura, high five. So those of you that are watching the video, we're not just saying this, we do this and we do it with other our coaches and I have a business coach, I have an accountability partner, I have Laura to bounce ideas off, of get like three or four people in your circle where you can talk to them about your goals.

Laura Bashore: 37:00

I love that.

Mary Fain Brandt: 37:01

Yeah, so just remember you guys, goal-sitting is a personal journey and it's essential to consider who you are uniquely, your background, when you're seeking advice and guidance.

Laura Bashore: 37:15

So that's gonna wrap up our exploration of career development goals and how they can provide a sense of purpose in your journey. Thanks for tuning in to this episode.

Mary Fain Brandt: 37:27

If you enjoyed the podcast, show us some love. Please rate, review and subscribe to our podcast, and if you have any feedback, go ahead and share that with us too, because we want to hear from you and don't forget to visit our website.

Laura Bashore: 37:40

You need to find your career journey so it can help you take the next step in your career.

Mary Fain Brandt: 37:44

Woohoo, we'll see you next week with another episode of The Redefine Your Career Journey. Until then, stay focused, stay motivated and stay caffeinated.