Long term goal for achievers
In 1979, Harvard Business School conducted a survey on goals. Eighty-three percent of respondents did not set any long term goal; 14 percent said they had but did not write them. About 3 percent said they had goals written down. Ten years later, those with goals were ten times as successful as those who did not. Furthermore, those who established written goals were three times as successful as those with unwritten goals (3% vs 14%).
A career goal is a well-defined statement that details milestones or achievements we aspire to make. Short-term and long-term goals are essential for success anywhere. The difference is the level of flexibility to change. Short-term goals are easily changed based on contingencies, but long-term goals are a destination.
You may desire to work as a senior product manager in one of the biggest IT firms in the world. You may also have the long-term goal of setting up a startup company that develops unique products in the fintech or health space.
Therefore, you should ask questions like, why do I need to set long-term goals, what kinds of protracted objectives are appropriate in the IT industry, what are the examples, and how to set them?
Importance of your long term goal in the tech industry
HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin said, “The future belongs to those who can imagine it, design it, and execute it.” It takes more than mere daydreaming to bring it to fruition. It requires dedication, ongoing work, time, and meticulous planning.
Long-term objectives are set for the future. They are accomplished immediately. For example, the career path for a DevOps manager starts with learning the basics of programming or scripting languages and the Linux operating system. The next milestone is learning source code management for the organization of projects. Afterward, the student learns application and infrastructure building, automation, testing, and deployment. These short-term steps or milestones sum up to a full-fledged DevOps engineer.
To attain your long-term objectives, focus on a step-by-step process to achieving them.
The tech space is like a ‘multiverse.’ You must create concrete, quantifiable, reachable, substantial, and time-bound goals if you do not want to appear as a feather in the wind. Visualizing your tech path can help you adjust your goals to meet your specific needs.
Establishing SMART goals
SMART signifies a key to accomplishing a logical aim. While SMART goals stand as the lifeblood for employers, an average techie may benefit from learning the process of setting them for practically every aspect of their lives.
The letter S is for ‘Specific.’ This refers to your defined target. Your long-term goals must be well-defined. Indeed, merely aspiring to be in the tech space is not specific enough. To define the specificity of a goal, you have to eliminate vagueness and ambiguity.
M represents ‘Measurable.’ This raises questions like, “How will the goal be measured?” “What concrete evidence would be employed to judge whether or not that aim has been achieved?” The measurability of a goal is the term that judges its accomplishment. IT answers the question, “By what standards do we assess the accomplishment of these goals?”
A means ‘Attainable.’ Is it possible to attain the goal? Setting a difficult goal is admirable. Unfortunately, the problem is many people set unattainable goals. Your imagination holds the key to possibilities, and the thoughts of the impossible reside here. However, if the goals are grossly exaggerated, one’s efforts may merely build castles in the air.
Furthermore, the letter R denotes ‘Relevant.’ Your objective must correspond with your ideals. Your goals should align with your career path. Your goals should be visible a few steps ahead of you. Setting goals that do not align with your skills may not be consistent with your career development.
Lastly, the letter T connotes ‘Time-based.’ When do you anticipate accomplishing your goal? Set a timeline to attain your long-term goal. After you’ve considered everything, break it down into milestones. Again, don’t forget to write down your objectives.
What your long term goal can look like
- Achieve a promotion or raise in your organization
- Harness new skills to attain bigger roles
- Obtain an award/prize at your workplace
- Self-improvement
- Become a trainer or mentor for others
- Launching a product or service
Write down your goals, and share with like minds. Also, visualize your success because “impossible is nothing.”
Lastly, the tech career may need a little boost from experts to help guide you in setting long-term career goals. Our executive coaching service at Elite careers provides you with a one-on-one career counselling session with our experts. You can book a consultation with us today.
