4 Steps to Crafting your Career Vision
Is this you - are you seeking a new job or career opportunity and have a bunch of feelings like being excited, ready for it, apprehensive, overwhelmed or confused as to where to start? These are all natural feelings to have - and congrats btw on starting your journey ! Wanting to have clarity and peace of mind when you start this new chapter is paramount to your success so you are in the right place if you are looking for some great tips and support!
Career success means different things to different people. This is a great time to think about what it means for you to have career success - it could look like achieving a title you always dreamed of, a larger salary, a sense of freedom, belonging to a community, a sense of competence etc. However it may look like for you, creating a career vision statement is a great foundation to build from.
In a nutshell - a career vision statement ultimately defines what career success means to you:
it can give you a sense of direction
it can express where you would like to be in the future
it will reflect your goals and your values
it will serve as a powerful reminder of what is important to you
it will act as a guide when you get into the thick of your search
it will offer you clarity as to where you want to be in your career and search
How do you create your career vision statement:
Set aside some time to work on this without distractions - 30-60 minutes or so
Reflect/answer the following questions
What does career success mean to you?
If you did not have any obstacles, what is your ultimate achievement you would like to achieve in your career?
Future you visualization - picture yourself in the future when you have achieved the goals you want for yourself - answer the following questions
What does your life look like?
What have you accomplished?
How do you feel?
What specific steps did you take to get there? To reach your career success?
What role or type of work are you doing?
Where do you work? Who do you work with?
What personal and career values helped you get to where you are at with your success and goals?
Distill the information you gathered in step 2 above - you can do this on a vision board using images to reflect what you felt or draw pictures or write simply write it down - include: what you would like to achieve and who you would like to be.
An example may be:
“To be an honest and respected Executive Director for an environmental non-profit impact organization, helping to transform local communities at a grassroots level making an impact on the community providing key services of support. I want to be an active part of environmental change and I will achieve this by: gaining expertise in environmental issues by attending town halls, community groups and local government, I will upgrade my education and skills to align with my vision, volunteer for local environmental organization and I will work with non-profits that align with this goal to progress to becoming an Executive Director.”
Regularly review your career vision statement to keep it alive and relevant - this could be an annual review where you also review where you are at in your career trajectory!
To recap - your career vision is a clear mental image of who you want to be and what you want to do in the future. Think of it like a picture of what you aspire to and what inspires you in your work life - including your values and interests. Your long-term professional dreams will shape your actions, keep you engaged at work and invest in your work with meaning.
Your Career Vision will help make your goals conscious and real for you, enhancing your overall well-being. Once you have created your statement you should have a well defined ‘ideal’ self (where you want to be) and an understanding of your real self (where you currently are). Visualization is powerful - it will improve your motivation both consciously and unconsciously and help keep you on track.
So give it a try - go back up and try the exercise - and remember to revisit your statement as it will change over time. By checking in you can see where modifications and revisions may be needed as you progress in your career!
I am always here if you want to talk - book a free Discovery Call with me - I would love to learn more about you and your story!
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