Welcome to 2012.  It is the start of a new year and for those of us willing to put in the effort, hopefully it brings lots of new and exciting challenges on the job and careers front.

Already I am hearing stories of those that have spent a year or few wanting to make a job or career change, deciding that this is the year it will happen. If this is you, then I encourage you to start today.   Too often we let the month of January slip by without achieving anything on the professional or careers front. While it is certainly a time for relaxation, family and friends, it is also the perfect time to set your career goals and undertake the less onerous tasks that will lead to achieving these goals.

When it comes to goal setting, the key is to start with the end goal and work back from here, enabling you to put in place a manageable plan that will keep you both focussed and accountable throughout the year.

• Have you thought about what you want to achieve on the work front this year? Be it a promotion, further study, leadership training, more networking, a new job, a new career etc.
• Write down a few of your objectives for this year, giving them priority and timeframes. i.e. to be working for a top ASX listed company as an IT Manager leading a small team, earning 10% more than I currently do by July 2011
• What information are you missing? Who do you need to speak to? What actions do you need to take to start things moving?
• Create an excel spreadsheet or something similar with a sheet for each month of the year. Within this include the required actions to work towards achieving your goals. Keep this document updated, ensuring that you are looking at it and making progress each week. As you see the activity and results, your motivation will naturally increase.

The above suggestions are simple ways to start the process. And as we all know the hardest part is often just getting started. Once the momentum builds, great things can be achieved.

For further tools and career support, including a ‘free electronic copy of the Career Strategy Tool’ email your details to kellymagowan@hotmail.com. In the subject line include ‘career strategy tool’.  There is also a lot of great information available online, via professional Career Coaches and through the Career Development Association of Australia (CDAA).

A couple of years ago I attended a career coaching workshop delivered by Jacquie Wise titled ‘Quest for Meaning’. The topic piqued my interest, as over the years as a Career Coach the majority of my clients have come along (be it consciously or unconsciously) seeking to find meaning in their work. This is not the case for everyone – though I do believe increasingly people are seeking more from their work life, beyond the usual trimmings of a great salary, big bonus, position title, and so on.

Today we tend to be more self aware of what we are good at and what we want to be good at, our personal values, what constitutes a good employer for us, how much of challenge we want from work and so on.

In the workshop Jaquie spoke about the ideal ‘life split’ being 1/3 work, 1/3 sleep and 1/3 leisure – something for us all to keep in mind as we work those 60 plus hour work weeks! This led on to the topic of the ‘four purposes’ in life that we seek, be it in our work life or life in general.

By asking ourselves questions around what our values are and what we most enjoy doing, at work or outside of work, we can gain a greater sense of what drives us. People are generally most happy when what they are doing has meaning to them. I am sure if you think about the four areas below, one or all will resonate.

In the work context, meaning comes from being able to articulate what our purpose/s is around the following areas:

1) To Learn (in all senses of the word, both formally and informally)

2) To Teach (be it formally or informally, to be sharing knowledge and experiences)

3) To Accomplish or Contribute (both are equally important, be they large or small)

4) To Be (in regards to being authentic to your self, around your values and beliefs)

Some examples of questions you can ask yourself to clarify about what ‘purpose’ means for you include:

• “What were you doing at work when you last felt the greatest sense of achievement?”
• “What are your three greatest life / work achievements to date?”
•  “What are your own personal values in regards to work and life in general i.e. integrity, creativity, money, learning, helping, excellence?”
• “What are you hobbies or interest outside of work?”

It is important to document these, and if you feel comfortable, talk them through with someone who you trust and respect in relation to your career. Gaining clarification around the meaning we seek from our work greatly increases our chances of securing satisfying employment.

If you are having difficulty with this process a Career Coach can assist.