By Ahmed Bello

1. Develop your career goals.

2. Decide if your goals are stable or fluid. Base your career work goals on those criteria. Then, consider what you like to do, what your talents are, and what qualifications you have. Decide whether you are willing to relocate or prefer to stay in one general area. With this information you should be able to generate a picture of your career goals. Even if your goals are a bit fuzzy, you need to start somewhere. Set a long-term career goal. From that goal, your sub-goals will flow.

3. Identify any problems or blocks to reaching your career goals and develop a plan of action to reconcile them. The most common problems and blocks to a career goal are related to education, experience, and economic health. Other potential problems are personal work habits and how well you handle certain environments, such as dealing with negative people or stress in the workplace. Once identified, you may find that some problems may not be problems at all.

4. List ALL alternatives for reaching your career goals. This list should be as extensive as possible. Some generic guidelines may help categorize your alternatives for reaching your career goals. For example, if you have formulated a “stable” career work plan, you would be likely to consider all governmental, military, and large-industry jobs as methods to reach your goal. If you have formulated a fluid career work plan, you would conversely consider all new-business, technological, and dot.com jobs as methods to reach your goal. Other alternatives may include technical training, vocational schooling, traditional college, and military training.

5. Evaluate your alternatives for reaching your career goals. You should list the pros and cons of each alternative separately. Be as objective as you can when making your lists. Carefully weigh any alternative that involves a long-term educational commitment against potential lost income. If you choose a career based on an educational commitment of several years (for example, you want to become a lawyer and are currently in undergraduate school, during which time you would have limited or no income), figure out the number of years it would take to recoup the costs. Keep in mind you will change careers between 7 and 9 times over your lifetime. Your education should pay off, but it is important to see the cost of it in black and white.

6. Choose an alternative for reaching your career goals. This is a difficult step for many people. Some people simply don’t like to make decisions. However, I guarantee if you don’t make a decision in your Career Work Plan, someone will do it for you and you will probably not like the results. It may also be advantageous to consider the opinion of friends and family when choosing a method for reaching your goals. Remember, your career path is ultimately your choice.

7. Follow up evaluation on progress toward your career goals. Regularly evaluate your progress toward meeting or exceeding your goals. This should be done at least twice a year. Don’t give up too early, but don’t hold on to a sinking ship either. If you feel you are making progress, press on toward the prize.