Identify your career goal

- With any project you take on in life, whether it's work-related or not, it's a good idea to begin at the end. Now, that may seem like an odd place to start, but bear with me. This technique works. It's been proven successful with hundreds of people with whom I've worked. The first thing you need to look at is what's your goal. Clearly identify it and work backwards, defining all the milestones you'll need to hit in order to reach it. For example, let's say you currently work in the office of an accounting firm and your long-term goal is to become a business consultant. Here are some questions to ask yourself, and I suggest you begin at the core of your goal in order to achieve maximum clarity. Why do you want to be a business consultant? In what field do you want to consult? If I owned a business in that industry, why would I pay you to advise me? What kind of expertise and experience do you have to offer? I've worked with a lot of MBA students who, armed with their degrees, want to go straight into consulting. In many fields, consultants are industry veterans and companies are reluctant to work with recent graduates who have no track record. So do you want to join a big consulting firm in a junior position? If you do, what do you need to have on your resume that would make you an attractive candidate? Too many of us mistake the fantasies we have about the careers we aspire to with the way things really are. We're drawn to the glamor of what's portrayed in the movies and on television, but real life is in many ways the opposite of that. The film director Alfred Hitchcock said that, "Drama is life with the dull parts "cut out of it." The process of designing a career is about the dull, dogged, step-by-step work we need to do to build a firm foundation for it. So if you're looking to become a consultant, begin to find people who either are consultants and/or work in the field in which you think you want to consult. These folks can mentor you and help you determine things like, do you actually want to be a consultant. Maybe your real goal is to run a company or start your own company. What degrees do you need to earn before you'll be seriously considered as a consultant? Are you looking to be a consultant in this field? Maybe you want to slightly shift your target industry. Who are the other people and groups you need to talk to before you can actually begin to get into action? Create a detailed picture of what your goal is before you begin to do anything. And be prepared, what you originally thought you wanted to do may be very different from your actual goal. The old carpenter's proverb says, "Measure twice, cut once." Be sure to spend time researching and then planning the steps you'll need to take to reach your goal. This will help you focus, while both saving you time and reducing your stress.