Completing The Professional Goals Template
The professional goals template is your key to career success.
Introduction
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been spending time determining what we want our professions to look like. You’ve noticed that I use the term professional more often than job, work, occupation, career or any of the various terms that describe trading our labor for money. I think you probably know why I do that by now. In my definition, the term "professional" more accurately describes someone who has chosen to succeed in life and join the 1% club. Because joining the 1% club is not easy and will require a lot of effort, one must complete their financial and professional (career) duties at a very high level. Successful people are neither slackers nor complacent, nor even normal; they routinely go above and beyond the requirements imposed by their employers or customers. The hardest standard to meet is the one they set for themselves.
Today, we will synthesize the past few weeks into a logical, tangible conclusion by clearly defining our professional goals and outlining the actions required to achieve them. Then, over the course of your career, using your professional goals template to guide you, you will take deliberate and purposeful actions as you take the necessary steps that define your own individual success.
Here is an interesting point to ponder. There are those who argue that all of this structure, discipline, and even rules, if you will, limit their creativity and constrain them. Some people, typically those who want to “live in the moment,” prefer less structure and take things day by day. I would respond to that argument with two points:
First, living a structured life ensures that you attend to important matters in the most efficient manner, thereby leaving you with more time to devote to other activities, such as being creative or thinking and acting strategically. When I was working as a quality director, I spent a lot of time studying why people, in many cases, chose not to follow written procedures, thinking it was maybe faster to do it their own individual way. Organizations such as the US military and Toyota have studied this extensively and found that following well-written procedures is the most efficient way to complete a task. Following our professional goals template encompasses the same principle.
Second, and I acknowledge that I risk offending readers who may not fully follow or agree with my logic, this is my experience: those who are not intentional in their daily actions struggle to achieve their goals. That said, I freely admit that many people are not interested in setting goals and prefer to live in the moment and take things as they come. Of course, that’s fine, so long as they can support themselves and their family and not be a burden on society. To each his own, I say.
Completing the professional goals template
OK, we’re going to author and complete your professional goals template. As you do, you will notice it is very similar to what you developed for your financial goals. When we get to personal goals, and ultimately life goals, you will see they are all similar and complementary. You can either write the template out by hand or develop a spreadsheet. It’s your choice and either is adequate except that over time it’s more efficient just to update a spreadsheet. So, either get out a clean sheet of paper or open Excel to a new spreadsheet. As I describe the steps to develop and complete the template, I’ll talk in terms of completing it by hand, and if you are using a spreadsheet, you can take the corresponding action in Excel. I store all my electronic documents in appropriately labeled folders and ensure they are backed up regularly. You probably already know this, it’s just good document management, and if you are in a job where you manage documents, you probably already do it.
Draw eight columns from the top of the page to the bottom, leaving about an inch and a half at both top and bottom. Label the top of the document Professional Goals Template. At the bottom, place the word “Notes” on the left. This will be for any information you need that will be helpful to you later. Place today’s date on it somewhere. I always try to place the date on any document like this. Over time, it gives you perspective and allows you to track your progress. For example, I’ve updated my goals annually for most of my career, even in retirement (yes, I do!), and it’s quite interesting and satisfying to see my progress over time. As you review them (I do mine twice a year, on July 4 and January 1), you can make notes if you wish. One of the things I hope is that, when you do this, you will be forming good habits that your children observe and can pass along to them. That’s what I did, and then when they develop these good habits and are successful, it’s a proud parent moment. We all want our children, and later in life, our grandchildren, to do well and not struggle.
Ok, let’s develop each column from left to right and label each heading as noted in Bold, below:
Time period-place today’s date directly below the heading. Then, continue below that as follows: 6 months, 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 years. Depending on your age, you may not need all of these. You can add more, for example, 7 and 15, but I would not take any of them away. Then add the word “Retirement” after your last number. After retirement, add the following: +1 year. Then add +3, +10, +20, or more, as appropriate for your planned retirement age. The first column is now complete.
Date-Place a date next to each time period, starting with today. As you begin to complete these, the dates may seem like a long time off, but believe me, they come sooner than you expect. Those dates will occur, whether or not you build goal and achievement plans. The last thing I want for you, which sadly many people experience, is to reach those dates without having completed what you wanted to do in life. That would be sad, and as you get older, you will have regret. I’ve mentioned that I’ve seen many people get to this point, and I feel so sorry for them. Frankly, it’s why I developed the course and established Afterburner Success Partners, so this does not have to happen to you or those you love. I hope I’m pulling at your heartstrings a little bit…
Current or Desired Future Position-Place your current position in the top row, aligning with today’s date. Then, working backward from your retirement date, list the desired future positions for each listed year. You will get this information from the priority matrix you previously completed. You can complete blocks in post-retirement as well, if you wish. Some people pursue a second career, work part-time, volunteer in retirement, or spend time with their grandchildren; list them if you know what you want to do. If you are unsure what you want to do in retirement, it’s acceptable to leave those fields blank until you get closer to that time. Let me make a critical comment here. You never, ever want to retire from something. That would imply you had a job you did not like, and remaining in a job you did not like would be just horrible to me. Sadly, many people will tell you they are “stuck” in a job they did not like. The truth is that they have not adequately prepared themselves to do anything else or are not confident enough to go to a job they enjoy. Don’t be that person; that would be sad. You always want to retire to something. That makes your journey through life exciting and provides you with satisfaction and security. I’ve said enough on this, and I think you get the point.
Current Annual Earnings or Goal-List your current annual earnings corresponding to today’s date. Then, and here is where it gets a bit tricky and where all of our past efforts come into play, list your desired salary at your retirement date in the blank or cell that corresponds to your expected retirement date. Here is an important point. I don’t want you to get confused, as it can happen easily. On your financial template that we completed earlier, you listed “Your Number” in the retirement date block. That amount, “Your Number,” is a sum of your working income, investment income, and any other income you have that will total to “Your Number.” The number you enter in this block today on your professional goals template must be sufficient to achieve “Your Number.” In other words, your annual income in your last year of working at least allows you to reach “Your Number” goal, the figure you used for “Your Number” on your financial goals template.
In actuality, what I suspect is that, at that point in your life, your retirement date, you will have exceeded your goal. This would be the result of living a purposeful, intentional, and disciplined life. You can often do better than you thought. Does that make sense? Now, complete the blocks between your current and projected retirement date salary, such that they are realistic and supportive of your retirement income at each of the milestone dates listed in the date column and your desires throughout your working career. It’s possible that you do not feel you can honestly complete these blocks to achieve them. Later in the course, we’ll discuss what happens when you have conflict, that is, you do not believe you can achieve the goals you wish. For now, think about how we’ve discussed that sometimes we each must temper our expectations to our current reality. That may be the case here, and if so, you’re going to have to adjust. For the moment, just list the income needed to support your desired income the day you plan to retire, and you’ll see how this plays out as we complete the template.
Now you know why I like to complete these things on paper with a pencil or an electronic spreadsheet. You will likely make many changes before you reach the final document!
Actual Earnings-For now, you will just list your current annual income. The purpose of this column is that as the years go by, you can compare what you actually earn versus what you need to meet your goals. Again, I suspect that, as a result of completing this template, you will exceed your original projections as time goes by.
Delta-This is a fancy word that means the difference between your projected earnings, your goal, and your actual earnings.
I want to make a point here. If you remember back when we were completing our financial goals, we discussed something called “the wealth curve.” The purpose of that illustration was to make the point that achieving financial goals is not a linear process and that wealth accumulation is often somewhat flat early in the journey. It may even go backward. But the power of regular, intentional and disciplined earning and investing comes later after you begin to accumulate more money. It starts to build upon itself so that the curve trends sharply upward toward the end of your working life. It’s similar with the professional goals template. Depending upon where you are today, you may need to take steps that are laying the foundation for career growth later on. You’ll learn more as we complete the next columns. The reason I bring this up is that you may, depending on what you choose to do in your career, see rather flat or even negative growth early in your journey. Don’t get discouraged. If you have a well-thought-out plan and are executing on it, it will, over time, come to fruition. None of this stuff comes easily or quickly.
Action steps required to get/stay on plan to meet financial goals-This is the column you list any and all actions needed to achieve the income goals you listed earlier. Here is an example. If you have a desire to be promoted to Supervisor from your current position, what steps will you need to take to do that, and in what time frame? Here are some possible steps:
Meet with my manager and/or mentor to discuss my advancement goals and any necessary action steps. Do by June 1 this year.
Compile a list of all needed actions as recommended by my manager or mentor. By June 15 this year.
Work to finish my college degree. Determine requirements and enroll by September 1 this year.
Complete a college degree by December next year.
Concurrently, complete professional certification in my field. Complete by December next year.
Volunteer for special projects or other job enhancement opportunities, such as taking on additional responsibility within my current role. Ongoing. Document each occurrence for your records.
I have completed all of my requirements and am ready to be promoted to Supervisor. Do by June 1, two years from now. Expect a salary increase to X dollars.
I think you get the idea. Now, this is not an easy exercise, and things will change as time goes by. Therefore, we conduct periodic reviews to ensure we are on track. Even completing this column on the template over many years is not easy. But it can be done, I did it, so I know.
Remarks-For any additional notes you need to make to yourself.
Summary
It may take you a while to complete the professional goals template. You may need to meet and talk about it with your mentor or others you trust. Caution: Just like financial goals, be careful who you talk to about your professional goals. People who don’t have plans can become envious, critical, or even seek to subvert you. People in your chain of command need to know so they can help you, and most people above you want ambitious people working for them and want them to succeed. Ambitious people are the best employees. Why is that? Because people who are going places are going to be high performers and the employer will benefit as opposed to employees who just punch the time clock and go home. These leaders may even open doors for you that could not otherwise be opened. If you own your own business, you have to be careful about competitors knowing about your plans, who may seek to subvert your goals. Getting feedback from your customers is an excellent way to improve your business.
Take all the time you need to complete this template. When you do, take a break and congratulate yourself on a job well done. Maybe even celebrate a bit. You have completed something few people do, and you deserve a celebration! Yea for you!
That’s all for this week!
Templates help us get consistent results over time
Afterburner Success Partners
http://absuccesspartners.com/
What’s in it for me?
If you want to get ahead in life, if you want to achieve your dreams and live your best life, you must take meaningful, deliberate action that follows a proven path. Getting ahead in business and your career is about learning what to do and then doing it over time.
Call to Action
Just. Do. Something. Make a decision on what you want or need to do, define the path, and get after it. Do it today.
Recommended Resources
See notes below for either of my books.
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Notes
Please note that as an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small commission on the sale of any of these recommended resources.
Cambridge Dictionary
Oxford Language Dictionary
Achieve Your Dreams: A Complete Guide to Live Your Best Life, by David Giustozzi: https://amzn.to/3IxEFgy
Everyday Cooking for Everyday People Like Us, by David Giustozzi: https://amzn.to/437OhVQ