How To Set Goals And Intentions For Career Success In 2021

I have been told that “how do you set goals” is ranking high on Google search at the moment, and that’s not surprising. A new year often inspires new perspectives and aspirations.

Many of us are still thinking about what we’d like to achieve for ourselves and our career in 2021, figuring out how to make the most of the year ahead. Or, maybe you’ve been so busy with the daily grind that you haven’t been in that mindset at all. Well, we hear you.

Wherever you are on your 2021 goal-setting journey, we’d like to meet you there. We’d like to share with you the different approaches we’ve learned from our community, to help you self-evaluate, feel reassured and if needs be: shift. Because whatever your approach to setting goals is, we think there is merit in spending a little time thinking about professional goals versus personal goals.

We usually think about professional goals as what we want to accomplish with our career and what we aspire to as ‘success’. We then think about our personal goals separately, which often involves health, happiness, relationships and wellbeing.

But what if we challenged you to think about personal goals for work that can help you succeed professionally too?

It’s easy to recess into the background or blend into the crowd at work. Many people choose to settle for mediocrity and anonymity simply because it’s easier and more comfortable. By setting both personal and professional goals, you can more intentionally move towards a space that you want for yourself.

Here are 6 ways you can set personal goals or intentions that will help you towards career success in 2021…

6 ways to set personal career goals in 2021

1. Self-Mastery

Self-mastery is deepening your self-awareness of your skills, strengths and weaknesses. Identify what makes you different, unique and what you are passionate about and use that to stretch yourself even more. In the same way, become self-aware of your weaknesses and surface areas you need to improve. The trick is to be able to have a high awareness to self-regulate your growth and development. Sometimes it’s useful to work with a coach who has an unbiased view to help you really enquire, clarify and see yourself objectively.

2. Align with your environment

Take some time to think about where you are at. Do the values of the place align with yours and do you align with how things are done and how decisions are made? Do the people you work with feel like they are of the same tribe? Can you connect with your colleagues and feel like you are part of the same team? Do you know how to navigate the organization, and if you don’t, are there people that are naturally willing to help you? Who are your mentors, allies and sponsors? These are important questions to ask yourself as it’s so important to set up an environment around you that helps support you towards success.

3. Pause for gratefulness

Take a few moments every couple of months to reflect on how hard you have worked, what you have learned, and what you have achieved - big or small. Doing this helps you build compassion for yourself as you continue to change, grow and move forward.

4. See possibility and opportunity

Feel excited about what could be next for you. When you set your personal goals, do they feel motivating and do you feel like you are pushing yourself out of your comfort zone? Do you feel like you will stretch upwards while at the same time being realistic?

5. Make your goals intentional 

If setting clear personal and professional goals stresses you out, that’s ok. It is worth just thinking about where and how you would like to be more intentional, so you move forward with some sense of positive self-direction. Be intentional, keep checking back on how you are doing, move at a pace you are comfortable with, but push out when you feel it’s right. Don’t forget to look back and celebrate what you achieved. Small steps add up.

6. Keep your list of goals short

Finally, keep your goals or intentions short and realistic. It’s better to achieve 3 out of 3, than 2 out of 10. Focus on giving yourself the best chance at checking them off.

However you decide to set yourself and your career up for 2021, just know one thing: we at Matter Inc. hope that you continue on your journey of growth, development and being more present, so that you can continue to work towards living your best life.