Do you have a clear career vision? Do you know where you want to be in your career 10 years from now?
Check this video to learn how you can build your career by design, not by chance and why you should seriously think about redefining, redesigning, and rebuilding a career that cultivates the best in you.
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Video Transcript:
Do you have a clear career vision? Do you know where you want to be in your career 10 years from now? How about 3 years from now? How about next year?
Do you have any career vision at all?
In this post, I would like to discuss how you can build your career by design, not by chance; why you should seriously think about redefining, redesigning, and rebuilding a career that cultivates the best in you; why crafting a clear written career vision and mission statement is vital for your career success.
Craft a Career Vision Statement that Fires You Up
When I’m talking about the vision or mission statement, it automatically takes most of us to the nicely framed corporate vision and mission statements full of buzzwords, which most of us could not relate to. I’m not talking about those corporate mission and vision statements. I’m not talking about something that has no meaning to you. I’m talking about writing a career vision that resonates with you, fires you up, and makes you excited.
Drafting a career vision statement helped me tremendously throughout my career.
In one of my corporate employment, I remember the day that I was hired I felt a big sense of gratitude for the opportunities provided to me. I was a strategic hire, they didn’t have any opening, but they wanted me to be part of that organization. Before starting my work and getting into the doors of that organization, I thought, “Okay, what do you want to do for this organization? They trusted in you, they believed in you. So what do you want to do in return?”
I wrote down the following vision statement;
“I would like to add value to this organization and be an instrument of change.”
The day that I started my work in that company, I printed this career vision statement on a small sheet of paper and posted that on a wall close to my computer monitor. So every day that I got into my office, the first thing that I’d notice as soon as I turned on my computer was my vision statement;“You are here to add value and be an instrument of change.”
It was an excellent daily reminder for me to keep me on track and not let the challenges of the work gets me off of what I had envisioned for my employment in the company.
Why Many People Fail to Have a Great Career
Unfortunately, many people don’t have a clear written career vision statement. They really don’t know where they want to be in 10 years. They even don’t know where they want to be in their professional career next year.
Most people get so busy with the daily tasks that prevents them from blocking some time to think through their life and career in the long run; to set some goals and career aspirations. Some may set some New Year resolution goals at the beginning of the year, get excited for the goals for a couple of weeks, but forget about it after a month or so.
For many of us, a large portion of our days is spent at work; in fact, the average person will spend 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime. It means that on average we are spending 1/3 of our life at work!
It is a disturbing fact to know that most of your life is spent at your job. In fact, the best hours of your life is spent at work!
Isn’t it safe to assume that your job can make a massive impact on the quality of your life?
If your career takes up most of your life and determines the quality of your life, why not designing your career the way that you want?
Why not having a written detailed career vision that resonates with you; something that fires you up every morning to go to work?
Redefine, Redesign, and Rebuild Your Career
According to Tom Moroney, the former Vice President of Deepwater & Wells Technology at Shell “Your career should be viewed as one part of your life’s mission. If you can’t feel the passion in your work, if you don’t want to get out of bed every morning in pursuit of your life’s work, then you’re not doing the right thing or in the right field. If you can’t feel the passion in your work, you should rethink your career, rethink your brand, and rethink your mission.”
I LOVE this statement from Tom Moroney and agree with him 100%.However,87% of Americans have no passion for their jobs!! (Source: Deloitte’s Shift Index survey) They don’t pursue their ideal job by design, but by chance!
Isn’t it time to redefine, redesign, and rebuild our career?
My study of the influential and successful people such as Anthony Robbins, Brendon Burchard, Darren Hardy, etc. shows that they all have one thing in common; a written crystal clear vision that they revisit on a frequent basis, even daily!They redefine, redesign, and rebuild their dream career constantly.
How I Crafted an Empowering Career Vision
I used to consider the career vision and mission statements as cheesy topics, similar to what I experienced at the corporations I worked for.
When I established Project Control Academy, I knew what I wanted to do. I had a vision but I didn’t write it down.
If I didn’t have a great mentor, coach, and partner; my husband Kamran, I would have quit on the business long time ago. It was not easy to cope with challenges on my way when I started the company. Kamran shed light on my path, helped me see the light at the end of the tunnel, and guided me throughout the process.
I remember he told me early on, “Shohreh, the reason you’re frustrated in the business is that you don’t have a crystal clear vision.”
To be honest, I didn’t like to hear that statement, as I thought I knew what I wanted to do.
Reflecting back, I have to admit that my vision was fuzzy!
It was until I attended the Ascend seminar. In this seminar, Josh Turner took a piece of paper out of his pocket and said: “I always keep my vision in my pocket and revisit it every single day. Do you have one?”
“What? A vision statement in my pocket?…. No I don’t have a written career vision. I don’t even review it; everything is in my head.”
Formulating the vision on a piece of paper and revisiting it on a regular basis stuck with me that day. It reminded me of what I learned from top performers and thought leaders. They all have a clear vision of where they want to be in their life or their business both in the short term and long term. They have their vision planned out in writing and remind themselves of that vision on a consistent basis.
The moment I filled out the Vision/Traction Organizer sheet and became crystal clear on my vision, miracles started to happen.
First of all, I fired up with my 10-year vision, such that nothing could stop me from getting there. I found the purpose and passion in what I do on a daily basis and became more excited in doing my daily tasks, no matter how challenging they were.
Second, people started showing up on my path. They supported me in that vision.
I used to not believe in the power of a written career vision. Now, I see and experience its magical power every single day.
Every time I look at my vision statement, I feel a burning fire inside that excites me of my 10-year vision and what future holds for me, the business, and the people whom I like to serve.
I encourage you to take some time in silence and picture your 10-year, 3-year, and 1-year vision. Then, write those down. There is a mystic power in putting what is in your head on the paper.
Draft a career vision that fires you up, fills you up with excitement and energy every morning; something that you want to pursue every day, no matter what obstacles show up on your way.
Once you have your written career vision, revisit it on a regular basis. I review mine every Sunday when I review my accomplishments of the week and plan for next week.
Reviewing my career vision every Sunday not only energizes me but also helps me assess where I am, especially on my 1-year goal. Am I getting close or not? Where do I need to focus on to get there?
If you’re in Project Controls, we have already developed a course that helps you craft your career. The course is called “Project Controls Career Success Roadmap”, where I walk you over different roles that you can play in Project Controls. The skills that you need to acquire in each role and how to draft a career roadmap that takes you to where you want to be.
If you are interested, check out more details at ProjectControlAcademy.com.
If you are in any other career, I recommend you block some time, sit down, brainstorm, and write down your career vision. In the process of writing your career vision, don’t worry about how you are going to achieve that. Just think about “What.” What you want to do, where you want to be in 10 years, 3 years, and 1 year. You will formulate the “How” as you go. Believe in yourself that you will figure it out.
Remember, the future is what you make of it. Your vision will take you to the life you desire.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post or watching the video. If you liked this post, please give it a thumb up and share it with your friends.
I also like to hear your insights when it comes to crafting a clear career vision. Do you have one?
About the Author, Shohreh Ghorbani
Shohreh is a licensed project management professional (PMP) recognized by Project Management Institute (PMI) and holds a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering.
Connect with Shohreh via Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
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