Goal setting can help you find happiness and fulfillment in your career. It's a way to visualize what you want to achieve and create a plan to get there.
Unfortunately, you can actually get in the way of your own success if you make this one big mistake: keeping your goals to yourself.
4 Reasons Why You Should be Sharing Your Career Goals With Others
Sharing your goals can seem daunting. In fact, the pressure might be why you want to keep them to yourself in the first place.
What if people think your goals are too ambitious?
What if they don't support your vision?
What if you fail and everyone knows it?
All of those are valid concerns, but here's the thing: sharing your goals is actually one of the best things you can do for your career.
1. Sharing Your Goals Keeps You Accountable
When you keep your goals to yourself, it's easy to let them fall by the wayside. You're the only one who knows what you're supposed to be working towards, so no one will notice if you don't follow through. But when you share your goals with others, you're much more likely to stick to them.
Motivation comes easier when you have people rooting for you. Lean on your support system to hold you accountable if you start to stray from your goals.
2. Sharing Your Goals Makes Them "Real"
It can be easy to dismiss your goals as pipe dreams when you keep them to yourself. However, when you share them with others, they become real and tangible.
When other people know what you're working towards, it puts pressure on you to actually make it happen. Your mentors, friends, or family members might start asking you about your progress, which will push you to stay on track. Suddenly, your goals are no longer just something you daydream about; they're something you have to actively pursue.
3. Sharing Your Goals Invites Others to Help You Along in Your Journey
Achieving career goals is not a solo effort. It takes hard work, dedication, and often, the help of others. When you share your career goals, you open yourself up to opportunities for collaboration and support.
The people in your network can introduce you to new contacts, provide advice and mentorship, and help you in countless other ways. You never know who might be able to help – but you'll never find out if you don't share your goals in the first place.
4. Sharing Your Goals Provides You With Clarity
When you keep your goals to yourself, it's easy to get caught up in the details and lose sight of the big picture. But when you share them with others, you're forced to articulate what you want to achieve and why it's important to you.
This process of explaining your goals can help you to better understand them yourself and figure out how you plan to make them a reality. At first, you may only have a vague idea of what you'd like to do, like getting a raise or making a potential career move. But after talking to others about your goals, you may start to see a clearer path emerge.
The Bottom Line
Don't make the mistake of keeping your career goals to yourself. If you're uncomfortable with the idea of sharing them with a close friend, family member, or co-worker, try an unbiased third party like me!
Career coaches can provide support, advice, and accountability as you work to achieve your goals. So if you're stuck with where to start or how to move forward, don't hesitate to reach out for help.
What's the biggest career goal you're working towards right now? I can't wait to hear about it!
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