By Karen Hoffman, Senior Consultant
You can’t boil the ocean. If you fail to plan you are planning to fail. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Haste makes waste. Do any of these expressions resonate with you? If so, allow me to introduce you to a manageable approach – micro goals.
Dealing with my own career transitions, and as a career consultant / coach, I’ve seen the evidence and experienced the macro blessings of micro goals…those tiny, bite-sized tasks that support the big picture. Career transition in its entirety can be daunting, uninspiring, and even emotional. Let’s set ourselves up for success, and dare I say, even enjoy the process along the way. Is it possible? In short, (or micro-response) – YES!
When it comes to executing a successful job search, I’m emphatic about coaching individuals to incorporate micro goals! For any goal you are aiming to accomplish, micro goals break down the large task into manageable sub-tasks. Rather than thinking about achieving (and then getting intimidated with) the big-picture accomplishment or the final result, focus on achieving small chunks of progress and go after them one increment at a time.
I’ve proudly supported hundreds (if not thousands) of professionals at every level through their career transition process and I’ve yet to meet one who has said they were absolutely stoked about writing a resume. So, instead of sitting down to write a resume, how about just three accomplishment statements (aka bullet points) per day?
Feeling a bit intimidated when it comes to networking? Aim for the low-hanging fruit (i.e., friends, family, former colleagues) and contact one daily until you get your groove on.
Don’t wait for the interview of a lifetime and cram the night before, try developing one STAR story a day until you’ve got your interview toolkit packed and ready to go.
Some of the benefits of micro-goaling include creating intent around the work you want and hitting the market with inspiration (not desperation), decreasing pessimism (while striving for optimism); and at the end of a productive week (or day) seeing what you have accomplished as opposed to the lethargic guilt of procrastination.
The return on investment of micro goals is massive! In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”