Do you have a career plan? Take time to create one. It will help give you direction and focus when making future career related decisions.

Visualising what you want to achieve is one of the most powerful things that you can do to help make something happen in reality. Visualisation is proving to be a popular tool for competitive athletes. It conditions their minds to think clearly about how they will react to certain pressures, situations and problems.

And, so it is, with your career. When you have an opportunity to stand back from a situation, greater clarity ensues. Holiday time can be such an opportunity. Your time away from work during holidays can give you a degree of clarity in relation to your job. It is a timely opportunity to reflect and create a career plan going forward.

A career plan is a practical strategy that allows you to determine your skills and interests, set career goals and put actions in place that will help you reach them. However, keep in mind that it is a continuous process.

A career plan focuses your awareness and opens your eyes to things that can help you achieve your aims. Having career clarity can help you optimise your performance in your current work, because now you will know that it is part of a bigger picture.

Set Goals

In a perfect world, what would your ideal job be and where would you like to be working in three, five or ten years’ time? Your career goals should be in alignment with your overall life goals and the goals of those closest to you. It is a good idea to discuss your career goals with the important people in your personal life.

Map Where You Are Going

Create a plan that maps over time what activities and actions you should undertake to help you move your career in an optimal direction. For example, do you need to consider new skills through study? Are you in the right role for you today? If so, what do you need to learn and master in this job to help you move forward?

Action Orientated

A plan is only a plan until you actually start putting it into action. This takes courage and determination. It means embracing change and accepting that change might be needed.

Finally, remember that a career plan should always be viewed as a work in progress. You should expect to revise it and further develop it over time.