Category Archives: Career

Planning 2019: Set process orientated goals

Career, E-Book Writing, Planning

In the last blog post I talked of keeping it simple and just having 3 goals maximum when planning 2019. I also talked of quarterly planning. Break your three annual goals down into quarterly goals and have 3 quarterly goals.  From there you plan each week and then each day. In this post I want to talk about the importance of setting process orientated goals in 2019.

Planning 2019

What is a process orientated goal?

A process orientated goal is one that focuses on what you are doing and not on what the end result will be. You trust the process to get you where you want to go. If you want to lose 10 kg in weight you can set a process orientated goal of going to the gym 4 times a week or walking for 30 minutes every day etc. This is easily measurable and doable; you are totally in charge of whether or not your reach your goal. The process will lead you to your eventual goal.

Right now after the Christmas indulgences I do need to lose some weight. I do know for a fact that I could run a half marathon by April if I started training today. That is because I can set process orientated goals which will lead me to the big goal of the half marathon. In other words focus on what I need to do this week.  The focus is only on each week and each day – what do I have to do today. How many minutes do I have to run today. Focus on the process will take me to the big goal of the half marathon.

Want to write a book in 2019?

Another example of a process goal is developing an online course or writing a book. These are big goals. They are challenging goals. In this case don’t just say “I will have published my book by December 31st 2019”. Set a process orientated goal which might go like: “I will work on my book for one hour per day from 6am – 7am, six days per week during 2019”. I can assure you that if you focus on the process and achieve your daily goals that your book will get written (I have written 4 books and published 2 online course so I know this works!).

Life Long Learning & planning 2019

Can I suggest a process orientated goal for you in 2019. Set yourself a goal around learning. Life Long Learning is a key skill/attribute for the coming decades of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Technology is driving change in our jobs/working lives and we all need to keep learning and growing or our skills and knowledge will become obsolete. Set yourself a goal of learning something for an hour a day, six days a week in 2019. Take online or offline courses, listen to audio books and podcasts and read. You can do this during your commute time, early in the morning or whatever time suits. Each week you will have 6 hours of learning and by the end of 2019 you will have spent about 312 hours learning new things. That works out at a month and a half of learning in 2019 – all from one process goal!  What new skills will you have learned by the end of 2019?

Best wishes,

Tom

PS Why not start your learning habit for 2019 by taking my online course: Transform your Life: 30 Experiments in personal change.  Get the course at the special price of $9.99 for readers of this blog (course also includes a free copy of my ebook).

Plan for career change

4th Industrial Revolution, Career, Technology
Who are you?

How do you define yourself?  How well do you adapt to change?  What new skills have you learned in the past 12 months?  How much time every week do you spend learning new skills?  Are you prepared for career change?  In today’s world and going forward these are very important questions to reflect on.  We have increasing automation of work processes due to new technology and the forces of globalisation (known as the 4th Industrial Revolution).  As a result our working lives are becoming increasingly impermanent and unpredictable, and will only become more so in the future.  Long term employment with one company or organisation (or even in one industry) is becoming a thing of the past.

Career Change

A UK worker will change employer every five years on average, according to research by life insurance firm Liverpool Victoria.  In January 2016, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the average employee tenure was 4.2 years, down from 4.6 years in January 2014.  When you look at the technological disruptions of the new technologies of the 4th industrial revolution the trend of increasing career change is set to continue and accelerate.

How about you?

What did you learn in school or college?  Is it useful and relevant to you now?  For example when I was in college in the 1980s Personal Computers were just coming in.  I learned computers for the first time on a mainframe computer in University College Dublin.  That was basically one big computer with many terminals.  Much of what I learned is irrelevant today.  Now I have a computer in my pocket called a smartphone.  Back then there was no commercial internet as we know it.  We had no idea that the internet age was around the corner.  If you wanted information you sought out books and journals in the college library.  The idea that I might one day self-publish a book or write a blog, or teach an online course was nowhere on the horizon.  In the past one year I have learned how to publish online courses.  I now have two courses and teach 1,737 students from 109 countries!  I am now working on my third course which is on changing technology and the skills we need to prepare for this new world of work and increasing change.

In summary

If we do not keep changing and growing we become outdated and irrelevant.  We must be perpetual self-improvers.  We must be life long learners.  What are your thoughts on today’s world of work and where you are headed?  Are you building new skills and keeping up to date?  Are you systematically preparing for your next job or career move?  In this world of the 4th Industrial Revolution, being ready for change and preparing for multiple jobs and careers is a very necessary response.

Best wishes,

Tom

course image

My online course ‘Transform Your Life: 30 Experiments in Personal Change’ will help you build the type of personal skills needed for the new world of work.   Please use the link above for a special discounted price of $9.99 (only for readers of this blog).