In 2010, while I was training with Brendon Burchard, I heard him say: In Montana we say: “the time to have the map is before entering the woods”
What does that mean?
It simply means that you cannot navigate comfortably the woods without using a map (or a tour guide). It is a metaphor that means that it is difficult to successfully navigate life circumstances if you don’t have a plan (or a strategy) of what you want to do or where you want to go. Several people find themselves trapped by the impatience syndrome and the quest for quick results that they forget to work on developing a realistic plan that can enable them to achieve the results they desire. This is true for life as it is for your career transition.
Almost everywhere I have worked with people, I am often surprised how much people are more concerned with the results than with the careful preparation work that is required to clearly define what these results are, the possible ways to achieve them, the potential obstacles on the way to these results, and the actions to be taken to overcome the identified and unforeseen obstacles and achieve the desired results. It is a natural tendency of the human mind. We tend to avoid activities that cause us to think. Georges Bernard Shaw has been quoted as saying that “Only 2% of the population think, 3% think they think and 95% would rather die than think “.
But you and I, as leaders, are thinkers. A thinker spends much of his time thinking before acting. Actions mostly important if they are based on a realistic plan that considers all the factors that can interfere with accomplishing what we want to accomplish. Spending time to work on your strategy will pay you great dividends in the long run. It is our approach to career transition as well to other important aspects of life.
When you work with one of our certified coaches here at AFRIQUE PROSPERE, you will be taken through a thinking process that will help you cement your career strategy into a solid plan that will speed up your chance of getting a decent job as quickly as possible. This process follows the GROW framework which is an acronym for:
G = Goals
R = Realities
O = Options
W = Way forward.
To give you a glimpse at what this entails, I will explain the first step but when you take our first course on Success Philosophy, your final project is structured in a way that you apply all the steps of the framework.
The first step is to set goals. This is a very important step and as a good leader, you must get used to setting goals in everything that you do. This can start with a very simple question to which you just need to honestly answer:
- Where do you see yourself in the next 5 or 10 years (professionally, spiritually, emotionally, family, …)?
- What do you want to accomplish in each of these areas in the next 5 or 10 years?
See? I’m not talking about having a to-do list or a checklist to plan your day, I’m talking about something bigger than that, something that torment you every morning and get you out of your bed every morning to pursue it, something that strengthens you despite the ups and downs of the modern world.
As leaders, we are also dreamers, builders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and people who want to change this world. For this, it is necessary that we envision a future that is attractive, bright, vibrant, and different from the present that surrounds us. Therefore, we need a navigation a system, a step-by-step map to guide us before we start immersing ourselves in the day-to-day activities of life that may cause us to lose focus and potentially abandon our vision.
So, if you have had the habit of digging into the woods without using a single map, I invite you to change. And to help you get started with a new habit of setting goals before any project, Try answering the above two questions in a way that is aligned with the following acronyms inspired by Sir John Whitmore and Brendon Burchard DUMB, SMART, PURE, and CLEAR. In other way, your goals must be DUMB, SMART, PURE, and CLEAR.
D= Dream driven
U = Uplifting
M = Method friendly
B = Behavior driven
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Achievable
R = Realistic
T = Time bound
P = Positively stated
U = Understandable
R = Relevant
E = Ethical
C = Challenging
L = Legal (Fair, not violating the rights of others)
E = Environmentally Sound
A = Appropriate
R = Recorded
Explaining all these acronyms in detail might take another two blog entries but since my intention is to keep this article relatively short, I leave the choice to each of you to explore them in more details. But when you work with your coach on your job search strategy, he will make sure that your career goals are DUMB, SMART, PURE, and CLEAR.
Setting goals is very important and is the first step in every important journey. Understanding this has helped me in several ways as it will also help you if you decide to embrace the goal setting practice. I am no longer chasing every opportunity that comes my way, I no longer spread my efforts on unimportant and low hanging opportunities in life because my goals and plans dictate what I do and the paths I follow.
And setting goals is even more important in job searching than ever. You can be overwhelmed by the cheer amount of job postings available out there and be tempted, in the absence of specific goals, to apply to as many jobs as possible without careful consideration for alignment and fit. Similarly, without a clear goal, you can be confused as to who to network with and create meaningful and lasting professional relationships that can open doors to even more opportunities of career. Lack of goals can negatively impact every step of the job search, so you do not want this to happen to you. Start exercising your goal setting muscle today by working on the exercise provided earlier in this post. You can also schedule a free consultation with us to see if our programs are a good fit for you.