I hope you're enjoying our journey along the DREAM pathway to creating a career you love. If you've missed the first two steps, you can access the previous blogs here. The next step, which we'll be exploring today, is “A” which stands for "Articulate". This stage is all about getting clarity on which of your career possibilities you're going to pursue as well as when and how you're going to do it. This step involves three key stages.

1. Get clear on your career

Once you've researched and explored all of your career possibilities, it's important to get clear on which possibilities you want to pursue in earnest. You need a compelling vision to move towards and this can be done by setting short-, medium- and long-term career goals. Here is a simple exercise that will help you to do this.

On a scale of 1 - 10 (1 is I HATE my career and want to stay under the duvet most days; 10 is I LOVE my career and bounce out of bed every morning), where are you right now with your career happiness. Realistically, what number would you like to get to in the next 12 months? What does this look and feel like?

So, for me, I'm currently at a 7 (you know that I'm on the pathway with you!). In the next 12 months I can get to an 8. An 8 would mean having the resources to outsource more admin and marketing tasks in my business. This would give me more flexibility to focus on the areas of coaching that I enjoy most. I will be doing more online group coaching and teaching which greatly energises me. This vision has me living and working more in line with my core values of fairness and independence.

How about you?

2. Set your career goals

Now you know what your next 12 months looks like, I would encourage you to also set a medium term and longer-term goal. This will probably be your personal pathway to a career happiness score of 9 or 10 in the future. Realistically, when do you want to get to a 10 and what does that look like?

My 10/10 will be me having more work / life harmony where I have more time for outdoor activities, study and creative endeavours. What will yours look like?

To set really clear goals, I advocate the Michael Hyatt acronym of SMARTER. Are your goals:

Specific / Measurable / Achievable / Risky / Timebound / Exciting / Relevant?

3. Be prepared

Like all good Brownies (in the UK these are mini-girl-scouts and "be prepared" is their motto), we must be prepared to kickstart out career goals. Whatever pathway you have chosen, it is likely you'll need some "marketing" documents to help you sell yourself into that career.

If you are staying in employment, this could mean preparing at least one version of your winning CV. If you are going freelance, this could mean creating a one-page bio and possibly a website. If you are setting up your own business, a website will almost certainly be needed. For all of these options, your LinkedIn profile is going to be important too. Does it reflect your desired future career?

Whichever of these pathways you choose, if you've worked thoroughly at the Discovery stage of the DREAM pathway then you will have all the self-knowledge, insight and wording to bring these "marketing" materials to life.

What next?

There are some ideas for action in this blog. Do you have the clarity to set your career goals (at least for the next 12 months)? Which of your marketing materials needs some work? Perhaps your CV is need of a spruce up (if so, you can watch my YouTube training here)?

In next week's blog, we'll be talking about the all-important "M" in the DREAM pathway - Make it happen!

As ever, if you have any questions or would like to share any of your action steps, please do get in touch.

If you would like this weekly blog sent directly to your inbox, as well as receive a copy of my “Top 3 Ways to Boost Your Career Happiness Right Now,” please click here.