Whether you are just starting out, are well established in your career, or are considering a career transition, you need to set goals to keep your work interesting and your career moving forward. It is less important what particular goals you set than that you have them. A goal allows you to focus your energy, develop plans, stay future-oriented, and make measurable progress. You can always modify them later or create new ones if circumstances change.

To be effective, a goal should be concrete, achievable, identifiable (i.e., you recognize when you’ve achieved it), and time-constrained. It should be specific but not too narrow. For example, your goal might be “to become a department director in three years.” To set a goal such as “to become human resource director in company X in three years” may not be achievable if no vacancy occurs for that position within your specified timeframe. Once you have articulated your goal, break it down into smaller steps or objectives. What are things you need to do over your specified period of time to make progress toward achieving your goal? An objective is a short-time achievement that will help you to fulfill your longer-term goal. Again, your objectives should be concrete, achievable, etc., so that you can realistically make time and devote energy and resources toward accomplishing them. Build these into your annual work and personal development plan.

Goals can take many forms, but I find it’s helpful to think of creating one or two goals for each of the following types:

• Development goals. These are “stretch” or aspirational goals that address new skills, knowledge, relationships, or experience you need to acquire to make progress toward your ultimate career goal.
• Advancement goals. These are goals related to reaching the next level of your career, however you define that for yourself, such as serving in roles or positions of greater responsibility, visibility or influence.
• Fulfillment goals. These are personal goals that, when achieved, will increase your sense of satisfaction, accomplishment, confidence, purpose, and so forth. They may be work related or not, but they should be linked to things you really care about.

Two of the most common goal distractors are frustration and procrastination. Varying your goals in this way will keep you more well-rounded, balanced and engaged. If you get stuck in one area, you can continue making progress in others and prevent getting thrown off-course by temporary disappointments or setbacks.