What do you do if your clients' career goals seem unattainable?

In most cases, if you can imagine it, you can do it. But—there is a big but—not everyone is willing to put in the work and transform into the person required to get there. Every achievement comes with a price tag. I have personally been told numerous times that something I wanted to achieve was not possible and that the gap was too big. I went and did it anyway. The gap is never the limiting factor.

The first step in helping clients whose career goals seem unattainable is to assess the current reality of their situation. This involves taking a close look at their skills, experience, resources, and any potential obstacles that may be standing in their way. By gaining a clear understanding of where your clients are starting from, you can help them set more realistic and achievable goals that will lead to success. In some cases, it may be necessary to help your clients adjust their career goals to make them more attainable. This could involve breaking down larger goals into smaller, more manageable steps, or shifting the timeline for achieving their goals to a more realistic timeframe.

First you must discuss their career goals in detail and evaluate the gap between their current situation and their desired endpoint. This conversation should be approached with sensitivity, ensuring that you acknowledge their aspirations while also grounding the discussion in reality. Encourage them to consider the skills, experience, and resources they currently possess and how these can be leveraged or expanded upon. Then support your client in developing a mindset that embraces setbacks as learning opportunities. Teach them coping strategies for dealing with disappointment and stress, and help them to maintain a positive outlook. Resilience will not only aid them in their career development but will also serve them well in everything.

If the client doesn't see the limitations, why would I want to squash their desire to attain something? We should be encouraging potential, not diminishing it.

I love the idea of doing things that other people think are impossible. The question is are you willing to do what others won't do to get there? A lot depends on what your goal is, and whether there is a path to get there. If you are a new person in a family owned company, chances are you aren't going to become president of the company regardless of how good you are. If you join the National Guard and hope to be President of the United States, it's not out of the range of possibilities. Something to consider is there are many new career areas, and many old models don't apply anymore. You may want to chart your own path and do something that hasn't been done before. Just because there isn't a path, doesn't mean you can't go there.

Breaking down a goal into smaller milestones provides clients with a sense of progress and accomplishment. This boosts their motivation and morale along the way. Each milestone serves as a tangible marker of their journey, reinforcing their commitment and determination to achieve their objective. Identifying manageable milestones allows clients to track their progress more effectively and adjust their strategies as needed. This approach enables clients to learn from their experiences, overcome challenges, and refine their action plans for greater success. Encourage your clients to acknowledge and celebrate their achievements, no matter how small. This builds confidence and fosters a positive mindset towards attaining their goals.

When you are sitting at the bottom of a mountain it can feel like an overwhelming feat to reach that summit. It's the same with any big aspirational journey. Spliting that journey into stages gives you an opportunity to continually have a feeling of achievement along the way. That sense of achievement can propel you on to the next stage.

Big goals are easy to set. The multitude of little steps to achieve that big goal are tedious, strategic and require attention, drive and stick-to-it-ness! By mapping the path, and checking off steps in a visual way, people can stay motivated towards their goals. I call it REACHING. When we reach for goals, we are stretching ourselves and we can feel the effort. I always remind clients that there will be routes that they set, but their is plenty of rerouting along a journey, and not to get disheartened. I encourage clients to find mentors in the field they are heading for, to prepare physically and mentally through good nutrition, sleep, and exercise, so that they can handle stress and keep moving in the direction of their choice.

One can always uplevel their skills. I continue to work on improving my skills, and I encourage everyone to continue to improve themselves no matter how educated or well-rounded a person may be or seem. We can always grow and flourish if we continue to input more stimuli.

If the client's goal is really what they want, aligned with their values and there's a strong why, there's always a way to become the person that has those skills. We'll start with Identifying the skills, education, and resources needed to reach these goals. Develop a step-by-step plan to acquire these assets over time. This could involve additional training, networking, internships, or strategic job shifts.

Exploring the 'why' behind career goals will help distill the motivation, which might support a more clearly defined goal for the client. If the client wants to receive a promotion, and the reason is that they want to earn more money, then maybe the goal is the financial gain, not the role advancement. Keep exploring 'why' to ensure that the root goal is the primary pursuit of the coaching journey.

I quite often work with clients using a tool such as the 'wheel of anything' and adapt it to identify what it is about their work they love and could quite happily leave behind. In doing this people start to realise that what they thought they 'ought' to aim for is not really where they want to be going, it just happens to be the progression path from where they are now. If you can nail down exactly what elements of their work make their heart sing then it is so much easier for them to drill down on exactly what their next steps should be.

Building resilience helps clients to cultivate a growth mindset, which focuses on continuous learning and improvement. Encourage your clients to view setbacks as temporary obstacles rather than insurmountable failures. By reframing challenges as opportunities for growth and development, clients maintain a sense of optimism and perseverance in the face of adversity. Teach your clients techniques such as mindfulness, positive self-talk, and problem-solving skills to navigate difficult situations with resilience and grace. Empowering clients with practical tools and strategies equips them to bounce back stronger from setbacks and move forward with resilience and determination.

For me when I have a setback I take some time to reflect on what has happened and look for the signs about what that might be pushing me away from that situation and/or pushing me towards an alternative one. If you work with your client to recognise that each setback is a learning/growth opportunity it can completely shift the way they deal with those difficult times.

This question is a metaphor for life! This is what has helped me: *Read Moonshots. *Let go of judgment. *Examine your own limiting beliefs and deal with them/set them aside whilst with the client. *In basketball you need to aim above the goal to get the shot. *Repeat “infinite possibilities”. This invites new ways of achieving the outcome. *Invite the universe to contribute. Ask the client to say “I wonder…” ; Eg I wonder how quickly and easily this can be achieved? I wonder how quickly, easily and fully I can be supported to achieve this goal? I wonder how much fun it can be? I wonder what unexpected benefits can arise from my journey? I wonder how my journey can benefit myself and others for the highest good?