SMART plans are an effective approach to outlining your plan to achieve your goals. I found that an adaptation to SMART (Specific, Measure, Achievable, Relevant, Time) plans is having a SMARTER plan that includes Evaluating your progress and Reward/Recognition as you achieve your goals. A few key elements to remember are: ? Measure: Outline key milestones to break down your long-term goal ? Evaluation: Based on your milestones outline when and how you will evaluate success (performance targets, learning achievements, seek feedback, etc.) and make adjustments as needed. This will keep your plan updated and relevant ? Reward/Recognition: Plan how you will celebrate your wins to stay motivated and energized.

I keep a weekly notebook ?? to record my accomplishments, evaluate my objectives every three months ???, and establish deadlines for learning new skills ??? in order to monitor my professional development. Frequent feedback ?? allows me to gain new perspectives, and monitoring metrics ?? demonstrates tangible advancements. Thinking about the bigger picture ?? keeps me inspired and in line with my principles. These actions help me stay motivated and keep going!

I’m a big fan of planners; I buy a new one every year and can’t wait to start fresh with ideas and plans that I can write down, this includes my goals. Creating a SMART plan is a great way to start moving towards achieving a career goal by making sure it’s specific, measurable, achievable,relevant and time-bound. Set small goals and work with a mentor, this could be a supervisor or a trusted leader that you know will give you honest feedback and tasks to help you reach your goals. As you finish each goal, check it off the list. Seeing a goal done is will help you see how far you’ve come and the progress you’ve made. And more importantly, don’t give up!

Here are some ways to monitor your career progress: - Accountability Buddy: share your goals with a friend or mentor and schedule regular check-ins - Weekly Wins: reflect on your accomplishments each week and write them down in a "wins" journal. - Skill Tracker: create a spreadsheet to track your progress in learning new skills or completing certifications. The key is to find a system that works for you and that you enjoy using. Experiment with different methods until you find one that helps you stay motivated and focused on your career goals.

Set SMART Goals: Define goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound to provide clarity and focus.