How can you stay focused on your long-term career vision?

The power of manifestation is a fundamental principle and works every time. Writing down your vision is the first step towards clarity and direction. Daily repetition engraves it further. From here on, it acts like a mental map. You drive to work from home, and every time, your mind remembers the route, without your continuous focus every time.

Mentors | Mentors | Mentors I say it three times because we remember thing s in threes. Once you've written down your vision and defined what you think you want to do and where you want to get to in your career, go look for people in the field that have achieved those goals or have been there. Ask them for time (make sure to compensate them with coffee, buy them lunch, etc.) and ask them what advice they would have given their younger selves and what they wish they would have known when starting their career journey. Not only does this give you a leg up and wisdom starting out that would have otherwise taken years to get, but if you find someone you jive with, ask if they'll be your mentor/guide as you progress.

One tactic I've also found to be helpful in defining one's career vision is the use of a future bio; writing a Decade Bio of yourself: In 10 years to come, how do you want your bio to read? If you were introduced verbatim, what do you want them to say? You write this Decade Bio in present tense, as if it's already 2033.

Defining a vision can be difficult and challenging, but having a north star is typically better than nothing. Personally, I set goals for every 3-5 years and do a check-in periodically with my partner, closest friends and mentors to hold myself accountable. I keep a very clean, concise ethos to live by, as well as the impact I want to leave behind - a legacy. Whether my growth or contributions are impacting one person, three people or a community - I do myself to answer these few questions: - Is what I'm doing adding or preparing me for the next leg of my journey? - Is what I'm contributing to helping me leave the legacy I'd be proud of?

Defining your vision is great. Along with it you also need to deeply believe in your vision. Because there will be obstacles. Unless you believe you may give up as soon as your first obstacle comes in your way. Sachin Tendulkar was rejected by Ramakant Achrekar after his first meeting. But then Sachin's brother was certain that Sachin had the quality required to become a great batsman with the right coach. Rest we know is history. So define your vision and also believe in it. If possible identify early on whoelse believes in your vision with you. They will keep you on track when obstacles hit. And ultimately your vision will be true. But yes to achieve anything great you need a grand vision and a belief that eventually you will get there.

And when breaking your vision down into goals, try not to have a lot of goals for the same period, for an example; in that example of becoming a thought leader in your niche, try to limit the goals to a maximum of 3 per period so that you don't get overwhelmed. Also the use of deadlines although a legacy system, sometimes it can overwhelm you to a point of abandoning your goals because sometimes things just don't work out according to plan, so depending on your 'failure' tolerance, the use of Stages-based bucket list can help in easing the pressure. For an example, instead of "I must publish the book by end of the year", "Stage1 bucketlist: 1.1.Write a Manuscript. 1.2.Get the manuscript print ready. 1.3.Publish" Everything becomes a buildup

Only 9% of New Year's Resolutions succeed. Why? Because 12 months are too long of a time frame. Set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely) goals for 12 weeks. This will leave no room for procrastination and distraction.

Viewing your career vision as a journey, it's essential to break it down into bite-sized, actionable steps. Imagine your end goal as the summit of a mountain; to reach the top, you'd need base camps or milestones. If you dream to be a niche thought leader, start by setting smaller goals like writing articles, engaging in relevant discussions, or attending seminars. Your first milestone is publishing an article, speaking at a local event, and launching a webinar series. Each achievement gets you closer to that summit. By setting tangible deadlines, not only do you have a more straightforward path, but you also maintain motivation and momentum. Remember, every grand vision is a culmination of small, consistent steps!

I always say were are living in a causality world. Everything can be seen as "if this then that". So, with a vision in mind, what will bring me there? And what should be the goal that I need to achieve first? it's always the question to ask and reflect upon. It's just like driving, once we know the destination, that's when we know which route to take, and by knowing which route to take, that's when we can clearly create a goal for ourselves such as "I need to make sure I don't miss that first traffic light"!

Of course, you need to bring your vision into actionable goals or else you may get stuck or overwhelmed. Certain career vision may look ambitious or unachievable at first. However, once you break them down into goals, it becomes doable and achievable.

The things we do every day, every week are the most impactful activities in our lives. Therefore measure your execution on a weekly basis: activities executed / activities planned *100 = your score. Always aim for a score higher than 85!

I always create my own wallpaper for my MacBook. It always has 3 things: 1. a quote that motivates me and keeps me going. 2. a short-term project or goal that I need to accomplish 3. the reason that I'm hustling hard. It's a powerful tips and it helped to always remind me and align my actions or decision towards the vision that I have in mind.

Listen up, kid. Every damn choice you make today writes the script for your tomorrow. Want to be a legend? Then quit letting life's shiny objects divert your gaze. Laser focus. Prioritize. If it doesn't serve your vision, chuck it. Stop collecting business cards like they're Pokémon and start networking with purpose. Every 'yes' is a 'no' to something else. Be ruthlessly discerning. Your future isn't just a dream—it's a series of deliberate actions. So, armor up, get in the arena, and ensure every step you take is a step closer to that grand vision. Remember, life's short; don't play small.

Intentionality is a cornerstone to goal attainment. It's easy to let the noise of a day, week or quarter clutter your own personal destiny. As my BetterUp Coach said, "you are the queen (or king) of your own life. Rule your life as such". When you allow the noise du jour rule your life, you are not progressing towards your goals. It becomes the fog clouding your vision.

Feedback is a gift. Honestly, one of the hardest things to do in corporate America is giving feedback to peers. Often times, people skew one side or the other -- being too soft and nice to being too direct and mean. Delivering and receiving feedback is a muscle that should always be trained in a regular cadence. The other thing to keep in mind about feedback, especially constructive feedback, is that everyone prefers to receive it differently. There is no one size fits all formula, which is where I tend to see a lot of managers and senior leaders fall short in. Tailor your feedback to the person receiving the feedback. Better yet, ask them directly how they prefer to receive feedback - good or bad - and the answers may surprise you!

As part of a coaching course I was asked to get 10 pieces of positive feedback from 10 people. What I learned: 1. If you are willing to ask, people are almost always willing to help. Invest your time in those who are willing to invest theirs in you. 2. It's powerful to be consistent in how you show up in the world. There's no point in being a model employee but a terrible person at home and vice versa. 3. It's just as important to hear what you're doing right as it is to hear what you're doing wrong. 4. We all have blind spots. The sooner you can identify them the sooner you can overcome them. External feedback is the fastest way to do this. 5. Don't waste energy trying to be perfect. Lean into what you are great at, the rest will follow.

Seek for feedback, use the opportunities at your company and out, inclduing apps such as LinkedIn. Create your opportunities and ask for critical and realistic feedback, focus on your constructive mindset and approach to grow. Also ask ask ask for help when you need it, and for advise or mentoring to obtain more knowledge and guidance. The world is at your hands and nobody is born knowing it all, in such a connected world, make sure you can find someone that can inspire you and also become someone that inspires others.

For most people, giving feedback, especially on a personal level, is tough. It's a pendulum one have to balance between being truth, being constructive, being clear, being nice, being critical and everything that makes it helpful but not shaming or complaining. One tip that I found most useful, especially for us as someone who is seeking advice and feedback is, to always remove ourselves from the feedback needed. Avoid "How did I do?", "any feedback for me?"; instead "how does this presentation look like for you?", "how would you attempt this issue if you have to?".

Creating a space where people want to give you feedback is incredibly important, and that's solely on the person seeking/needing that feedback. Becoming defensive, not actioning on the feedback or even overtly avoiding the feedback can put a bubble around you which will stifle your growth and not allow for progression towards your goals.

Keep a brag book! My best friend and former direct report (yes we were both) did this flawlessly. Over the course of 16 years she wrote down all of her accomplishments from the big ones like company wide awards to the smallest ones like a team member told her she made an impact on them. Being able to refer back to those accomplishments and achievements for an interview, a performance appraisal or even a bad day is incredibly motivating to keep you on your path to greatness!

Back when I was in the University, while writing the thesis, a professor of mine taught me a life lesson: the importance of learning how to reward oneself and how much impact it can have on one's life. Since that day, I am rewarding myself after achieving every small accomplishment, because as important it is to learn and enjoy the way towards goals in life, as it is to recognize the path and thank yourself for the effort, time and energy used.

One of the best advices someone told me was to be kind. Not just kind to others, but to be kind to ourselves. Don't ever forget to celebrate the wins, big or small, as they're still wins nonetheless. It keeps up humble and reminds us of where we've been.

A small way to celebrate our own achievement is to document it. I have a master CV copy and it has every big or small achievement that I accomplished; I come back to it every few months to update it and read it. It was initially built to help me secure a better job or give me enough reference when I need to build a customised resume; now it became a vault of good vibes that helps me understand that fact that: I'm doing great and I need to continue rocking!

I have found that the vision itself rarely changes. Although the circumstances that threatens the when and how you've planned to achieve your vision/goals may occur, your vision becomes the only constant or rather should remain untouched. Don't get derailed by disruptions. Assess the other means to the end.

Change is never easy, but it is critical to do as the world continues to evolve. Your career path, whether you like it or not, will not be a linear trajectory, as much as we'd like it to be. The best way to cope with this is to expect change to happen at every job, career milestone and adapt accordingly. Staying stagnant isn't going to do you any good, or the company and/or mission that you're aligned with. This often happens when there's a change of leadership at an organization. You can either do things the way things have always done, or you can quickly ramp up and get quickly acclimated to the new environment and be at an additional advantage with your historical familiarity, but growth mindset.

Envision a decentralized framework; configure both yourself and your infrastructure and network to be unstoppable, akin to a starfish. Multiply your capabilities when faced with adversity, creating robust units from your core skills. When challenges or crises arise, leverage them as a propeller for new ventures.

Track your progress. Regularly track your progress towards your goals. This will help you stay motivated and identify any areas where you need to make adjustments.

Start with WHY. It's the soul of everything you do; business, career, life. When you understand the core WHY (and I'm talking 7 layers deep), you will always have the ability to focus on your North Star, stay focused, and push out the noise (internal and external) that doesn't belong.

Working on a vision in the early stages is all cool and exciting until it is not. Especially in this age of social media where everyone seems to be 'killing it's. Don't get caught up in comparison and benchmarks, especially against social media people. As an energy carrier, social media can make you feel like you're not progressing thus influencing to change your vision, be desperate or flatout drain your energy. Stay focused and true to your path. Allow time for your vision to take root and path to emerge. Sometimes it's not that things are impossible or the path is wrong, sometimes it's just that you're still early in the process. Learn to trust that process.

Track your progress and ask for feedback to work colleagues, to friends, to family. All evolves together, and perhaps the daily tasks and responsabilities at work and out may drain you out, but when you set some distance, when those close to you give their honest opinion, you will be encouraged to continue growing but more importantly, you will see your current status and will have more information and reaffirmation on planning what the next step can be and update your goals. And always focused on growing and learning.

In a world full of distractions and competition, you will need to stay healthy in order to be able to achieve your long term career vision. By this, you need exercise regularly and eat well. Keep your mind busy by reading and adapting lifelong learning tools and partners who can hold you accountable when you are losing focus. Cheers!