From Vision to Victory

Have you ever stopped to consider what truly guides your career journey?

It all starts with a clear, strategic vision - one that’s both practical and inspirational.

Because your career isn't just a job... It's a process of self-discovery and growth.

You can think of it as an epic adventure. But where are you going? And how do you get there?

In this article, we'll explore how to envision a career roadmap that's not just strategic, but also deeply personal and inspiring.

We've been talking about the small steps, the next moves, the skills you need right now.

But what about the big picture? Where do you want your career to go in the really long run?

That's what a strategic vision is all about. It's not just a buzzword; it's your personal compass, guiding you through the twists and turns that naturally arise when having a dynamic professional life.

This is not about having some super-specific goal, like "I must be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company by the time I'm 45."

That's what I call a "goal" – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART). And honestly, while SMART goals have their place, I'm not always a massive fan of them when it comes to the really long-term stuff.

Imagine it like an old-fashioned paper map: full of landmarks, routes, and detours.

As you grow, so should your vision. The roadmap isn’t written in stone - it’s a canvas that expands with every experience, challenge, and decision. True fulfillment comes when your career grows with you, aligned with who you are becoming.

You don’t have to have it all figured out when you start. Your path can, and should shift, grow, and even restart - and that’s not failure; that’s real-life learning.

There are so many variables that can change, so many external factors you can't control. It's like setting yourself up for potential "failure" because you've chosen a target that might be too narrow and rigid.

Instead, I encourage people to develop a vision or a direction. Something more... ethereal. More of a feeling, if you will.

It's about asking yourself the deeper questions. For example, for me, it's not about chasing a specific title or working in a particular industry. What I'm looking into is identifying the core things that truly drive me, the things that give my work meaning.

For me, that's helping people. I get a real kick out of supporting others to achieve their goals, unlock their potential, and create a life they love. That's a huge part of why I do this coaching thing. It's neatly tied in with my personal values of service, collaboration, and making a positive impact.

Your vision should be aligned with your core values because, crucially, those are less likely to change significantly over time.

Ask yourself and reflect on:

- What kind of work makes you feel alive?

- What kind of impact do you want to leave on the world?

- What kind of lifestyle do you crave?

Short-term goals are your stepping stones to that long-term vision. They're the practical actions that move you in the right direction, even if the final destination is still a bit hazy. It's like that classic saying: "How do you navigate the journey of a thousand miles? You take the next step." You've got to start somewhere, right?

But what we need to keep in mind is that our career journeys are rarely a straight line. It's not a predetermined, linear path from entry-level grunt to corner office king. Think of all those Hollywood films where the plucky intern ends up running the company... It's a great story, but it's rarely reality.

It's more like a winding road, with unexpected turns, detours, and even the occasional dead end. And short-term goals help you navigate those twists and turns. They're your way of saying, "Okay, this feels like the right next step, given where I want to end up."

Here's the real danger of setting your sights on one, and only one, super-specific long-term goal: you put on blinkers! You develop tunnel vision and close yourself off to other opportunities that might actually be a much better fit for you, your skills, and your passions.

For example, imagine you're a software engineer, and your rigid, long-term goal is to become a senior software engineer at your current company. You might completely miss out on an amazing product manager role at a different company, a role that would utilize your technical skills but also allow you to develop your leadership and communication abilities.

You've got to stay open to the unexpected, because you don't control when those opportunities arise. Someone resigns, the company decides to restructure, a new industry emerges... It's all influenced by external factors.

So, your strategic vision acts as your North Star. It's your guiding light, your internal compass, helping you make those crucial decisions about which paths to explore and which to avoid.

It helps you assess:

• Is this opportunity taking me closer to where I want to be (in terms of my values, my passions, my ideal lifestyle)?

• Is it taking me further away from that vision?

• Is it keeping me in the same place for now, but offering something valuable in the meantime (like new skills or experience)?

It's a way to navigate the often overwhelming plethora of opportunities that come your way, even when you're not actively job hunting 👀

It's not a simple "yes" or "no," though. Your vision is often more of a feeling, an intuition, than a perfectly defined, step-by-step plan. It's something you know deep down, even if you can't always articulate it with crystal clarity yet.

As I said before, for me, it's that deep-seated desire to help people achieve their dreams. That sounds pretty simple (and maybe even a bit cheesy to some!), but it resonates with me on a profound level. It's what gets me out of bed in the morning.

As I mentioned earlier, I've had countless conversations with people about their careers, and the overwhelming majority tell me that their journey has been anything but a straight line.

So, ditch the idea of a pre-determined path. You're not just following in someone else's footsteps; you're making your own path.

And yeah, that can be a bit scary! It takes courage and resilience to step away from the well-trodden road and embrace the unknown. But the most fulfilling and authentic careers are often the ones where you take ownership - where you lean into your unique skills, passions, and values, and create something that's truly yours.

Whether that means leading a team from the C-suite, freelancing from home between school pick-ups and gardening, launching your own side hustle, or finding purpose in a mission-driven organization, there’s no one-size-fits-all success. What matters is that it’s aligned with you.

Of course, you can and should take inspiration from others! Mentors, role models, people you admire... They can all help you shape your own vision and inform your decisions. But ultimately, it's your journey, and you get to decide where it goes.

You know the classic rags-to-riches narrative where you start in the mailroom, work your way up the corporate ladder, and end up as the big cheese. I refer to it as "The Disney Career Path."

It's a powerful and seductive story, I get it. It taps into that idea that anyone can achieve anything if they just work hard enough. But it's also incredibly rare in reality. The stars have to align in so many specific ways for that to actually happen. So, while it's nice to dream big, don't make your entire career vision dependent on that kind of unrealistic scenario.

Your vision should be flexible and adaptable enough to accommodate the unpredictable nature of the world of work.

You don't have complete control over when opportunities arise, but you do have a significant degree of control over how you react to them. You control your decisions, your effort, your skills development, and your attitude. You also control how prepared you are for their arrival.

So, design your vision, set those short-term goals that act as your stepping stones, and start creating a career that's meaningful, fulfilling, and that helps you build the life you truly want.

What are your thoughts on crafting a career vision? Any tips or insights from your own experiences that you'd like to share in the comments below? 👇