How to set career goals and plan out your professional future

In brief 1) Take the initiative. “If they’re too acclimated to that culture then they’re going to sit back in the job and wait for someone to come to them and say, ‘OK, here’s an assignment that is due by this date,’ rather than take the initiative and ask, ‘What can I do?’” says Mr. Lee. Mr. Lee recommends approaching the conversation by saying: “I really like my job, but two or three years from now, I don’t think either of us want me to still be doing the same thing.” You could follow up with: “What can I do now to help prepare myself for the next opportunity?” 2. “If I can see a direct path to somebody adding more referrals, creating more testimonials, making more sales or eliminating costs, I will happily pay you $5,000 or $10,000 dollars more,” says career coach Tracy Timm, “because you’ve made a really strong case for your value.” Your goals should be: 1) Actionable. Can you help me, because I want to be happy and I want to make an impact?’” It is never too early at a new job to start setting goals, trying to learn new skills, and looking at where you can be making changes.