Considering that a career lasts more than 40 years and that you will spend around 40 hours per week at your job during those years, it would seem obvious to look for a job that you enjoy. However, the gap between your dream job and the positions that are actually available to you can be big.
This is why it’s essential to find a good middle ground between those two. In this article, we tackle the question of how to reconcile your dreams with your professional objectives.
Your Dream is Not an Objective
It’s very important to distinguish your dream from your professional objectives. Even if the two concepts overlap in some cases, they remain fundamentally different.
On one side, you have your dream: a wish or desire to realize something. Dreams are typically more abstract than objectives and may depend on a number of factors over which you have no control. Dreams can provide you with motivation over the long term and allow you to aim higher and farther.
On the other side, you have your objectives, which are more pragmatic and concrete. They are directly connected to actions you can take in order to fulfill them. While dreams may prove themselves to be irrational or idealist, objectives are focused on logic. They also depend on factors that you have more control over.
Your Dream Gives You an Ultimate Goal
Consider your dream to be the ultimate goal that you want to achieve. To achieve this goal, you will need to take concrete actions in order to transform your aspirations and your willingness to work hard into real-world results. How do you do that? First things first: you need to define your objectives!
If you’re looking to find a job that you enjoy and that nourishes your soul, you can narrow down your choices to positions that align with your long-term dream. This strategy works as well for personal dreams as well as professional ones: after all, these two elements are both important parts of your life. The idea is to set out different concrete objectives that will allow you to gradually realize your ultimate dream.
Break Down Your Dream into Professional Objectives
To simplify your journey and to make your dream more accessible, set out a series of smaller professional objectives to achieve, each of which should help you progress towards your ultimate goal – the realization of your dream!
To achieve this, try using the SMART technique which can help you set out concrete goals:
- Specific: Each objective you choose must be concrete and clearly defined. By avoiding vague objectives, you will be more motivated and productive.
- Measurable: Having quantifiable objectives will help you evaluate your progression.
- Attainable: It’s good to be ambitious, but your objectives need to be attainable in the real world. If they aren’t, you won’t be able to achieve them and you will become discouraged.
- Realistic: In line with the previous point, each of your objectives must be achievable with your current means and within your current environment. They also cannot depend on external factors that you cannot control.
- Time-based: Laying out a clear timeline for the achievement of your objectives is also a must, as this will help you stay motivated.
What is your dream? And what professional objectives can you set for yourself with the goal of realizing your dream?
By Imane Madi
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