Latest / SisterSmart Leadership / 17: How to Develop Your Career Plan

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17: How to Develop Your Career Plan · SisterSmart Leadership

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  Have you planned out your career intentionally or
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  has it happened by chance?
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  If you're like most people, you've taken opportunities as they've come rather
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  than intentionally deciding where you want to go and what you'll need to
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  get there before setting your goals.
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  I have to admit that in my career, I tried to plan things out, but it
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  never quite went as well as I planned.
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  And that's because I didn't know what it would take to get there
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  or how to access these resources.
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  But now that's exactly what we help our clients do.
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  And we have created a career map that you can follow yourself to
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  create your own path forward.
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  In this episode, Sister Smart coach, Sarah Spencer, and I are talking
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  about how to develop your career plan.
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  So you're going to want to stay with us because we'll be taking
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  you through our 12 step process to map out your career trajectory.
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  I'm Jill Avey, a career success coach, and this is Sister Smart Leadership, the
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  show that explores how women can rise from director to vice president and beyond
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  by fully leaning into their feminine energy as their biggest advantage.
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  Let's get you one step closer to the recognition and promotion you deserve.
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  It's important to map out your career journey because when you simply take
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  opportunities as they come, you can end up in a place that you never
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  wanted to be by the end of your career.
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  And I've worked with clients in this situation, and it can be disheartening
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  to think that you have worked so hard only to end up in a place that's
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  unfulfilling because it's not aligned with your values and your skill set.
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  So instead of following your own direction, you did what others do.
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  A better situation would be to be intentional about what will make a
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  successful and fulfilling career.
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  So we're here to help you avoid that unhappy situation by
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  charting out your direction today.
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  Sarah, will you please let give us a start on the first few
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  steps of this process that we have called the career map?
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  Yeah, I'd love to.
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  So the first step is to reflect on the past year and although it can be
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  tempting, to run ahead and you've got so much on your plate and you already
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  know you've got a lot coming up.
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  It's best to reflect on what we've done because that's where we're really going
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  to learn about how did we use our time?
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  How far have we come?
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  What have we accomplished?
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  How did I feel about what I accomplished?
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  Am I satisfied with what I've accomplished?
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  So give yourself some time to, take a step back and reflect on your year and then
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  the next step is after you take a moment to reflect is to interpret it, right?
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  And you want to look back through your annual review.
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  What feedback did you get?
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  What was said or what was not said?
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  And how would you interpret that, right?
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  The positives and the opportunities or the negatives, right?
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  So what do you appreciate about the feedback that you were given?
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  Dan Sullivan talks about the gap and the gain.
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  And we want to focus in on also the things that we've gained in the
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  last year versus what we don't have.
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  And so that way that we, we can build our self confidence, build our self
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  esteem, and just really, appreciate the work that we've done as well.
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  And then we also want to look at those criticisms Do we even
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  want to do anything with them?
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  So it's a really good opportunity to reflect and interpret.
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  So those first two steps are critical.
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  I was just laughing when you were talking about interpreting your review because I
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  see so many of our clients that just hone in on that one thing that somebody said
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  that was negative and they forget the whole rest, the other 98 percent of the
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  positive things that were in their review.
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  And so it's such an important step to really stop and analyze that review and
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  see all the good things that somebody said about you and really take those in because
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  it's so often that we don't do that.
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  And then the third step is to get yourself into that state of
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  dreaming about your aspirations.
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  So this is a crucial step to push yourself beyond your limits, right?
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  Is to take some time to actually get into the prefrontal cortex and to
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  dream about those possibilities, right?
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  And And to just be in that dream creative state so that new thinking
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  and new ideas can come forward.
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  And then we want to take it to the next step where we're defining our career path.
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  Map out what are those next few steps in your career and how could you get there?
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  It's one thing to dream, and then it's one to start putting it into concrete actions.
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  To just map out those first few steps.
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  So how our clients use this career map process is they either use it
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  at the end of the year to map out their new year, or they use it during
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  their personal strategy retreat.
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  So the personal strategy retreat is something that we
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  do in our Sister Smart program.
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  Where people take a couple of days away to really have time to reflect and decide
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  what it is that they want for their lives.
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  And so this will help them in that process.
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  And then they also follow that up with quarterly retreats that are just a couple
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  hours, but then you can also go back and reflect through this process at each
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  one of those quarterly retreats as well.
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  Once you've done all of that process, now you're ready to think
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  about your career in general.
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  So we've got the 6 elements of a good career plan.
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  And the first onw is your people element.
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  So this is who is it that you need on your team to be able
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  to get to where you want to go?
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  When you've got your career path defined, you're going to much
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  more easily be able to see who it is that you'll need on the way.
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  And so that might be people to teach you something, to introduce
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  you to others, to encourage you and cheer you on those kinds of people.
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  Nobody gets to the top alone.
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  And so we, we always need to be surrounded by people, but being intentional about
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  the types of people that you might need to meet or that relationships that you
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  want to deepen can be really important.
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  Our next element is time.
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  Time is our most precious resource, I think, for anyone.
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  It's more important than any of our other resources because it's,
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  in such short supply these days.
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  And so how we use our time and being really intentional about the things that
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  we're putting on our plate versus taking off of our plate is really important.
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  And this is a great time to think about taking things off the plate and what
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  are you not going to spend your time on?
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  That is usually one of the biggest things that we can do to make
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  an impact on our careers is to decide what we're not going to do.
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  And that allows us to focus in on the things that we do want to do, that we
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  really want to optimize and be great at.
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  So our next element is the skills element.
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  So what are the skills that you need?
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  You really take a good look at the skill set that you have now and the skill set
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  that you'll need for that next step in your career and the next step beyond that.
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  And our next element is the energy element, because I think after time,
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  energy is our next most finite resource.
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  So how are you taking care of your energy?
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  Are you taking care of your wellbeing by getting enough sleep and eating well and
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  exercising well and taking enough breaks?
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  One of the biggest impacts on our energy can be actually downtime and
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  allowing ourselves to rejuvenate.
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  So that's a really great thing to stop and take a look at what, what needs to
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  be shifted or optimized in that category.
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  And then our next element is thinking.
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  As we rise up the ladder, we are more and more hired to do the job
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  for our brains and our thinking power, yet that is something that
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  we often don't put a lot of time to.
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  So the higher up you go, the more time you need for thinking and the more you
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  need to hone your thinking patterns and habits and the different decision
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  models you use and things like that.
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  So this is often something that needs some attention in people's careers.
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  And then our final element is the personal element.
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  All leaders are only as good as they're leading themselves.
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  And so how much are you investing in yourself and developing
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  your own emotional development?
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  and your interpersonal skills.
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  And as well as, the big one is really our knowledge of ourselves because we
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  continually grow and shift and change.
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  And so we really need to continue to on that journey of self discovery
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  to, to, be keeping up with all of the changes that we're experiencing
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  as we go through our lives.
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  And then where do we take it from there, Sarah?
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  So after you finish those steps, the next step is looking forward.
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  So we want to take some time to envision the next year and think
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  through what do you want to reach for?
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  What do you want to aspire to be or to have or what role you desire to be in?
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  So this is that time to visualize, right?
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  What maybe in that role, what would you be wearing?
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  Who would you be with?
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  So take some time to really visualize and get into that prefrontal cortex
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  where you're dreaming about what is that next year and what is up
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  to three years look like, right?
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  Cause one year could be, maybe it's too short and we want to look
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  out over the next three years.
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  And there is some research that was done regarding visualization in sports.
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  I know we, we talk a lot, Jill, about the positive intelligence program
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  and Sherzod speaks to the research study that was done on the basketball
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  players, the basketball team that was wanting to improve their free throws.
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  So they had three groups, one group visualized every day for 30 days,
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  them getting those free throws in.
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  The next group practiced every day, and the third group did nothing.
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  Everything just stayed the same.
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  And so the results that they saw with the group that was visualizing
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  is that they improved 24%.
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  just from visualizing for 30 days, then getting those free throws in.
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  Isn't that amazing?
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  And the group that practiced, they improved by 23%.
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  So that's all the details I've heard from that study, but I just feel like that is
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  just so fascinating that practicing and visualizing had such a similar impact.
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  And what if you did both, right?
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  You're visualizing that next year and then because the next step
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  is what is your commitment and that's putting it into practice.
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  So put that plan to paper and set your goals for the next year
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  and even out to three years.
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  And so then you're doing both, right?
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  And so how powerful that is and supporting what it is that you want to move forward.
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  And Jill, anything else you want to add to those final two very important steps?
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  I'd love to add that on the Sister Smart website, we have a goal setting
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  guide that you can, it's a video guide that you can download for free and go
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  through our method for setting goals.
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  We use a little different method than just your typical smart goals.
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  We use what's called ends goals and means goals so that it really creates a way for
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  you to set goals that become fulfilling for you instead of feeling like you're
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  on a goal treadmill and just checking off more and more things to accomplish.
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  So that can just feel exhausting sometimes people aren't sure how
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  they ended up where they ended up, when they set too many smart goals.
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  So that's a piece that I think is really a valuable guide
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  that we have on the website.
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  So I'll put a link in the show notes to that as well.
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  So we'd like to end each show with three shifts that you can make today.
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  So your first shift is to download the 12 step checklist that we just covered
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  and it's linked in the show notes below.
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  And you'll probably also want to get the full workbook.
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  It's available for $7, which will take you through each one of these 12
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  steps with journaling prompts to help you think through each one of them.
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  So you can really just sit down with the whole workbook and go through
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  this entire process step by step.
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  And the next shift will be to actually do that to take this checklist and
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  workbook and plan out your next year, whether you're, whenever you're listening
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  to this, you can start your year from right now and plan out what you want
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  to see happen for yourself in this next year and in the next three years.
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  And then this will get you ready for the final shift, which will be to choose
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  three or four goals to get started on now.
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  So which step resonates with you most?
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  If you're watching this on YouTube, please share your thoughts in the comments.
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  We'd love to hear which one of these you'd really like to work on and
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  then head on over the show notes to download your free checklist and
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  the Sister Smart career map guide.
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  So if you want to dive deeper into women's leadership and how to
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  move up in your career, subscribe either on YouTube or wherever you
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  listen to your favorite podcasts.
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  I'm on a mission to help more women get into leadership and stay there.
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  And if that's aligned with you, I'd love to have you be part of this community
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  and tune into more episodes on Sister Smart leadership that will support you in
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  becoming the leader that you want to be.
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  If you're ready to fully lean into your feminine leadership and get promoted
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  from director to vice president and beyond, hit that subscribe button so
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  you'll get all the episodes to come and check out the recommended video here
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  to see how women are rising up without playing by the old rules that built these
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  male dominated industries and systems.