How to create the (professional) future we dream about?

By Noelí Juliá Rodriguez

"Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you". Oprah

Most of us have dreams, desires, goals we want to achieve. Since we're little kids our family asks us what we want to be as grown ups, and as time goes by, that question starts changing to: What are you going to study? Where would you like to work?  

What we do usually defines us. Most of us dedicate more hours to our jobs than the ones we spend enjoying our hobbies. That's why I think that finding wellness and fun in our work environment is key, and for that reason we need to find (if possible) a job that nourishes, satisfies and passionate us. But, how do we get that job we dream about? In this article you can find some advice that has helped me in my journey.

Choose authentic objectives

Which is your final line? Where would you like to go?

Take some time to think about this before moving on with the next steps. Is this final goal aligned with you, with your life purpose or is it some social or familiar mandate? Do you actually want to do that or is it a fashion trend everyone in your field is following? 

Some questions that can help you reflect on this: 

1. Which daily activities fit you best? Which ones demand you less effort? 
2. In your daily job/studies: which activities do you like doing? Which ones bring you energy when you see them on the calendar? If you were able to design your dream job, how would it be? Where would you invest the most of your time? 
3. Why do you want that particular job, or work in that particular company? What do you want to achieve with that? What would you like to bring to the table?
4. How do you feel when doing that activity? 
5. Which are your life priorities and how does your job fit into them?

These are just some triggers to help you think about your life purpose and get some definitions before getting things going. You don't need to answer every question and you can definitely find new ones as you go along. The only thing that matters is that you take the time to have this clear before diving into the following chapters.

Objectives vs intentions

Once you have a clear vision of where you want to go, why you want to go there and, most importantly, what you want to achieve with that, the next step is to start working on it. 

At this point it is important to separate two key concepts: objectives and intentions. But, what's the difference? 

Objectives: these are things that you can actually achieve with methods or tools that you already know. 

Ex: I want to become a senior product designer. I do know what to do to get myself there:

• Study (take a course, watch some YouTube videos, read tutorials)
• Practice
• Contact some referents on the field

Intentions: On the other side, intentions are goals you want to achieve but you don't have any tool or information on how to get there.  

Ex. I want to start working as a product specialist in a certain company that I dreamt about since I was a little kid, but that company is really big and I don't know how to reach anyone in a hiring role, or they're not looking for professionals in my position.

Set affordable action items 

Let's work on the objectives first: how can you move forward on the path of your dreams? 

It'll probably feel overwhelming at the beginning, you might feel that the goal is really difficult or even impossible. That's why it is so important to divide your journey into small pieces and actions you can actually take. 

There's a popular acronym that is useful at this point of the process, your steps have to be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound). The whole idea of this method is that you can set short SMART milestones in your way to achieve your dreams. Your steps need to be:

• Specific: The less abstract, the better. Ex: I'm going to take 1 class per week for 2 months.
• Measurable: something that you can revise after a certain period of time and check metrics of your evolution. If you were able to meet your goal or not and if not, why. 
• Achievable: It has to be challenging but also sustainable throughout a long period of time so you can actually meet those expectations and don't feel frustrated.  
• Relevant: It has to be relevant for your final destination, the future you dream about. 
• Time-bound: Set specific timelines to actually keep track of your process and see if it's working. 

Some personal advice I'd like to add to this list: 

• Don't push yourself too hard, try setting some realistic goals and deadlines. Trying to do more than you can only leads to frustration and elevates the chances of quitting. If you plan something sustainable during a period of time you'll see better results. 
• Don't think in black and white, there are shades of gray. If you had planned to do 8 classes in 2 months and you managed to do 7 because you were sick, it doesn't mean you didn't accomplish the objective, it means you were able to accomplish almost 90% of it, and that's a lot! It also means that you were able to listen to your body when you needed time to rest, which is really important if you want to keep working and succeeding in the long term. 
• Find your support network. Surround yourself with people that encourage and nourish you. Friends, family, colleagues. Contact people you think that went through the same path and that can share some advice. Create your own power circle. 

Different things work for different people. You can start with some small goals, maybe cooking healthy food or doing some exercise. Test what works for you, challenge this list, mix it up, add your own items. The most important thing is that you can commit to yourself and the process of creating your dream future.

But what do I do with my intentions?

Write them down, print some images that remind you of that, set them as the wallpaper on your phone, have those intentions present on your daily basis. Follow people that have achieved what you want, learn about their journey, talk about your intentions with everyone if the occasion comes up. You never know what or who might lead you to the key that opens that door you want to cross. 

To finish, some important questions to have present along the journey: 

• Which life do I want to have?
• Which are my life priorities? 
• Which are my non-negotiable?
• Which is my idea of success and which one my idea of failure? 

Having these questions and answers in mind will help to keep you on your way, make the correct decisions based on your final goal and don't get lost in the frenetic pace of this world we're living in.

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