The words “Know Thyself” were inscribed above the entrance to the Oracle of Delphi, and the Greek philosopher Socrates made these words the basis of his philosophy. If you don't know what you really want and what tools you have to achieve your goals, then you won't have any way of knowing whether you are on the right track or just stagnating in your professional life. The process of creating a written career plan begins with a personal audit or self-assessment. To do a personal audit, take a few days or a week to list your interests, goals, skills and talents. By taking this first step toward writing a career plan, you can get a clearer mental picture of who you really are and what you really want in life. This kind of clarity and self-knowledge can help you with every important life decision. (

After doing your self-assessment, make a list of your short-term and long-term goals and a time frame for each goal. For instance, you could have a short-term goal to finish your degree in two years or become manager of a department in four. You could have a long-term goal to start your own company or to make senior management in 20 years. Your career plan should have specific goals for different stages in your life. You can always change your career plan later if your personal goals evolve over time, but the career plan makes it possible for you to assess your own progress on an ongoing basis. If you don't have any particular professional goals, you're likely to just coast along year after year in the same position or type of job.

When writing your career plan, you might discover that you don't feel ready yet to set your long-term goals, especially if you're still in school or at the start of your career. If this happens, you should make a detailed plan to learn as much as you can about your areas of interest. You can set a short-term goal of learning all about the careers available in the fields that appeal to you and a long-term goal of selecting a particular career path by a certain date. This allows you to benefit from making a career plan even though you don't yet know what career you would like to pursue.

Once you have a list of short-term and long-term goals with a time frame for each, you should plan out specific steps designed to help you achieve those goals. For instance, if you want to have achieved a certain position within five years, you might plan to take a class, earn a certification or learn how to use a piece of software or equipment needed in that position. By the time you're done with your career plan, you should know not only where you want to end up in five years or 15 years, but exactly what you need to do over the next 12 months to start moving in that direction. A written career plan can give you both the clarity and the direction you need to achieve your goals.
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