How to Plan a Successful Career & Life You Love | Career Planning Tips for Ambitious People

No, you can't plan your entire career or your life, especially with layoffs, recession and AI. It's just not possible. But you can do these seven things that I'm going to talk to you about today to make your entire career journey smoother. So let's begin. Hi everyone, I'm Meher. I'm the career coach and mentor that you were looking for because today I'm going to break down the entire career planning journey for you to make your whole career a little bit smoother because as Sheryl Sandberg says, your career is not a ladder, it's a jungle gym. And with all the uncertainties that we are currently facing, it's very important to embrace that. And these are the things that I'm going to cover in today's video. The first and foremost is the right mindset that you need to have to plan your life and your career. Like I said, there are so many things that are happening right now. You're hearing all these big, big companies are firing people left, right and center. Layoffs is something that we need to be aware of. We need to know now that there is no such thing as job security. Even people graduating from top universities are unable to get placed and find jobs that are right for them. We can't rely on university brands anymore. And that's the mindset that I want you to have. I want you to be flexible and adaptable. I want you to be able to embrace change when things get challenging, when things get different. With ChatGPT, all our careers have changed significantly. There's not one person or one sector or one industry that won't be impacted by the changes that are coming up because of technology. So whether you're a teenager in your 20s, in your 30s, in your 40s, you need to know that things how they look today are going to look very, very different 5 years from now, 10 years from now. And you need to be open to these challenges, open to these new opportunities that are coming your way. If you don't embrace the changes, you will be left behind. You need to have a growth mindset. You need to be on this continuous journey of self-improvement and increasing your knowledge as well as your skills. So have that golden mindset, that growth mindset, that yes, I like these 5 things today, but my career may look differently 5-10 years from now. You cannot have your entire life figured out. Like Steve Jobs said, eventually the dots connect. You cannot plan what the dots are going to be in the future. You can only do your best right now, but keep learning and growing as you go along the journey. The second thing I want you to do is self-reflection. You have to know that your career, your work is one part of your life. That's so important to know. And that is a concept that is coming up now. Work-life balance is something that we've talked about and heard about. But there's something known as work-life integration that's going to become the new way of working because of technology, because most of us will be able to do our jobs flexibly in a remote setting in the future. Which is why you need to remember that your career is one part of your life. It's not your entire life. You need to firstly sit down by yourself and ask yourself, what do I want my life to look like? And again, you can do this at any stage in your life. If you're in your 20s, you can sit and plan, okay, what do I want my 30s to look like, 40s to look like. If you're in your 30s right now and you want to make a career pivot, that's fine too. What is it that is wrong in your current scenario? What do you want to change? So seriously, sit down by yourself and ask yourself these questions. And write them down in a journal. What are the skills that I currently possess? What are the skills that I want to master? What are the activities that I love doing that when I do them, time seems to fly? Where do I want to live? How many hours do I want to work? What kind of a home do I envision for myself? How important is work-life balance for me? How much time do I want to spend on my personal commitments? What kind of an impact do I want to leave on the world? How do I want to spend my mornings, my afternoons and my evenings? What kind of work will excite me? What will make me happy about getting out of bed on a Monday morning? Once you do this, once you know what are the skills you have, once you know what are the skills you want to master, once you know vaguely what you want your life to look like, then you will be able to create a life like that. It's very important to know what you don't want to get to what you really, really want. So for example, young Mehar, when she was 20 years old, she started working at this big company, super excited. At that stage in my career, I really wanted to be a part of a big company, to be a corporate honcho and go dressed up in my suit and boot, looking all sharp, being in this glass building. That is something that really excited me. That is what I envisioned for myself. I probably wanted to be a partner or a director in a large organization at that stage in my career. So I took the steps in that direction. However, if I was sitting with young Mehar right now, I would make her sit and assess her skills and make her realize that she is more of a creative person than somebody who wanted a desk job. She had more entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurial spirit in her than being someone who would be working in a monotonous 9-to-5 job. And that is something you really need to do. Don't run after just the brand value associated with the company. Of course, that is also important. But if you are not feeling fulfilled every single day going to work, if you are not able to tap into your creativity, into your skills, slowly and steadily, the fire will begin to fade. And I don't want that for you because I have been in that position myself. And related to this is the third thing that you need to do is make a list of all your strengths, your core competencies, your unique skills. Recognize the areas that you think you can do well in. Your interests, your hobbies, what makes you shine, what makes you different. Everybody is unique, everybody is different. And I'm telling you this, young Mehar at 20 years old wanted to start a YouTube channel and she also did. But she never hit publish. She never shared it with anyone. I also had a secret blog where I used to share my outfits but I did not tell anybody about it. Can you see? Those were my talents. Those were my interests and my hobbies that I never tapped into. I only started it six years later. And maybe by then it was a little too late. I don't want you to feel like this. I really don't. Once you know your strengths, you'll be able to understand, okay, these are my strengths. This is something that I can develop a deep knowledge in. I can become a specialist in coding. I can become a specialist who knows how to talk to chat GPT and I can use that to outshine anybody. That is what will make me irreplaceable. Think of the one or two things that you are really good at that not many people are good at as well and use that to your advantage. The fourth thing that I want you to do is develop a career capital. A career capital is anything that you can possess that will help you take your career to the next level. Now that could be experiences. That could be degrees, qualifications, credentials. That could be your network. That could be all the skills that you possess or acquire. Once you figure out your strengths, I want you to start building your career capital in those fields. So that could be you gaining experience through internships, through projects, through unpaid work even. That could be you going on a journey continuously to improve your soft and hard skills. That could be you keeping a portfolio of all the work that you've done. Your achievements, your credentials, your certifications. Anything that showcases your contributions and your experience. And after that, you need to cultivate key networking relationships. Reaching out to people, asking them to catch up with you for a coffee chat. These are the people who could help you. These are the people who could give you some guidance, some mentorship and provide you with opportunities that you don't even know about. Your career capital will be like your elevator pitch to anybody you meet. You have all these things that you've already done. That's your social proof. That's your portfolio of proof. That yes, I am capable. That yes, I am somebody who has the knowledge, who has that skill, who has that experience. So for example, my career capital for starting an Instagram page was I had helped my maasi slash aunt as well as my mum's business set up their own Instagram pages. I managed their social media for the longest time. That was my way of understanding that yes, this is something that sparks joy for me. That yes, this is something I enjoy. And yes, this is something that I'm good at. This is something that I could do on a long-term basis. Your career capital will act like a bulletproof shield for you that will help you get more opportunities in the field that you really want to be in. Again, that could be through unpaid work, through internships, through projects, through whatever it is. If you have a full-time job and you like photography, your career capital could be you doing a free photography session for your friend's event. Or it could be you reaching out to other photographers in the industry and asking them for advice, for tips. The fifth thing that I really want you to do is focus on building your personal brand. Your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room. And I have a separate YouTube video on that that you can check out on my channel. You can build a brand at work and outside of work. First and foremost, you need to understand how do you define your brand? What do you want to be known for? You can't be known for everything. I can't be known as somebody who's very good at cooking also and very good at photography also. I will need to choose one or two things that I'm really good at and those will be my pillars of strength. Those will be the pillars of identification for my brand. So define what makes you happy, what makes you tick, what makes you different. And use that to build your online presence as well. It's so important for us to be building our brand and voicing our brand on a platform like LinkedIn. That's where you can showcase your skills, your achievements, your challenges, your failures. If you're somebody who's just starting out your career, there are still so many things you can talk about. You can talk about how you did not do so well in university, how you participated in an inter-school competition and won the first prize, how you have used discipline and motivation to do well in your exams. What are the things that you loved about your university? What are the challenges that one can face to get an admission in your university? Or if you're somebody who's an experienced professional, you can talk about the pros and cons of being a part of a large corporation. You can talk about how you wanted to start a startup idea but you never did. Share your expertise. If you are uncomfortable putting yourself out there, just comment on other people's content. Start building your network and showing your expertise like that. Go for podcasts. Start your own blog. Give interviews with other people. If you start speaking right now, your public speaking skills will also improve and you will also start to be recognized as someone who is an expert in this field. If you're 21 right now and at the lowest level in the organization, maybe you're an intern or an analyst, please remember everybody started from that position. Everybody started from scratch. But you can be the best bloody analyst there is. You can be somebody who showcases their skills as an analyst online. Don't let the age factor hold you back. For example, I'm in my 30s right now. I have been through significant ups and downs in my career journey. And there are still so many things I can talk about because right now I'm going through a new chapter in my life and that is motherhood. And being a working mom is something that I know a lot of people will resonate with. And that's something I want to talk about and share about and be vulnerable about. There's always something you can share to the other person. There's always something that you can bring to the table. There's always something that you can share that nobody else knows about. That makes you unique. That's your USP. Unique selling point. And like I said, share your expertise with other people in your industry. Interact with your audience. Respond to comments. Go for industry-specific events. Meet people over there. Look up to people who are five, six years ahead of you. Maybe you have a dream career path and you have somebody who is your North Star. Somebody you can look at and say, okay, I want that kind of a career or I want that kind of a life. Reach out to them. Ask them what has worked for them, what hasn't worked for them. Once you start building your online brand, you'll see that opportunities will just start to come to you. If you're in a full-time job and you can't be talking about your side hustle online, I totally get that. I've been in that position myself. But maybe you can reach out to people on a one-to-one basis. Maybe you can go for events that are happening that could help your side hustle. There's so much one can do always. Please don't think that there is not enough out there. There are plenty of opportunities out there. You just need to go and grasp them. The sixth thing that I want you to do is set clear goals. Now, I'm not saying that you need to set goals for the rest of your life and the rest of your career. No. I just want you to do three things. Set short-term goals, set long-term goals and regularly review all your goals. So short-term goals could be something that you complete in the next six months to one year. These goals are very specific, very measurable and usually easily attainable. For example, that could be you completing a certification course in digital marketing or it could be you passing the CA final exams or it could be something like attend three professional networking events every month. Whatever that may be for you, define what your short-term goals are but they have to be aligned to your long-term goals. Remember the self-reflection that we just did in step 2? You need to reflect on what your life can look like and then set long-term goals according to that. So for example, my long-term goal is to write a book. That is not something that I'm looking to achieve in the next six months to one year but I know that in the next five to ten years, I will write a book. So that is my long-term goal. But what could be my short-term goal that is related to my long-term goal? That could be that I'm regularly creating content. That could be that I can regularly maintain a diary of the things that are happening in my life that will help me write my book maybe later. So your long-term goals are just that. Your vision for your life and your career for the next five to ten years defined by your self-reflection in step 2. The long-term goals will just help you give a vision for your life, for your career. Where are you headed? It's very important to set goals because they give us direction. Otherwise, we're just all over the place. If we don't know what are the things we need to achieve, our life will just be scattered. So eventually, if you want to be an entrepreneur, think that okay, that's my long-term goal. So what are the skills I need to start building right now that could be my short-term goals that will help me become a better entrepreneur? And the third thing you need to do is regularly review your goals because you're constantly evolving as an individual. You're not the same person you used to be five years ago. Your mindset is changing. You are growing every single day through failures, through successes. You're becoming a better version of yourself. So if you review your goals every three months, every six months, it will help you stay aligned to your long-term career plan. And your long-term career plan can also shift. So for example, when I started working at a big company at the age of 20, I joined thinking that, okay, I'm going to be a partner at this firm. But once I started working there and I observed the people who are much more ahead of me, 5-10 years ahead of me, I thought to myself that maybe I do not want my life to look like that. I want something different from my life. And that's when I changed my goals. That's when I realised, okay, maybe I should do an MBA because I eventually want to be an entrepreneur. I'm more creative than analytical. So maybe I need to do something more in the creative field. If you don't self-reflect, if you don't periodically review, if you don't understand what you truly, truly want when your gut instinct is telling you that something is wrong, there is something else out there for me, you need to listen to that feeling. You need to change and shift your goals. And even if that means hurting people and disappointing people, it's okay. Because it has to be aligned to who you are as a person. It's your life. It's your career. You have to stay true to who you want to be. And the last thing, and probably the most important thing that you need to do is start building a supportive network. Now, your network is your network. I keep saying this. This is a very famous quote. Find people who will be your cheerleaders. Now, you need to have three types of people in your network. And fourth, you will have by accident anyway. First are your mentors. Now, these are people you can look up to for guidance, for advice. These are people who are in your life who can give you support on the basis of their own experiences. For me, the longest time, my mentors were my parents. Now, it's my husband because I go back to him again and again whenever I'm faced with adversity and challenges. He coaches me. He mentors me. And I am a mentor for many of my students as well who have sent me so many messages thanking me that I have changed their lives and I mentored them that my support has meant the world to them. Now, your mentor could be somebody you look up to online or it could be somebody who's in your organization who's in a senior position or it could be somebody who is just one step ahead of you. But remember, a mentor has to always be someone who has the experience that you are looking for, who can share advice based on their own experience. If they don't have the experience, if they don't have the knowledge, they are not really your mentors in that particular field. The second type of people you need to have in your network are peers or colleagues. You can call them whatever. Peers could be people who are in a similar position as you are, the similar stage as you in their career. Now, these people can offer support. They can share their experiences, opportunities that are happening with them. They can share with you. You can even collaborate with them on different opportunities, engage with them in different networking events. How could you build a network of peers is when you engage with people you already work with. So your co-workers, your colleagues, people in your industry when you go to industry-specific events. For example, if you work in the tech division at Microsoft, somebody who could be a peer could be somebody working at Meta or Google, also in the tech division. The third type of people in your network are your professional connections. Now, these are people who are not your mentors and not your peers, but they are people in your industry who you could develop professional connections with. Maybe I'm in the digital marketing space, but I see somebody in the recruitment space and I think that their career is very inspiring. I could reach out to them and say, hey, you've done some great stuff in your career. Maybe we should have a chat. When you have conversations with people with diverse backgrounds, with diverse thinking, you'll broaden your horizon. You'll learn new things. If you're a chartered accountant, only talking to chartered accountants, your knowledge will be very limited. And with a globally fast-paced changing world, it's very important for an accountant to be talking to a marketeer, to be talking to someone in the AI space, to be talking to someone in HR, to be talking to a lawyer, to be talking to somebody who is a risk consultant, who's in analytics, any bloody person, any person who is a professional. You never know when these connections come in handy. So take out the time to go for industry events, to go for events that are happening remotely connected to what you're interested in. Now, for example, I'm a female entrepreneur. I'm a female creator. When I go for specific events related to creators or related to female entrepreneurships, that's where I feel more engaged. Even if the other entrepreneur is in a completely different industry, I will be always able to learn more from them. And the fourth type of people in your network that you don't realize are already a part of your network are your friends and your family. And these are the relationships that we do not exploit enough. And we need to. You know, your network is made up of weak ties as well as strong ties. Your friends and family come in your strong ties and they know people who could help you. Those are your weak ties. So your friends of friends are your weak ties. The friends of your family members are your weak ties. Please don't be afraid to take the help of your friends and family to excel in your career. They could help you with opportunities that you don't even know of. Friends and family also give you enough encouragement and support. If you're starting a new venture, they will be your first customers. If you're starting a new job and they know somebody who's working there, they will be the first ones to help you reach out to that person. Your friends and family will also keep you grounded, will be your biggest cheerleaders. So make sure you take out the time to develop these relationships and also maintain relationships with everybody in your network. It's a give and take. You can't keep taking things from others. You have to give things in return as well. I hope this was useful for you, my friends. If you want to see more such videos or you want me to cover one particular topic of today's video in a more detailed manner, let me know in the comments below. And please share this with somebody who is completely lost. I will just say, focus on your strengths, identify your strengths, reflect on what you really want your life to look like and set goals accordingly. So many of us don't take out the time to reflect and set goals. I'm working on this list by Mr. Ted that is 101 things I want to do in this life. And making that list, I'm sure, will help me keep in track towards my goals because I want to achieve so many things in this life. I want to experience so many things in life and I'm sure you want to as well. If you want me to make a separate video on that, let me know in the comments below. I'm back with more videos and I'll be back soon with another one. But until then, keep reflecting on your goals. I hope to see you soon. Bye!