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Setting career goals is a smart move. This healthy career management practice will advance your professional success and put you on the path to greater fulfillment. Goal setting is motivational too; it incentivizes us to courageously stretch ourselves, accomplish something new, and build a roadmap for where we want to take our careers.

One critical component to setting a career goal – any goal, for that matter – is to make sure you can achieve it and it is relevant to your success. You may have heard of the S.M.A.R.T. goal-setting method, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.

Here are five ways you can set S.M.A.R.T. career goals, and enjoy greater professional fulfillment:

1. Be Specific. For example, if your goal is to “find a job as quickly as possible” you probably need a lot more detail. Chances are you don’t want just any job, so make your intention specific: “I want a job leading a team for a non-profit where I am contributing to a mission I believe in.”
2. Make it Measurable: Let’s stick with the job-hunting scenario. The numbers of organizations you have targeted, resumes you have submitted, people you have networked with, and interviews you have won are all good examples of metrics that will help you assess your input vs. output. If you find you have not created enough volume of opportunities – or that you have not been tracking your job search activities well enough to even understand your ROI – then it’s time to reflect on that data and capture it going forward so you can better measure against your goal.
3. Ask: Is your goal Achievable? This is perhaps the most powerful question of all. Can you achieve the goal you are setting for yourself? If you are not experiencing a high level of success, it could be that your goal was unattainable to begin with. Let’s say you aim to be promoted to a management position within one year. What are the specific actions will you take to achieve this goal? Long-term goals often need to be broken down into smaller parts so we can visualize how to get there. Quick tip: Consider balancing long-term career goals with reasonable short-term goals that will provide a quicker reward and keep you motivated.
4. Make your career goals Relevant. Put another way, “What will achieving my goal do for me?” If you have your eye on that management position, your response to this introspective question might be “so I can gain important leadership skills and learn to run a team, since my long-term career goal is to become a CFO.” Your answer might also reveal short-term actions you can take to reach this goal, such as signing up for leadership training, finding a mentor, or networking with key individuals at your organization who can support you along the way.
5. Check: Are your career goals Timely? Give yourself a due date. If your goal is to “get a job leading a team at a non-profit where I am contributing to a mission I believe in,” decide by when you will have this job. Be realistic here, too – 90 days might be your ideal timeline, but six months might be a better bet. The same is true for our long-term goal example of being promoted to a management position. Ensuring you have dates by which to find a mentor or enroll in leadership training will make you more mindful of moving this goal forward.

Goal setting is key to career success. Part of the process is ensuring your goals are S.M.A.R.T. – and therefore worth spending your time on.

So take a look at your career goals. How S.M.A.R.T. are they?

Resilience – what it means, how to build it, and why it matters – has been a popular topic of discussion among thought leaders and educators the last several years.

Right now, resilience is not just a hot topic: We need it more than ever.

In a recent article in Psychology Today, resilience is defined as “that ineffable quality that allows some people to be knocked down by life and come back at least as strong as before. Rather than letting difficulties or failure overcome them and drain their resolve, they find a way to rise.”

This has never been truer of how we manage our careers, as the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred both the new work-from-home mandate and record-breaking unemployment claims. So many people around the world are asking: “What do I do now?”

As situations change by the day and ambiguity abounds, we can either rise to the challenge…or decide it’s an impossible one. As you may have guessed, my vote is to find opportunities to build up your resilience, both personally and professionally.

Here are 10 ways you can build your resilience now – and strengthen your career for the future.

1. Remember this is temporary. While that can be easier said than done, remind yourself that the coronavirus crisis won’t last forever.
2. Enlist support. It’s important to stay connected as we are social distancing. Asking others for their help can be exactly what you need to get through the loss of a job, a tough day, or the challenges of finding new employment.
3. Spend time developing your personal brand. Being your own advocate will help you build resilience. Now is a great time to reflect on your brand and shape how you want others to see you.
4. Invite others to connect. Often we expect others to reach out and connect with us. What if you introduced yourself instead? A great way to do this is on LinkedIn: reaching out and asking others to connect with you. Make the first move, and build your community.
5. Look to people who have a positive mental mindset. They might be personal friends, an influencer you follow on social media, or a thought leader who inspires you. Their outlook is one you want to be around and listen to in tough times like these.
6. Identify your goals. Setting even small goals, like sticking to a daily routine, can be empowering and deliver greater results. Pick something that you can achieve over the next 30 days. This is a building block to setting bigger, S.M.A.R.T. career goals when you are ready.
7. Evaluate your marketing tools. Let’s face it, you probably have the time. Dig up your resume, find your bio (if you have one), look at what’s missing in your LinkedIn profile. Even if you are not job searching, take this time to freshen up your marketing tools and ensure they are an accurate reflection of you and your accomplishments.
8. Network, network, network. Now is a great time to personalize your approach to networking. Even simply asking “How are you?” is quite powerful today – because people really mean it. Initiate a virtual coffee, an informational interview, or just a check in with someone you have been meaning to reach out to. Doing so can strengthen your networking skills and deepen these connections.
9. Collect information. Knowledge is power. Read about or follow organizations you are interested in, source articles on employment and hiring trends by experts, and learn what is happening in your industry. This information will bring clarity to your future career decisions.
10. Expect it will get better. Like Henry Ford famously said, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” Choose to think things will get better, and if it helps, start reading from the top again.

Resilience is about acquiring mental toughness, deciding to meet a challenge rather than shrink from it.

Find small ways to build up your resilience now. You’ll increase your capacity for handling tough times throughout your career—and walk away from this stressful time much, MUCH stronger.