You have reached your goal. Now what?

June 3, 2014 Lisa Mulligan

A few weeks ago I was looking for inspiration for this blog. What else could I write about? What would be interesting? My husband Arran suggested writing about what you should do when you have reached your goal. I thought it was a great idea. I thought that you would like to read about it. I had no idea what to write, until very recently, I reached one of my goals!

One of my life/career goals has been to live and work in another country. To have that experience of working day in and day out in another culture. To live in a different city with different foods and ways of living. I have always enjoyed the roles in global companies where I have had the opportunity to travel and work with people with completely different life experiences but have never had the opportunity, until now, to pack up my life and leave Australia.

This week I signed my offer to move to Singapore with the company I currently work for. Squeal. I have been trying not to get too excited because I have been offered a similar move before. Arran and I had done lots of research, bought books, researched housing but the move didn’t come off. We had moved our life in our head to another country and it was disappointing when it didn’t happen. I wasn’t making the same mistake this time.

It's real this time. Arran, Aiden, Charlie and I are packing up our life and heading to hot and humid Singapore. What an adventure.

It’s a fantastic opportunity and I’m really excited. And it’s certainly not just about moving to another country. I will have the opportunity to work with a new leader on a whole new business strategy. I will get to apply my HR expertise to situations and countries that I have never done before, and I don’t know how to do it. I will get to work more closely with leaders from across Asia and the Middle East. And I will learn about how business is conducted in these countries.

When I think back to other times I reached a goal or career milestone, there has never been a feeling of “I’ve made it”, more the feeling of “OMG, how am I going to do this job?”. I clearly remember feeling this when I was promoted to Assistant Store Manager, when I worked in retail. While I was excited to be recognized that I was up for this role, my main thoughts were about “what do I do when the Store Manager is away?” “How will I deal with upset customers?” “How will I know how to manage employees?” I don’t remember feeling how good I was. I remember all the things I didn’t know how to do yet!

My thoughts on the Singapore move have been:

"How will I continue to support all the leaders effectively?"

"How will I ensure my team members in Australia get the support, direction and development they need?"

I will still be travelling a lot, so "how will I ensure my family is OK when I have moved them to another country?"

I got the opportunity because I have worked hard and performed well so "how do I continue to perform at a high level when coping with a new country, new culture and new challenges?"

For me the feeling of satisfaction of reaching a goal is fleeting. There is initial excitement but that soon turns to focus on how to deliver now that I have reached that goal and that's my recommendation. Take a little time to celebrate your achievement but get focused on what you need to do next! What's the next goal? What's the next thing to strive for?