[kator]

Spot on, for sure a mentor is great but introspection is a powerful tool.

The first thing I ask when I start coaching someone is what are your goals with your career? In my career I can literally boil it down to four points:

1) Passion

2) Leadership

3) Compensation

4) Hybrid (Tech + Business)

At any time in my career I can score these 1-5 (5 being best) and the closer I get to 20 the better I feel. That said this is just the "what's your motivation" phase, next comes the "what's standing in your way" phase where you look deeply at your strengths and weaknesses and see how they block your ability to receive what you're looking for in your career. Then comes the "ok so now what" phase where you start setting goals to help shore up your weaknesses and magnify your strengths. Then it's "rinse and repeat" basically measure, adjust and execute.

[garrickvanburen]

In my experience a good mentor/coach/consultant prompts introspection in a much more powerful way than books are able.

[lifeisstillgood]

I like that - might choose a different four but the idea is solid

Also totally behind the rating on a five point scale.

[kator]

> might choose a different four but the idea is solid

The goal is to personalize these parts so they're your own. By all means I encourage people to pick their own but boil them down to succinct things you can describe in an elevator pitch.

They're very powerful when you talk to a manager or a potential employer about what makes you happy as an employee. It can be hard for a manager when you ramble on about what you want but I can blast these out along with a short example of each and use them as the basis of a productive dialog with the person I'm talking to.

In short, yes, pick your own, but know them cold and know how you measure them and how you can communicate to others when your not at a 5 in every area! :-)

[lifeisstillgood]

I think mine are :

- Autonomy - Collegiate - Purpose - Family - Money

Thanks for making me think it through !