Goal setting is key to career management

Here's a simple career trick: set a goal.

It sounds silly, I know. You might be thinking, "Most people do have a career goal, don't they?"

The fact is, most people don't have a clear career goal. Just surf LinkedIn a bit, and read people's profile. You will immediately notice that most users do not have a career objective in their Summary section.

This is why it's so hard for people to manage information. Unless one has a clear goal, there is no consistent way to evaluate all the information that comes our way. (And these days, as I'm sure you've noticed, information tends to come our way in a VERY aggressive manner!).

(By the way, my career goal is to do exactly what Ms. Esther Dyson does for a living: read voraciously everything under the sun, and write concise, high-level and super-strategic briefings and newsletters for CEOs in the IT industry. Of course, I would focus more on learning, innovation and human capital, and hopefully, my writings would apply to many industries and economies).