Being Specific About Career Goals

Having a "goal" is not enough. We must be specific in identifying our long term and short term career goals. The key word here is SPECIFIC.

"I would like to write movies" is not a valid career goal because it's not specific enough. What kind of movies and what are the steps we need to take to get there?

For example, five years from now I'd like to be an extremely well paid feature film writer. So am I going to achieve that goal by writing character driven indie dramas? Because if I write and sell two of those (hell, even one), that's what type of writer the industry will see me as, and those are the types of offers I'll be fielding. Luckily, my sensibilities lean toward high-concept, big budget ideas, which are exactly the kind of ideas studios pay well for. So taking into account my goals and my sensibilities, I should be writing high-concept, big budget specs, and that's exactly what I'm doing. If the story idea I have doesn't serve that 5 year goal, I write it down, takes notes when ideas strike me, and file it for later. But I don't lose sight of the goal and the genre expectations I need to meet.

Hopefully, after 3 or 4 big budget successes, I'll have the resources (read money and connections) and experience to fulfill my long term goal of writing and directing my own modestly budgeted films through my own production company housed underneath the hollowed out volcano of my private island/kung fu training compound. A much easier goal to attain once everyone in Hollywood knows my name, I have demonstrated I can generate profit for them and proven with decisive force that my giant space based laser will in fact work.

So my short term career goal is to become one of the go-to writers for high-concept, summer blockbuster level ideas. THAT is specific. I now have a much clearer idea as to what I need to accomplish in order to achieve that goal. Have you given enough thought to your specific goals, as well as formulated a plan to achieve them?