Post written by Jeremy J. Ulmer. Connect with me on LinkedIn.

Many sales professionals and sales leaders are so busy handling day to day challenges that they forget to formalize their sales career aspirations and goals. Make the time to do this today. Spending just 10 to 20 minutes on this 5-step process could make all the difference in the world.

You might already have some ideas floating around in your mind, and now it is time to get them written down. Or maybe you have even completed something like this before in the past, but you have not looked at your notes or updated your sales career goals in years.

1. Think about what you’d like people to say about you at your retirement party. This general concept comes from Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Begin with the end in mind.” Imagine you are at the end of your sales career, looking back. What would you like to have accomplished in your career? How would you like to be remembered?

Start acting now, how you want to be remembered. Be now, how you want to be remembered, and don’t wait! You want to be a VP of Sales for a major Fortune 500 company, then start acting like one. What do you think a top VP of Sales was doing when she was in your shoes?

2. Brainstorm and write down some specific sales career goals you would like to accomplish before you retire. This exercise should flow much easier after completing step 1. There are many areas you could focus on, but here are some general topics to get you started: responsibility held, freedom created, impact on others, income made, started own business, moved into sales leadership or management, #1 performer, helped others to be a #1 performer.

3. Pick 3 goals. Take a look at your list and choose up to 3 goals that really stand out to you. Pay attention to the energy around each goal and find which ones really get you excited. Don’t get rid of the other goals, but just pick 3 to focus on, for now.

4. Break it down and make these 3 sales career goals very specific. What do you have to accomplish in the next month, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, and so on, to reach these goals? Plan it out step by step so you know exactly what needs to get done to accomplish your goals.

5. Action! Start with what you need to accomplish this next month and create specific action items or a to-do list for each week of the month. Ask yourself what can I do to accelerate these goals, and if I only get one very important thing accomplished each day this week, what would that be?

Follow this simple 5-step process and you will be taking positive steps towards your sales career goals and dreams. You might also want to check out: How To Set Sales Goals That Boost Your Energy. If this article was helpful for you, please share it below. Thank you!