Short-term pressures always intrude on our long-term career planning, and that’s especially true when we’ve been through a collective period of crisis. Even if we’re not entirely sure where we want to end up, by following these strategies, we can ensure we’re taking the right steps to move away f...

focus on the professional equivalent of basic research and double down on foundational skills and knowledge that will make you better, no matter what direction you ultimately decide to pursue. Learning to code in a particular computer language may not be helpful if you decide to leave engineering...

Get clear on what you don’t want, and then take steps to avoid that. It’s much easier to identify things you know you dislike, rather than ideating about a hypothetical future.

For instance, you might decide you never want to work for a micromanaging boss again, or you’re done with your cur...

We all know it’s impossible to do everything at once. And yet it’s hard to resist the lure of too many goals. Instead, we need to get disciplined and narrow down our focus. 

Think about how you can narrow down ...

One of the most important elements in thinking strategically about your career is understanding that our lives operate in cycles — or “thinking in waves” — and we have to recognize where we are in that process.