Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom Are You Down with OPG (Other Peoples Goals)

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom Are You Down with OPG (Other People's Goals) Most of us over age 30 remember the song OPP from the 90s. The acronym stands for “other people’s problems,” etc. Lately, a lot of professionals in my world have been focusing too much on OPG â€" or other people’s goals. I’ll share a personal example. For the last several years, I’ve come across a lot of people wondering why I don’t expand my business. When I was called by a Washington firm that wanted to help me get on the GSA schedule and build my firm to a multi-million dollar enterprise, I declined the opportunity. Some thought I was crazy. Here’s the thing. I’m an introvert raising two young children, and I like relative peace and quiet on the work front. I don’t want the stress of sitting atop a huge enterprise, with responsibility for many a livelihood. Being very wealthy and powerful is not important to me. Butbeing balancedis. And with few exceptions, CEOs do not have much balance. There is nothing wrong with my point of view, and if you want to be a CEO, there’s nothing wrong with yours. In the 21stcentury business world, careers are no longer one-size-fits-all. What’s right for someone else might not be equally desirable for you, so you must measure your success in terms of thegoals that make the most senseindividually. We all have goals, even if we haven’t thought about them consciously or put them down on paper. Consider yours. Where do they come from? Have you developed them based on messages from society, the media, or family? If your goals don’t excite you personally and encourage you to strive for greater accomplishment, they might not be yours after all. It’s time totake your career into your own hands. For advice on how to establish personal and professional goals that resonate, check out the full post at Intuits Fast Track blog.