Career visioning cannot -- and should not -- be rushed. It's also something that may take several efforts and false starts before things begin to clear and you start getting a grasp of your ideal future.

For help identifying your work values, consider attending UC Berkeley's Understanding Your Work Related Values workshop and learn about setting career goals in our Taking Action workshop.

Remember that with a career vision anything should be possible to accomplish, so find a way to turn off any negative thinking that will block you from thinking big. Don't assume the future is limited to what is happening today.

Think deeply about the questions and answer each as authentically as you can:

• How do you define career success? Are you achieving some level of success in your current job? What job will help you achieve complete success?

• What would you want to do today if all your bills were paid and you had relatively unlimited cash reserves?

• What would your career be like if you had the power to make it any way you wanted?

• What you would like your obituary to say about your career accomplishments and the types of impacts you left with the people you worked with?

• If absolutely no obstacles stood in the way of your achieving it, what would you most like to attain in your career?

• Who are the people you most admire? What is it about them or their careers that attract you to them? Is there something about what they have or do that you want for your career vision?

• Imagine yourself in the future at a point in which you have achieved great career success. What is it that you have accomplished? What does your life look like?

• Do you feel as though you have a gift or calling? How can you share this gift or best answer the call in a way that will fulfill you?

• What's the one activity you most love? Is it part of your career? If not, how can you make it part of your career?

• Where would you like to be in your career in 5 years? In 10 years? In 15 years?

Using one sentence or a concise paragraph, write your career vision. Consider writing a short vision statement along with a short description of how you currently see yourself accomplishing it - reaching your vision. Write everything in the present tense, as if you already have accomplished it. This creates the right frame of mind – confidence about your future – rather than keeping your vision in the distant future.

Once you've created your career vision statement, plaster it in various places and read it and say it aloud often. Imagine yourself achieving your career vision. Constantly reinforcing the image of you in your career vision will help you both consciously and subconsciously develop goals and action steps that will lead you to success.

Your vision can - and most likely will - change as you move closer to it. As part of an annual career planning process, you should review your career vision statement and make any adjustments that you feel are necessary.

• Express your goals positively, rather than framing them in terms of what you don't want.

• Be precise in setting dates, times, and amounts so that you know when you have achieved your goals.

• Set priorities so that you know which of your goals to focus your attention toward and helps you avoid feeling overwhelmed by having too many goals.

• Write your goals down so that you can visually be reminded of them and so that you can craft them to be precise and clear.

• Break down your goals into small, achievable tasks so that you get frequent opportunities to accomplish them and feel motivated to take on other goals.

• Set realistic goals that you can achieve and that are in your own control.

It is the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual's distinctive character.

• We are born with certain preferences that we develop over a lifetime.

• Each person is different and unique just like fingerprints or snowflakes.

• Knowing your personal strengths will increase self- understanding and help you make a good choice of a major.

How we interact with the world and where we place our energy

The kind of information we naturally notice and remember

How we make decisions

Whether we prefer to live in a structured or more spontaneous way

• Interests

• Skills

• Aptitudes

• People skills

• Experience

• Family traditions

• Personality

• Life goals and work values

Interested in athletics, good with their hands, prefer to work with objects, machines, plants or animals rather than people. Prefer to do the job without a lot of talk or argument, do it right the first time, get to the point.

Like to observe, learn, evaluate, or solve problems. This type is associated with scientific/academic pursuits. Prefer to analyze a problem, evaluate options and data, set a plan of action, and analyze the results.

Interested in artistic expression. Like to work in unstructured situations using imagination and creativity. Prefer creative approach to problem-solving and planning which relies heavily on intuition and imagination.

Like to work with data, numbers, more than people. Like detail, tangible products, and have little tolerance for ambiguity. Like following others; instructions rather than being in charge. Prefer to follow a defined structured plan of action. Attentive to detail. Enjoy putting all the pieces of a plan together.

Like to work with people in a leadership capacity — managing, performing, persuading, influencing, often for organizational or political goals or economic gain. Prefer to investigate a direct plan of action to be carried out by others. Focus on achieving the goal, not concerned with minor details. Like to keep big picture in mind.

Like to work with people in some helping capacity — informing, teaching, developing, curing people. Prefer to gather data from all involved parties before generating an action plan. Will try to find solutions equitable for all concerned. Adept at networking with people.

I. My Life Line: Indicate your goal(s) in life in the figure

II. Think about your interests. Once you have identified your common interests, reflect on these for a while

What have I learned so far?