I will never forget a motivational speaker I heard way back in the 8th grade, who talked about the subject of setting goals. He said something to the effect of:

It’s better to shoot for the stars and miss, than to shoot for a pile of s**t and hit!

(Looking back on that memory, I’m realizing that the speaker’s “colorful language” is probably why I so vividly remember that quote.)

Whatever your career aspirations — from professional fulfillment to earning a six-figure salary — goals are your pathway to getting there. Clearly defined goals help you to:

• Stay focused

• Remember your values and priorities

• Stay motivated in the face of discouraging setbacks

• Be in control of your own destiny

Now that’s great, but what if your goal seems impossibly far off? You set mini-goals or short-term goals. In other words you map out your course with these mini-goals as your sign posts. Take losing weight, for example. Someone with over 100 pounds to lose will probably get very discouraged in those early months and weeks when the big 100 pound goal still seems so far away. Instead, he or she can break up that goal into readily achievable mini-goals — the first 5 pounds, the first 10% of body weight, the first 25 pounds, etc. etc. By setting up these mini-goals along the way, you know that you are on the right course, and you build momentum by getting to “taste success” along the way.

The same applies to your career goals. Your short-term goals might include earning a degree or relevant certification, getting an internship in your field, finding a professional mentor, joining a networking group, etc. You can even break your job search into mini-goals: Send out 15 resumes, make 5 networking calls, go on 3 interviews, and so on.

You can read more about career goal setting in the JobMonkey Job Hunting tools section.

What are your best tips for setting goals — and how do you achieve them?

One of the hottest job markets at the moment, health care jobs are a great way to achieve three of the most common career planning aims:

• High salaries
• Job Security (health care jobs made Newsweek’s list of most recession-proof careers)
• Helping people

What if you never dreamed of being a doctor or nurse? No worried, you can still have a fulfilling health care career, as a dietician, an ultrasound technologist, a pharmacist, a fitness instructor, or even a medical transcriptionist. Learn about all these jobs and more from the JobMonkey’s newest career section.

Have a great weekend and see you back here on the Monkey next Monday!

There are some exciting new leads in the field over at the JobMonkey Job Center. Do you have the education, training and experience to work in this field? Learn more from the JobMonkey’s section on the Oil & Gas Industry.

1. Facilities Control Systems Engineer, ExxonMobil, Houston, TX

Exxon Mobil is seeking a Control Systems Engineer to oversee the implementation of all control systems engineering requirements. Typical areas of responsibility include providing control system engineering technical leadership and expertise; overseeing control and safety systems; participating in control system technical specification preparation; and participating in Hazardous Operations (HAZOP) reviews. The ideal candidate will have extensive knowledge of Control System engineering principles; thorough knowledge of control system hardware; and the ability to adapt to tight deadlines and heavy workloads. The candidate must also have a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering or Engineering Technology.

2. Mine Scheduling/Coordinating Engineer, Suncor Energy, Fort McMurray, Alberta

Suncor Energy is seeking an engineer to supervise Mine Planning and Projects. Responsibilities include coordinating schedules and mine plans in accordance with the company’s overall Mine Operations Business Plan and coordinating budget and business plans. The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor of Engineer degree in Mining, or Civil or Geotechnical engineering. He or she must also have at least five years of planning and scheduling experience in a mining environment, along with a broad range of experience in mining, geotechnical and civil engineering. Experience with Mine planning software is a plus.

3. Chemical/Process Engineer, Syncrude, Fort McMurray, Alberta

Syncrude is seeking a Process/Chemical Engineer with at least five years of experience. Responsibilities will include analyzing plant data and trends and being responsible for mentoring Engineers in Training. The ideal candidate will have a Degree in Chemical Engineering and experience in the oil sands industry.

Good luck with your job search this week!

If your passion is sports, then have you ever considered making it your profession, too? You don’t have to be a start athlete to earn a living from sports. Here’s a look at four ways to make a great salary while working in sports:

Sports Journalists

From reporters to broadcasters, sports journalists cover the world of sports. Many newspaper reporters start off specializes in a specific sport within a specific market — usually high school sports for a smaller market. Eventually they can work their way up to covering professional teams and traveling with them around the country and even the world. Broadcast journalists also start local most of the time, before making the jump to national coverage.

Health & Fitness Careers

The Health & Fitness industry is broadly defined as those positions that work with teams or with the general public to promote health and fitness within athletics. Specific jobs can include athletic trainers, sports massage therapists, sports physicians, and sports psychologists.

High School Coaches

The work of a high school coach is truly a labor of love. Not only do you teach youngsters the fundamentals of the game, you also help them to develop physically, socially, morally, emotionally and spiritually; to improve their overall health, fitness and coordination; and to experience the values of group interaction, motivation, and play principles.

Stadium Operations Jobs

One of the best ways to experience the thrill of sports is to be on the field — as a stadium operations worker. Some of the specific stadium operations jobs include head of operations (which nets a $100,000+ salary), stadium or sports facility manager (another six-figure job), sports event coordinator, equipment manager, scoreboard operator, and public address announcer. In addition to a college degree, most of these jobs require experience. A great way to get started is with a college internship at a local field or stadium.

To learn more about Sports Related Careers, come visit the JobMonkey.

There are even plenty of six-figure jobs, the report says, that don’t require an advanced degree — or even any degree for that matter.

Making the list were plumbers and pipe fitters, police detectives, ultrasound technicians and court reporters. Also on the list was the job of air traffic controller — which also makes our list for high-paying position.

Now, I had no idea that ultrasound techs and court reporters were pulling in six-figure paychecks, but according to salary.com, a good number are.  If you want to learn more about what it is like to be an air traffic controller or what police detective jobs entail, you can check out our JobMonkey job profiles.

Check out our new section on Six-Figure Jobs and do your own job search at our High Paying Job Board.

Interestingly enough, there is a lot of cross-over between the Forbes list and the job categories we feature at the JobMonkey.  Thing that make you go hmmm, indeed!

Here are three of my favorite surprising six-figure jobs, according to Forbes:

Casino Gaming Manager Jobs
Got a background in marketing, but not sure what to do with it? Head to Vegas … or Atlantic City … or any one of the dozens of regional gaming sites popping up across the United States. According to Forbes, the top 10% of gaming managers earn $106,220 a year; the average gaming manager salary is $69,600/year. Want to learn more? Read up on casino jobs at the JobMonkey!

Air Traffic Controllers
On-the-job stress may be sky-high for air traffic controllers, but apparently so are their salaries. The top 10% of earners made an average of $141,860 in 2006, and the median annual salary for controllers was $112,930. If you are willing to relocate for your job, go to Chicago, Illinois, where O’Hare controllers make the highest salaries in the country. To learn more about what the job entails, check out this article on Air Traffic Controller Jobs. You can also start your airline job search at JobMonkey’s partner website Airline Job Finder.

Post Secondary Educators
According to Forbes, there is a good deal of money to be earned up in those ivory towers we like to call colleges and universities. Okay, so you have to get your PhD first, which will take a good five years, and you have to be willing to enter the publish-or-perish rat race, but for a median six-figure salary, the “sacrifice” just might be worth it! Interestingly enough, Forbes reports that the top-earning profs are those working in the economics department. Law professors aren’t doing too bad either, according to our research. And while online teachers don’t earn quite as much as their brick-and-mortar colleagues, distance teaching might be a good way to break into the industry. To learn more about the Internet teaching niche, read this article on Becoming an Online Course Instructor.

By the way, are you subscribed to the JobMonkey newsletter yet? If not, you should be! This week’s newsletter, for example, was all about how to land a coveted six-figure job!