As a professional in any field, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of what a marketing plan is and why it is there. A marketing plan is an action-oriented document or playbook that guides the analysis, implementation, and control of all marketing activities. Throughout this book, you will develop a professional marketing plan. The twist is that your marketing plan will focus on how to market yourself to achieve your career goals. Many businesses fail to execute on their marketing plans because they did not spend adequate time clearly identifying what they wanted or expected to do. As a first step in developing your personal marketing plan, you will need to identify the specific objectives that you want to achieve. In developing these objectives, you should ask yourself several questions, such as:

Do I want to attend graduate school? If so, where and what program?
Where do I want to work?
Where do I want to live?
What kind of life do I want to have?
How much will I need to earn to have that life?
Such questions will help you focus on what specific things you need to do to achieve your goals. The more clearly you define your objectives, the more likely you are to realize them.

Your Task: Clearly state three to five specific objectives for your future, and include a brief one- to two-sentence description of each objective.