2024 in Review: thoughts on aspirational goals

They say goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. When I talk to students and early-career software engineers, I always tell them to also set aspirational goals. Aspirational goals are just a bit beyond achievable, and they are not time-bound. Set one aspirational goal and lots of SMART goals as a journey towards it.

I’ve been writing about my career for ages and always find it fun to look back at my old posts. Fifteen years ago, in 2009, I wrote about an aspirational goal that I had at the time:

My personality is such that I am always looking ahead of the current step and think about what I want to do next. In the 12 years of my career I’ve seen people who were trusted advisers to their respective business leaders. I always admired them and envisioned myself one day to be in such a role.

Reading about well respected people who shun management roles reaffirms my long-term goal of becoming a trusted adviser or a chief technologist to a visionary business leader

Since 2009, my aspirational goal has been to become a trusted advisor. It’s been driving my career growth for fifteen years. In 2024, realizing that becoming a Distinguished Engineer marked the culmination of my Trusted Advisor goal hit me like a rock. It marked an end of a meaningful chapter of my life. In a twist of irony, this epiphany also brought significant discomfort to me: it turns out I am deeply uncomfortable not having an aspirational goal.

So, for 2025, I am setting my next aspirational goal: to become a Chief Technology Officer (CTO). A CTO is a natural evolution of the “trusted advisor or chief technology” role I envisioned in 2009.

I don’t necessarily mean to become the CTO of a large publicly traded company. What I look forward to is a CTO-style role where I own a portfolio of software products and lead a strategic software initiative, whether within a larger company or leading a “small-ish” boutique or startup firm.

I say this, realizing I may crash and burn and never achieve this goal. The road to get there will be filled with trials, frustrations, and stress. The universe is going to push my buttons. But, boy, am I going to love the journey. Growth is never without pain; somehow, I crave every moment.

As a first step in this direction, I am excited to join the upcoming cohort of the Wharton Executive Education CTO Program. I look forward to exchanging ideas with Wharton thought leaders, industry experts, and senior executives to uncover insights that can drive organizational growth with technology.