Snowballing to the Top: Planning Backwards to Go Forwards

This may seem like common sense to most career-hungry undergrads or grad-scheme-hungry graduates, but internships, shadowing schemes, and insight weeks are not isolated experiences. Instead, they’re links in a chain, small but vital pushes that, when compounded, propel us closer to our ambitions. Each experience builds on the last, adding not just to our CVs but to our confidence, network, and skill set. Like a snowball rolling downhill, these seemingly small steps gather momentum, turning into a powerful force that can carve a unique path to the top.

Last week, we talked about “the third door”—those creative, non-traditional ways to find or create opportunities. This week, it’s all about what you do after you've “broken in” (again, not literally).

Whenever friends or colleagues ask me how I’ve been able to do so much in such a short time frame, my answer is simple: I know where I’m headed. When I was 15, I took a long look at the vast outstretch of time before me and asked myself “where do I want to be at the end of all this”. Once I had that nailed down, I began planning, backwards.

One of the most difficult challenges of being a young professional, student, or graduate is coming up with an answer to “so what do you want to do?”. There’s no pressure, and you certainly don’t owe this answer to anyone other than yourself, besides, Huang co-founded Nvidia aged 30 in 1993, and Colonel Sanders 40 when he founded KFC. Planning backwards, however, helped me arrive at my answer at quite an early age.

The idea is to set one big, ambitious target—maybe a career goal, a book you want to publish, or the mark you want to leave behind. Once you’ve defined that, you can identify the steps that will lead you there. “Wtf, this question is no less difficult than the first Archie” – Yes, knowing what you want to do at the end of your life when you’re only at the start is a big ask, but it doesn’t have to be.

For me, the goal was clear at 15: I wanted to be Prime Minister (modesty is my middle name). But I also knew it would take hundreds, maybe thousands, of steps to get to Number 10. Working backwards, I created benchmarks—goalposts if you will—like securing a job as a parliamentary assistant, campaigning locally and nationally, and eventually running for office. By breaking down the mountain into smaller peaks, my climb became manageable.

Careercolin, as I mentioned, is one of my Careertok superstars and he says how you end an internship is often more important than how you start it. Don't just stop at that. What can you do after that will push you closer towards your goals? Who have you met in the office that can put you in contact with your next internship? What skills can you develop so you can climb the next peak? Planning backwards can help you ask, and most importantly, answer these questions.

As a rugby player, I know that sometimes, to move forward, you need to go back. This backward planning hasn’t only mapped my career; it’s also built self-awareness and helped me learn what I’ll need to secure my “little victories” on the way to that big one."

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Watching people chart their own paths in life and writing their own stories inspires me to constantly do better in mine. My messages are always open for any advice I can give, or even just to connect over common ground.

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