Essay on setting personal and professional goals

Introduction

Many people work hard in the world but do not make any meaningful progress. The key reason to this is that they do not spend enough time to think about what exactly they do want in life. This means that they have never taken the time to set goals that they will work towards achieving. It is like setting out on a journey without having any idea about your destination.
Guessing what the future holds for an individual is barely realistic, and for this reason, people try to set up objectives and goals in order to guide their achievements and make a future from their efforts (Rouillard, 2003). Goals help to motivate an individual to work towards a certain destination. They are a motivation to turn their vision to a reality in the future.
The idea of setting personal and professional goals help an individual to willingly chose where they want to be in the future. This is because individuals with set goals know precisely where they want to achieve; hence aspire to work towards the goals. They have knowledge of where to focus their efforts. Further, they will be able to sport and rectify any destruction along the way of working towards their set goals and aspirations.

Reason for setting goals

Rouillard (2003) argues that there are particularly many groups of people who set goals and, consequently, achieve them. Some of them are athletes, business people and other achievers in other fields. The above groups have a long term vision and a relatively short period motivation through their set goals. The goals set focus one’s acquisition of knowledge; hence helping them to consolidate their time and assets in order to make the maximum from their time and opportunities.

The goals must always be sharp and well defined in order to measure their achievement. This helps an individual to take pride in their achievement and helps one to see progress in what could have seemed like an endlessly long grind. Additionally, setting goals helps an individual to raise their self confidence since they recognize their abilities and competencies in their goal achievements.

Setting Goals

The process of setting goals, whether long or short term is ruled by a number of levels. The first level regards the creation of a bigger picture of what one wants in the future, for instance in a period of ten years. This is followed by identification of long term goals that one aims to achieve (Rouillard, 2003). The second level involves breaking the long term goals into small units to act as targets that one must hit in order to achieve the overall goals. Finally, having the plan helps one to start working towards achieving the goals set.
The overall idea in the process of setting goals lies in the way an individual looks at their overall lifetime goals. Then individuals start with what they can achieve in a short period, otherwise referred to as short term goals, before one starts moving towards achievement of their long term objectives.

Short and long term objectives

Meaningful goals are also divided into long term and short term. One has to know how to come up with both the goal categories since from the short term goals; one comes up with long term goals. According to Wilson and Dobson (2008), short term goals are those that an individual aims to achieve after a short period; for example, after a day, a week or a number of months.
Alternatively, extensive term goals are those that an individual aims to achieve after a relatively long time, for instance, a year, a semester, or even five years. This category of goals is normally considered valuable and meaningful since they tend to have a life changing impact on individuals. The only demerit of this group of goals is that they only come far in the future, and can be compromised since individuals have trouble staying focused on the course; hence having problems with retaining a positive attitude towards reaching the goal. In order to retain the positive attitude towards achieving the long term goals, it is necessary to come up with enabling goals.
Enabling goals are a distinctive group of goals that fall under short term goals, written mainly to help individuals to achieve their long term goals. They act as stepping stones towards achievement of long term goals. For instance, getting a certificate can be a treading stone in the direction of the long term objective of obtaining a degree in a selected course. Other stepping stones (enabling goals) in such a case can be having internship programs and seminars in the same field. An individual can set new enabling goals; that will keep propelling them to new heights towards achieving their long term goals after achieving enabling goals. The process continues until one gets close to each of their long term goals.
In order for one to stay focused toward achieving their goals, they can follow the SMART model of goal setting. In business, there are different variants that impact on goal setting. According to Silverstein (2007), smart is an acronym in which S stands for Specific. Specifying ones goals come from an individual’s knowledge of what they want in life. Building a strong business empire is always the long term goal in business. The specificity in this goal lies in the capability of a person to comprehend and target the areas that will propel them towards the goal. M stands for measurable. No, it is meaningless to set a goal that has no empirical means of attaining. The meaningfulness of ones goals has to play a role in giving the means of attaining them. A stands for attainability of the goals; the goals that one has in mind must always be attainable. Setting goals is never for fun but to act as guiding principles in ones life. Therefore, it is useless coming up with goals and objectives that an individual knows that they cannot be attained in reality. R stands for relevance. This part of goal setting questions the benefits that one is likely to gain from the goals that they construct. Time bound is the word represented by letter T in the model. This means that the path towards achieving the set goals must be trackable. Tracking ones path towards attaining goals helps to review process and correct areas where there were weakness and obstructions (Silverstein, 2007).
Staying focus towards ones goal might be extremely challenging in some cases, although it is essential to note that it is normal. The path to success has never been smooth and regardless of whether one has goals or not, there will always be obstructions. One has to find means of fighting the destructions and staying focused. This means that one may even fail to attain the set goals, whether short term or long term. Failing to attain the goals is merely a step; hence one can decide to remain there or stand up and adjust. Adjusting and moving ahead makes the difference between success and failure.
Staying on course of ones goal attainment starts the moment an individual starts reviewing and keeping their list of activities and enabling goals updated (Kenworthy & Rodrigues, 2007). Furthermore, it is necessary for the individual to review their long term goals periodically in order to keep modifying them since there are changing priorities with every stage of human life basing on aspirations and experience.
It is necessary for one to take time to enjoy their achievement after achieving a goal set. This acts as a motivation towards better goals than the one they have achieved. It is also a reward of the hard and smart work. It also enables one to absorb the implications of the attained goals, and also helps one to scrutinize the progress they made towards attaining the goal. Rewarding oneself helps to assure the individual and builds their self confidence in their ability to perform. Further, it is propulsion towards reviewing the remaining goals. For instance, the ease with which they attained the goal can be used to set the next goal harder than the previous one. Additionally, the time taken to attain the first objective can be used to set the time for achieving the next goal.
In general, the goals attained goal can be used to gauge the strengths and weaknesses that one will use to attain the next goals. Reviewing the attainments of others in the same field helps one to aim higher than what they aimed while struggling to attain the goals they have attained. It gives one guidelines and steps to follow, for instance, one will be encouraged to find a mentor to guide them towards the goals. It will also help them to learn from other people with achievements in the same field.

Conclusion

In life, achievers begin with the simple step of setting goals. It does not matter which area of life one wants to specify in, but all the areas need motivations. Setting goals is a virtual motivation that propels individuals towards achieving the goals. Setting smart goals is the simplest model of ensuring attainment of ones’ aspirations.

According to Singh (2005), coming up with short term and long term goals makes living in the corporate world enjoyable and meaningful. Failing to meet the goals is normal and gives one a chance to pick themselves up and adjust the areas that made them fail to attain the goals. This is what separates achievers from losers. Stumbling along the way to ones goals should never be a reason to give up, rather, it should give an individual an opportunity to stand strong and adjust the areas that pose as obstructions.
Career goals are challenging because, in most cases, they call for maximum sacrifice. For instance, setting business goals may call for financial sacrifices and proper time management. One may fail to attain such goals because of failure to meet the sacrifices. Dedication is the key to meeting all the goals in the world.

Kenworthy, K., & Rodrigues, S. A. (2007). Motivating Your Clients Through Goal Setting. The

everything guide to being a personal trainer: all you need to get started on a career in

fitness (p. 215). Avon, Mass.: Adams Media.
Rouillard, L. (2003). Goals and goal setting achieving measured objectives (3rd ed.). Menlo

Park, CA: Crisp Learning.
Wilson, S. B., & Dobson, M. S. (2008). Goal setting how to create an action plan and achieve
Singh, S. (2005). Setting personal goals. Mississippi State: Mississippi State University

Extension Service.
Silverstein, R. (2007, December 28). A Guide to Goal Setting. Transforming resolutions into

results comes with being realistic. . Retrieved July 9, 2012, from

www. entrepreneur. com/article/188454