Everyone Needs to Do Goal Setting

You've heard about goals since you were a kid. Remember when your teachers and relatives asked you, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" That's another way of saying, "What are your goals in life?" We learn from an early age that we're expected to have goals and think about personal goal setting.

Our first major goal is graduation from high school. People then ask, "Where are you going to college?" or "Where are you looking for a job?" In college, one of the first questions that students ask each other is, "What's your major?" They're really asking about personal interests and career goals.

When you graduate from college, people ask, "What kind of job are you looking for?" In job interviews and performance reviews once you're hired, you usually answer two standard questions: "What are your goals for the next year?" and "Where do you see yourself in five years?" Most employers expect employees to have clear goals.

Work Goals

People who experience success do a lot of goal setting around learning new skills and getting experience. Once they've achieved a goal, they pick another one. For them, goal setting never stops. They're always on to new things. No procrastination for them.

By the time you reach adulthood, you're used to talking a lot about goals. But notice it's mostly about work goals. Certainly work goals are important. You should have something to do and an income to support yourself. Otherwise life's boring and you feel useless.

But what about goals outside work? When it comes to personal goal setting, most of us bob along like corks in a stream.

Personal Goals

Perhaps you've never thought about setting personal goals. You may feel your work goals are more important than other goals. Or you may have other goals, but they're vague. You haven't written them down or talked to anyone about them. You may also have no clear plan for how to achieve them.

That's where a formal goal setting process helps.

Goal setting should involve all areas of your life, including health and well being, home, leisure activities, hobbies, relationships, family, and spirituality to name a few. Manageable and realistic career and personal goals help you head in the right direction for you.

It's important from time to time to explore and plan for what you want. Goals and dreams keep the human spirit alive and hopeful. Success comes to those who keep reacing for the brass ring.