Career Goals Relationship Goals Self Goals The Three Types of Goals Career Goals • Anything related to your future and current career. • School-related goals are career goals. • Many times your performance in school influences your future career. • Even if it doesn’t influence your future careers, you are building work habits now in school that will influence your future career. Career Goals • Other things that can be related to a career goal: • Shadowing • Clubs/sports/activities • Scholarships and grants • Choosing a school/program Career Goals • Off the top of your head, write down some things that come to mind as a career goal for yourself. Relationship Goals • Anything related to your relationships with other people in your life. • Often the most overlooked area of one’s life. • Relationships take work and are extremely important to success in ALL areas of life. Relationship Goals • Questions to ask yourself: • Who are the people in my life who fill me up/truly care about me as a person? • Who are the people in my life that make it more difficult to achieve my goals? That influence me to make bad decisions? • How much time or contact do I have with the important people in my life? • Who in my life can I give back to or lift up? Relationship Goals • Off the top of your head, write down some things that come to mind as relationship goals. Self Goals • Anything that improves your physical and/or mental health. • Also very overlooked, often the first goals dropped. • The foundation for success in all areas. Self Goals • Questions to ask yourself: • What activities make me truly happy? (Not just distracting me from feeling stressed.) • How is my stress level, and what can I do to de-stress? • Am I getting as much sleep as I should be? • Am I getting as much exercise as I want? • Am I eating healthy? • Are there any hobbies or activities I do or want to pick up that make me feel fulfilled? Self Goals • Off the top of your head, write down some things that come to mind as relationship goals. An extra bonus goal… • Budgeting or money management is often a goal individuals have. While we don’t include it as a goal type, some students choose to make a goal related to money. • It’s not necessary to make a money goal for our purposes, but is recommended as an “extra” goal. • Questions to think about: • Do I have a large purchase or expense I need to save up for? • Do I have good money saving habits? • Do I know where my money is going? Ok, so now I know the kinds of goals. Now what? • Setting goals shouldn’t be done lightly. • If you don’t truly care about your goal, you won’t have motivation to accomplish it. • Take time to reflect on what you really want to do, who you really want to be, how you really want to feel. • Take a few days to reflect. Make it a point to reflect during your free time and before you go to bed at night. Another way to think as you set goals… the “future me” mindset. •Inspired by a running gag on the show “How I Met Your Mother” How the “future me” mindset works…better than it did for Ted and Marshall. • Imagine this is “future you”. • Now, imagine that “future you” is someone that you love very much. • As much as your little sibling, your child, your dog. • Before I go to bed at night, I think of this future me that I love. I think, “what can I do now that will make Future Me have a better morning?” • This can be extended into setting goals or thinking about goals. First, let’s talk about how to do a bad job of setting goals. 1. Making a goal too broad/vague. • Pursuing a vague/broad goal is like trying to get to the end of a rainbow – it’s always on the horizon, but you never get any closer to it. • When a goal is broad, it is hard to nail down a strategy for how to accomplish it. • When we never get closer to a goal, we end up getting discouraged and giving up. Examples: • “I want to be better at talking to people.” • “I want to be more responsible.” • “I want to eat healthier” 2. Making a goal that’s unrealistic. • Impossible or unrealistic goals will wear you down and discourage you quickly. • To make sure a goal is realistic, think about your available resources and ask – what would my steps be to accomplishing this? • If you can’t think of steps to accomplish this goal, it might be unrealistic. Ask others for feedback before deciding, however. • This does not mean that goals can’t be difficult! Examples? • Impossible/unrealistic goals are different for everyone. • Large end goal + no plan for how to do it = unrealistic goal. 3. It’s not really your goal. • Sometimes the influence of those around us can cause us to set goals that please them, but not us. • It’s important to ask yourself: is this something I want for myself? Or am I doing it so I don’t disappoint mom/dad/grandma/etc.? • Remember, everything you do in your life is your choice. It’s ok to collaborate on goals with people in your life who love you, but make sure it’s truly what you want. Avoid making these mistakes by making SMART goals. • Specific • Measurable • Attainable • Relevant • Time-based Specific Goals • When you make a goal, think “Is this too vague?” • Are you using a phrase like “I want to be more ______”? • Add details to your goals to narrow down what you want to happen. Specific Goals No: “I want to have enough money.” What would be a more specific goal? Yes: “I want to accrue $1000 in my savings account.” Measurable Goals • When you make a goal, think “I will know I’ve accomplished this goal when…” • If you can’t think of how to complete the sentence, your goal is probably too vague. Measurable Goals No: “I will know I’ve accomplished this goal when I have a better relationship with my grandmother.” Yes: “I will know I’ve accomplished this goal when I am consistently calling my grandmother every Sunday.” Attainable Goals • Attainable goals are realistic. • Ask yourself: If I put in a reasonable amount of effort, can I achieve this? • Attainable goals can be challenging, but shouldn’t be unreasonable. • Reasonability depends on the person. Attainable Goals For Mrs. Jelinek (who doesn’t exercise) No: I will run the 2020 Lincoln marathon in 3 hours or less. How can she make an attainable exercise goal? Yes: I will go on a brisk walk/jog at least 3 times a week. -OR- Yes: I will finish the 2020 Lincoln marathon/half marathon. Relevant Goals • Relevant goals are goals that matter to you. • Sometimes you’re asked to make goals for school/work, and your goals in that case should effect your performance in those settings. Relevant Goals • Take some time to think: What is a goal that would be completely IRRELEVANT to you? Time-Based Goals • Some goals need (or naturally have) a deadline. • “Graduate in Spring 2020” • “Complete all scholarship applications by April” • Some people choose to give their goals a deadline. • “Lose 15 pounds by August” • For some things, a deadline is optional. • All goals should have some sort of time component. Time-Based Goals No: “I will talk to my sister more often.” How can we make this goal more time based? Yes: “I will call my sister at least twice a week.”
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