{"id":27394,"date":"2017-06-02T16:16:18","date_gmt":"2017-06-02T20:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/creator\/?p=27394"},"modified":"2020-02-26T14:31:32","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T19:31:32","slug":"set-personal-goals-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/set-personal-goals-work","title":{"rendered":"How to set personal goals for work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Personal development goals can give you long-term vision and short-term motivation. When you have a personal goal for work, you can see where you\u2019ll end up years down the road and that vision can give you the motivation to work harder towards that goal. We\u2019ll review here how to set personal goals for work in a way that will help you to be motivated to achieve those goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2  id=\"make-your-goal-smart\"class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Make your goal SMART<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The most important aspect in how to set personal goals for work is to set SMART goals. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Specific<\/strong>: A goal that is specific is much easier to achieve than one that is broad. The more specifically you can define your goal, the clearer the path to achieving your goal will be. <\/li><li><strong>Measurable<\/strong>: You goal should also be measurable. Without a system of measurement, you can\u2019t know when it\u2019s been achieved. For example, the goal \u201cI will become rich\u201d isn\u2019t measurable. In contrast, if your goal was \u201cI will make $1 million,\u201d you\u2019ll know exactly when you\u2019ve achieved it because it\u2019s measurable.<\/li><li><strong>Attainable<\/strong>: This aspect of goal setting has to do with how easy or hard it will be to achieve your goal. An attainable goal is one that presents a challenge, so it\u2019s not too easy but isn\u2019t so hard that you\u2019ll be likely to give up on it. When goals aren\u2019t attainable, meaning they\u2019re too difficult, you\u2019re more likely to be discouraged and not achieve your goals.<\/li><li><strong>Relevant<\/strong>: When setting personal goals for work, this element is especially important. A personal goal for work is relevant to you personally but also relevant to your work or to your employer.<\/li><li><strong>Time-bound<\/strong>: The time-bound element of your goal is what gives you motivation. A goal without a deadline is less likely to be achieved because you\u2019ll have a tendency to say, \u201cI\u2019ll do it tomorrow.\u201d It\u2019s so easy to get a year down the road and realize that you haven\u2019t achieved your goal. Knowing when you must achieve your goal by helps to provide you with motivation.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2  id=\"goal-levels\"class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Goal levels<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When creating your personal goals for work, consider creating multiple goals with different levels. The level of your goal may be expressed in the time-bound element of the goal. You might have a few goals: one that must be met next week, one for next month, and one for a year from now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having different levels of goals allows you to plan goals out to work towards a larger goal that wouldn\u2019t be attainable at this time. The short-term goals all work towards the achievement of the long-term goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another way to express this tip is to break down long-term goals into bite-size goals. Creating smaller, stepping-stone goals to get to your larger goal follows the recommendation of making your goals attainable. A large, long-term goal might not be attainable right now, but breaking it down into smaller goals does make it attainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When creating these smaller, bite-size goals, be sure to use the time-bound element for each goal. Each goal should have its own timeline for achievement, not just the final goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2  id=\"set-goals-positively\"class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Set goals positively<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>How personal goals for work are expressed or stated is a very important part of motivation and self-care. If your goals are stated in a positive way, you\u2019re more likely to achieve them and feel good about working towards that goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, instead of setting a personal work goal of \u201cDon\u2019t be stupid or incapable of using Photoshop,\u201d create a positive statement. A much stronger goal is, \u201cTake classes in Photoshop to improve skills and knowledge by the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Which goal do you want to work towards?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2  id=\"be-precise\"class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Be precise<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A good goal is precise. The more detail and precision you can include when designing your goal, the better. Details you might want to include when setting your goal could be dates, time, and amounts. These details add a level of measurability to your goal. When a goal is measurable, you can know when you\u2019ve achieved it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2  id=\"prioritize\"class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Prioritize<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re creating multiple goals for yourself, make sure to decide the priority of those goals. Know which goals need to be achieved first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prioritization of your personal goals for work can help you decide which goal is the most important. Prioritization may happen because some goals need to happen before others can be achieved, but others might just be more important than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2  id=\"handwrite-goals\"class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Handwrite goals<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Writing things down by hand is a type of memory creation. By writing down your goals, you\u2019re committing them to memory as important in your mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once your goals are written down, display them in a prominent place in either your home or office. You may want to have your goals written down and displayed both at home and in the office. These handwritten notices of your goals serve as a daily reminder to you on what you\u2019re trying to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2  id=\"measure-performance-not-outcome\"class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Measure performance, not outcome<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When setting personal goals for work, you should set your measurement to be about performance, not outcome. When you set a goal, you want to make sure that you have as much control as possible over your ability to achieve that goal. If your goal is dependent on other people, you will have a harder time achieving the goal while you wait for other people to do their part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is especially important to remember when setting personal goals for work. In a work environment, there are factors that employees may not have control over and that will make it harder to achieve goals. Outside forces may force you to step down from your position or not take time off to learn new skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Basing your personal goals on performance and not outcome will give you more control over achieving your goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2  id=\"be-realistic\"class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Be realistic<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Similar to setting attainable goals, you must be realistic when setting your goals. Iff your goal isn\u2019t realistic than it\u2019s unlikely that you\u2019ll be able to achieve it. Unachievable or unrealistic goals are more like to be discouraging than motivating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s easy to fall into the unrealistic goals that are set for employees by bosses and by society. Watch out for these goals and try not to fall into expecting yourself to always meet those unrealistic goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When setting personal goals for work, try to think through the possible obstacles you will face and the steps that you will need to achieve to meet that goal. Thinking through the process of achieving your personal goal will help you to set realistic goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2  id=\"accountability-partner\"class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Accountability partner<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One way to make achieving your personal goals for work a little bit easier is to have an accountability partner. An accountability partner is someone who periodically checks in with you to make sure that you\u2019re working towards your goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An accountability partner makes it easier to achieve your goal because they remind you what you\u2019re working towards and how to get there. They\u2019re the person who helps to motivate you towards your goals when you feel discouraged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2  id=\"ask-for-feedback\"class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ask for feedback<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Along with your accountability partner, you can also ask for feedback from other people at your workplace to see if you\u2019re achieving your goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After you set your personal goal for work, consider sharing that goal with your manager. As you work towards the goal, you can ask your manager for feedback to see if you&#8217;re progressing as you should.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes an outsider has a clearer perspective of the work that you\u2019re doing towards your goal. As we work towards a goal, the changes are incremental and harder to see on our own. That\u2019s where a manager can come in to help give you feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/run-your-business\/graphic-design\/building-a-business-out-of-traveling-the-world\/\">No matter what personal goals you set<\/a> for yourself at work, we hope that these tips will help you to be able to more easily achieve those goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are some best practices on creating actionable goals\u2014and achieving them<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":898,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43902],"tags":[515,525],"class_list":["post-27394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-professional-development","tag-productivity","tag-personal-growth"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.4 (Yoast SEO v25.3.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Set personal goals for work | Ideas by We<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Setting a personal goal for work can have a multitude of benefits. 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