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Are Your Professional and Personal Goals Aligned?So why should you combine your personal and professional goals?When you're happy in your personal life, you're primed to succeed at work — and vice versa. People who are stressed out, burned out and generally unhappy with their careers usually bring these problems home. Having a cohesive set of goals that covers all aspects of your life will help you manage your days and ensure that your goals are in line with your core values. Write Two Different ListsStart your goal exploration by writing down your professional goals. For a goal to become real to you, you need to write it down. Grab a blank sheet of paper and begin listing what you want to accomplish in your career. Ask yourself:
No matter what your career level, be sure to set goals that are specific, measurable and in line with your own values. Don't set a goal that your boss wants for you or that seems logical for your career path. Go with your instinct and be courageous enough to write down what you really want. Once your list of professional goals is complete, think about your personal goals as well as your value system. Is family your top priority? Spirituality? Physical well-being? Perhaps you want to focus on learning a new skill or spending more time with your family. Whatever your personal goals are, be sure they're in line with your values — not someone else's. Combining the GoalsYou might think that these two lists can never become one. Sure, they may seem different but the trick is to keep your core values in mind when combining your professional and personal goals. You may find that some conflicts need to be worked out. For example, you might want to start your own business within the next two years. But you might also want to have children. Perhaps it's unreasonable to set these two goals so close to each other. You might need to alter your business goal so that the timing is better, or look for options that ensure you won't be stressed if both goals occur at the same time. By combining these two lists, you never know what solutions or ideas it might spark. Here's an interesting scenario: If a personal goal is to exercise more and a professional goal is to mentor a young associate, perhaps you can ask the associate to power walk with you during lunchtime. What a great way to work towards two goals at once. Or maybe you want to travel more in your personal life while a professional goal is to attend more training seminars. You could look for seminars in interesting locations where you can stay for some sightseeing. Compromise NothingIt's vital that professional goals do not trump personal goals. For example, if one of your professional goals is to be promoted, which will require working longer hours, you might think that you'll have less time to spend with your family. This isn't necessarily true. Your boss might be thrilled that you want to work towards a new position and will respect you for not wanting to compromise your home life in the process. Perhaps he or she will relieve you of some of your current duties so you can learn new ones. Or perhaps your family could juggle some activities so that everyone is home together for dinner every night. You may also want to review how you can work more efficiently and possibly develop a better time management system. You might have to cut out some non-essential commitments. Once you've attained your goal, you can get back into whatever commitment you cut. The Power of a PlanOnce you see your career and life goals set down on paper, working harmoniously together, you'll see the power of having a strategic plan. It can be very motivating when your professional and personal goals are aligned. |
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