What are personal goals?
A goal is where you’re directing your efforts. For instance, your goal may be to hit a particular career milestone, or hit a personal best when it comes to your morning run time. Personal goals can take place in any area of your life.
Setting personal goals requires a combination of short- and long-term goals.
Let’s say you want to start waking up at 5 a.m. but dread waking up early. Going from waking up 10 minutes before your first meeting to having a three-hour morning routine isn’t realistic. But waking up half an hour earlier each month gives you a realistic, short-term goal that will compound into your longer-term objective.
Being reasonable about what you can accomplish is a more effective way to stay motivated. Studies show goal attainability is more positively linked to well-being than goal importance.
You are also more likely to achieve your goal if you are mindful. Some research suggests that mindful people set better, more attainable goals.
Working to strengthen your mind will sustain you throughout the rest of your life. And sustainable goals require you to dig deep. Knowing who you are is the best way to work to improve yourself.
Pause for a moment to and be appreciative of your current abilities. You aren’t trying to fix yourself, but help yourself grow as you experience the different stages in your life.
Your personal goals could be completely different from the person beside you. At Vonburne, our coaches are here to provide guidance for whatever goal you have in mind. And if you aren’t sure what areas of your life you want to focus on improving, don’t worry. We can help you.
5 areas for self-improvement
Self-improvement is all about developing or improving your skills through your own actions. It’s okay to ask for help, but you’re the one who’s taking the initiative to develop.
You’re learning how to set goals and achieve them because you want to, not because someone is forcing you. Self-improvement doesn’t happen with a fixed mindset, either. You have to believe and admire what growth can bring you.
Every aspect of your life has the potential for self-improvement. Here are a few to review:
- Your emotional well-being and how you care for your mental health, including your self compassion and resilience.
- Your overall fitness
- Your personal characteristics
- Your social health
- Your professional and personal achievements
15 examples of personal goals
After reading all this, you may be wondering, “What are some personal goals I can set?” Your personal goals could relate to your professional life, or they could be something specifically for your life outside of work. What could be a goal to you could be something that doesn’t resonate with others.
To help you start thinking about what goals you want to set, here are 16 examples of personal development goals:
- Make better use of your time management skills
- Stop procrastinating
- Put limits on your Social Media use
- Incorporate moreSelf-care practices into your routine
- Become better at Public Speaking
- Learn how to take care of your physical health better
- Let go of past and live more in the present
- Build up your self-confidence
- Develop confident body language and communication skills
- Practice active listening when you’re at work or at home
- Wake up early in the morning
- Improve your emotional intelligence for yourself and your relationships
- Strengthen leadership skills
- Network more within your industry
- Better decision-making from increased self-awareness
6 tips for setting personal development goals
Staying organized and having a clear focus will help you immensely as you work on your self-improvement goals. Rather than be confused about your progress, or if you’re on the right track, clear goals and a personal development plan will help you.
Journal about your victories and defeats to see how far you’ve come and how much you’ve learned.
For our professional success, we have to be specific. Here are six tips to help you set personal development goals at work:
- Begin to visualize what you wan to achieve
- Establish a clear plan of action
- Set S.M.A.R.T goals that you know you can achieve
- Take note of your progress and evaluate yourself as you work
- Make sure your timeline for your goals is realistic
- Accept failures when they happen and don’t dwell on them
Putting it all together
When you set goals for self-improvement, remember to keep your whole self in mind. Understand who you are and embrace self-growth.
Your goals shouldn’t make you feel bad about yourself, but rather motivate you to grow as a person. Celebrate your efforts and accomplishments equally. Personal growth goals should inspire you and push you outside of your comfort zone.
You could benefit from someone holding you accountable as you work toward your goals. At Vonburne our coaches can provide the accountability you need to reach your personal growth goals and feel proud of yourself.