Deciding on and obtaining personal goals for my future have become a recent priority because of changing events in my life. It is an enlightening experience to make the decision to enrich my life, according to what goals I have set. I am enthusiastic to share my short-term and long-term goals that include professional and personal development goals, skills I will need to accomplish the goals, milestones for achieving the goals, barriers to achieving goals and how to overcome them, and how I will manage my time to guarantee completion of my goals.
Professional Goals
Although advancing my education through University of Phoenix will consume considerable amounts of my time over several years, I consider this to be a short-term goal. The best way to define why I consider this to be a short-term goal is because my long-term goals ultimately unfold upon completing my degree. As I am completing my coursework, I will be developing writing and communication skills as well as enhancing my knowledge regarding utilization of a computer and obtaining advanced computer skills. Becoming marketable and versatile will inaugurate many opportunities for my career in my future. With my advanced degree I have unlimited choices. I will have opportunities to be an instructor of a nursing program, I can work at a management level in health care settings, and I can advance my degree further and complete a Nurse Practitioner degree or become certified in a nursing specialty. Career choices become unlimited.
Personal Goals
I believe that my personal goals will always be long-term due to constant initiation and implementation of self-care. My personal goals also entail my goals for my children. Some of my goals for my children and I consist of, promoting a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy, getting adequate sleep, engaging in daily physical activity, and coordinating a complimentary balance of rest and relaxation. According to McClure (2012), “seeking out one-on-one opportunities with kids, respecting their choices, and making them a priority in your life enhance the bond between parent and child to build a positive relationship” (Ways To Strengthen The Relationship Between Parent and Child, para. 8,9,10).
I think it is very important to take care of our emotional health as well. Engaging in doing things that positively enhance others is important to be valued for what you can do for others to help build self-esteem (Segal, Segal, & Smith, 2012).
I would also like to show by example that studying and engaging in homework with high expectations for positive outcomes is necessary for successful completion of life endeavors.
Needed Skills
I will elaborate on some of the needed tools or skills to complete the goals that I have determined. Communication is an absolute priority for me. I am dedicated to open and ongoing communication with my children. I will let them know the expectations I have for them and also address any issues regarding maintaining the stability of their emotional health. Teamwork, in respect to helping each other with our daily tasks, is necessary so that my children and I can facilitate each other in obtaining these goals.
Reaching out for resources may also be needed at times. Resources may include acquiring assistance and input from school staff members such as my children’s guidance counselors. Support can also come from other family members who ultimately want success and happiness for me and my children. It may also be necessary for me to ask for support from a trusted colleague, or another student in the program, or a respected individual who has completed college while working full-time with children.
Milestones
Milestones for achieving short-term and long-term goals I have delineated, may include significant achievements and even minor achievements. Regarding my children’s milestones, achievements such as completing each year of school with exemplary grades would substantiate minor milestones, while completing school in its entirety remaining on high honor roll would be a major milestone. In resemblance, I would consider completing credits yearly a minor milestone, whereas significantly leading me to the ultimate milestone which is graduating with my Bachelor’s of Science in nursing as well as continuing on to complete a Master’s of Science in nursing.
Overcoming Barriers
Barriers can be considered obstacles that may be positive or negative in nature. When overcoming my barriers it is important to decipher how overcoming obstacles will impact my life. I will approach the barrier from different angles and aspects to determine how much detriment or stress it will bring to me. By mentally determining the potential possibilities of the outcome, I will be able to select an appropriate course of action to follow. Barriers that I see myself encountering include social obstacles, not getting enough sleep, experiencing burnout, following through on an exercise plan, devoting adequate time to prepare healthy meals, spending meaningful time with my children, and being there for them on all levels.
One study identifies three dimensions of burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization (or cynicism), and a feeling of a lack of personal accomplishment (Dunn, 2012).
Concerning social obstacles, it is important to clarify needs adequately to ensure needs and goals can be completed without being sabotaged (Sicinski, 2010).
Nurses set an example as active role models for the people in their lives (Borrello, 2012).
The main reason I see most of these barriers developing is directly related to time constraints.
Time Management
Being able to manage time wisely is a unique quality that comes naturally for many people. Fortunately for me, I am one of those individuals. I always have been organized and able to multitask with efficiency. The issue that I am facing presently is the added work of advancing my education to advance my career. I am balancing working full-time and raising three children while attending college. I know personally that I will succeed with my educational goals, but I will acknowledge that limited time I have available to accomplish them will be a stressor and barrier both in positive and negative ways.
I have come to the conclusion that I will specify times to accomplish my goals. I will allocate specific time slots during my day to adhere to completing my tasks. I will also prioritize my tasks as extremely important and urgent, and highly important but not urgent, and relatively unimportant. The best way for me to do this is to write my schedule for the day in a day planner according to its importance.
Conclusion
Establishing personal goals can be exciting, stressful, and life-changing experiences. I have identified my personal and professional goals, skills needed to obtain goals, milestones for achieving goals, barriers to goals and how to overcome them, and how to manage time efficiently. By identifying these topics and researching ways to obtain them, I will be able to achieve the goals I desire to enrich my life as well as my children’s lives.
References
Borrello, S. (2012 March/April).
Warning! Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Career. Nursing Made Incredibly Easy, (), 2
Dunn, P.J. (2012 July/August).
Addressing Nurse Burnout. Nursing Made Incredibly Easy, (), 2 McClure, R. (2012).
Ways to Strengthen The Relationship Between Parent and Child. Retrieved
from http://childcare.about.com/pd/volunteerism/tp/relations.htm?p=1 Segal, J., Segal, R., & Smith, M. (2012).
Improving Emotional Health: Strategies and Tips for Good Mental Health. Retrieved from http://www.helpquide.org/ mental/mental_emotional_health.htm
Sicinski, A. (n.d.).
How to Overcome Obstacles. Retrieved from
How to Overcome the Obstacles that are Holding Your Goals Hostage!