You use a goal statement when you’re determined to accomplish something in your life. Goals give you direction and focus while allowing you to take better control of your life. Creating professional goal statements and persona goal statements also provide you with a benchmark to see if you’re working in the right direction and succeeding to achieve the goals you have set.

Goal Statement Examples

What is a goal statement?

A goal statement is the foundation that you use to plan your work. Good goal statement examples should be properly documented and detailed. It should also completely define the outcome that you seek to accomplish. A proper goal statement format should describe the activity, purpose or outcome that you must do reach your desired end result. When creating your own statement of goals, include the following:

  • The outcome that the goal must produce
    This starts with the word “To” followed by an identification of the object to transform along with the final result it should be in when you have already accomplished the goal. It should pinpoint what result, outcome, and purpose you desire.
  • The beneficiaries of your goal
    This refers to who would benefit from the goals when accomplished and the scope that it would encompass. It should also define how you can achieve such goals and the approach to use to solve problems.
  • The benefits that the result will generate for each of the goal’s beneficiaries
    This identifies the points on how the beneficiaries will be better off as soon as you have achieved the “To” goal. It’s important to always add the time and date by which you should achieve such improvement.
  • The limitations or requirements that exist
    Are the availability of resources that will help you achieve the goal limited? Is there a time constraint for the goal to complete? Are there any actions required for its completion? Is there an existing protocol that you need to follow for completing the goal?

Characteristics of a goal statement

Like any other goal, you need to follow guidelines to achieve them. Whether you’re creating professional goal statements, personal goal statements or even a goal statement for college, the goals you set should be clearly defined, attainable, and decisive. This is the main reason for goal statement examples – to plan, evaluate your plans, and to guide your actions. When creating your goal statement format, make sure it has SMART characteristics:

  • Specific
    Your goal statement should specifically indicate what you need to accomplish. The phrase should use action words like sell, implement, design, build, and so on.
  • Measurable
    The statement must clearly state what you’re supposed to achieve and how long you have to achieve it. Measuring the goal means you can determine when you accomplish it.
  • Acceptable
    You should accept that your goals are necessary and acceptable, especially to your future.
  • Realistic
    This means that you can achieve the goal even if it’s challenging.
  • Time-bound
    The goal statement should specify a time horizon and a deadline for its completion.

Career Goal Statements

Why is a goal statement important for your career?

Goals connote the future and professional goal statements and personal goal statements are all about the future. One great benefit of a goal statement is that it’s your own vision of the future of your career. Just consider it as the final prize that you have your eyes on. You may think at first glance, you might not need this document as it is just an unnecessary formality. But having your own goal statement examples come with several important benefits:

  • It helps give your career direction
    The benefit of having a professional goal statement is that it breaks you out of monotony. Goals themselves are extremely motivating as they inspire you to work more aggressively because you have a clear notion of what you’re working toward. Moreover, focusing on a long-term goal allows you to get a better grasp on the skills you need to hone or develop to make your goal come into reality.
  • You can use it to ask yourself difficult – but essential – questions
    Each day, even on the average ones, you may find yourself asking a lot of questions and you probably won’t take any time out to reflect on which of these questions are really important. Such reflection is essential to ensure you don’t get caught up in the trivialities of everyday life.
  • It teaches you accountability
    Making a career goal statement can entail some degree of intimidation because having documented it, it becomes real and you are now faced with a heightened sense of accountability.

Some considerations when writing your goal statement

Unless written down, career goals tend to have less influence on you. Having them on paper gives your goals a sense of formality on what you want to accomplish. Following are some things to consider when writing your own goal statement:

  • Setting unrealistic goals for yourself would be like setting yourself for failure.
  • The outcome should be the final result of what you have set up to achieve and not the effort that you put into achieving the goal.
  • When creating the statement, make certain that the activities you include are relevant to the outcome of your goal. Most of the time, these activities have a tendency to be more preparatory instead of focusing on the final outcome.
  • There should be enough time on the timeline for you to accomplish your goals. Too long a timeline won’t make up for the effort you need to achieve your goal.
  • It’s recommended to subdivide your goal into smaller sections if you think that the goal scope is too broad.

Professional Goal Statements

Tips for creating a goal statement

The goals that you set for yourself should motivate you. You can do this by making sure that the goals are important to you. Goals that have little or no interest in the outcome or aren’t relevant to the bigger picture will offer little chances of putting them to work or making them happen. One of the main keys to reaching your goals is your motivation. Here are tips to guide you when creating your own goal statement:

  • Take some time to reflect
    When you finally decide to make your goal statement, don’t rush into it. Take some time to reflect on what you really want to accomplish. This helps you avoid setting goals that you think you must have instead of focusing on a goal that you really want to achieve.
  • Write confidently
    You should be both firm and decisive when setting up your goals. The statement shouldn’t contain vague noncommittal phrases. Start with sentences with words like “I will…” as this makes you sound confident and certain while eliminating ambiguity.
    Furthermore, decisive words add an element of encouragement each time you go back to your statements. Avoid openers like “I really want to…” or “I really hope I can…”
  • Be as specific as possible
    Your goal statement example can have more impact and give you a sense of direction if it had very specific content. Phrases such as “climbing the ladder…” or “earning more money…” are too vague to awaken your motivation.
  • Come up with a plan of action
    Setting a goal is the best first step – but so is setting a finish line to accomplish it. But all these would become meaningless if you don’t understand what you need to do to make things happen.
    The latter section of your goal statement should outline and enumerate the steps required to accomplish it. This serves as a roadmap for you to follow towards your goal and is a lot better than just deciding on an objective and have no clues on how to start or where you’re going.

Personal Goal Statements

How to write a goal statement?

You can look at your goal statement as the “North Star” to guides you on your path to fulfill your purpose. Great goal statements can start with asking yourself questions like:

  • What do I really want?
  • What will make me truly happy
  • What will make the people whom I love happy too?

When you have the answers to these simple questions, it’s now time to do a bit of self-reflection. Here, you need to:

  • Think about what your ideal life is.
  • Wonder about the things that keep you up each night.
  • Reflect on your deepest dreams and desires.

Focus more on the things that you want to experience, the growth you want to have, and the contribution you want to make to the world. Make sure that your statement brings into fruition what motivates you the most. The stronger you feel for your goals, the more chances there will be to achieve them.

When creating this statement, use your moral compass to guide you in creating meaningful goals. You can also think about the challenges that you’ve confronted in life when setting your goals. You can consider any positive characteristics that you possess as a personal value and these values are the driving forces that will help you in the realization of a meaningful goal statement.

Click to rate this post!
[Total: 2 Average: 5]
Tagged:CareerCollegeGoal StatementsPersonalProfessionalStatement
TemplateLab April 29th, 2021