Personal Goals Paper
Amy Long, RN CNOR
University of Phoenix
Undergraduate Nursing Studies
HCS/301
Karen Benjamin
March 1, 2014
Personal Goals Paper
Setting goals both personally and professionally, will lead to success. A personal short term goal of mine is to start saving money towards my long term personal goal of purchasing a home. A short term professional goal is to renew my Staff Nurse IV (SNIV) clinical ladder status at work, and my long term professional goal is to become a nursing educator. Initially after obtaining my RN, my priority was to begin working and gain experience. Yet, an underlying urge remained; to return to school and obtain a Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree to pursue a nurse educator position. I was fearful of managing my time, worried about handling unwanted stress, and unsure of using available resources. Eventually, I made the decision to chase my educational dreams despite my fears. While there never seems to be enough time to achieve my personal and professional goals, I can utilize time management, apply stress management skills, and create milestones that mark achievement in the quest of goal attainment.
Time Management
Knowing how to utilize time management is necessary in the pursuit of achieving goals by knowing one’s values, how to plan events, and use a planner. Initially, a person should evaluate themselves to determine their values. Values dictate a person’s motivations and personal priorities. Carter, Bishop, and Kravits (2011) state, “The stronger the link between your values and your long-term goals, the happier, more motivated, and more successful you are likely to be in setting and achieving those goals” (p. 98). For example, I value home ownership, so I am motivated to save money to purchase a house, my personal goal. Next, emphasis should be placed on organizing events. Hafner and Stock (2010) claim that “time management behaviors include planning and monitoring activities” (p.430). Planning and monitoring activities provides structure, and makes the path toward their goal easier to navigate. For example, by checking my bank accounts regularly, I can keep track of my house savings, until I can purchase a home to attain my personal goal. Finally, it is helpful to invest in a type of planner. Planners, either electronic or paper, assist in keeping track of events, and prioritizes events (Katz, et al. 2009. p. 89). For example, I use a paper planner to organize my billing cycles and monitor my savings. As such, I can plan to pay off debts and put leftover money from paychecks into savings. Utilizing time management techniques like evaluating values, planning events, and using personal planners help one reach their goals.
Stress Management
Stress occurs when pursuing goals, so it is important to recognize the difference between good and bad stress, identify stress management techniques, and utilizing stress management technique. Stress can either severely harm a person, or motivate people to succeed. Bucurean (2009) declares that, “stress is linked to the six leading causes of death - heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and Suicide” (p.113). However, some stress in a person’s life is good, as Kantorski (2012) states, “some distress, which teaches students to solve problems, learn from their mistakes, and experiment with ways of dealing with challenges, is a necessary and important part of life” (p. 59). For example, I recognize when I have been experiencing too much stress because I feel tired at all times, even during work hours. Such stress would hinder my performance at work. On the other hand, I also recognize “good stress”. Renewing the SNIV status requires a project that recognizes a need in the department, and must be completed by a specific date. When a project is due, the stress motivates me to proceed forward and finish it. Ultimately, it is important to maintain stress to avoid health issues. Some stress