Predictive Success Blog

Creating personal development goals for work can help you achieve success, increasing your value in your career. Improving weak areas can prove to current and potential employers that you can take on challenges to better yourself and your skills.

Keep reading to learn more about what personal development goals are and how they can help you achieve your career aspirations.

What are personal work goals?

It’s important for individuals to set personal growth goals since they keep you focused and help you get more out of life. A goal is something measurable you can achieve. These will focus on your personality, your skillset, and your knowledge in specific areas. In order to decide which goals you want to set, you will have to give yourself an honest assessment to know which areas could benefit from improvement.

To achieve your goals, you will need to make a clear plan with smaller tasks that lead you towards the end target. Instead of trying to climb mountains of work, you can give yourself milestones and daily tasks that will slowly develop your skills over time.

What are the benefits of setting developmental goals for work?

If you are hoping to move up at your workplace, one of the best ways of standing out to your employer is to have personal work goals with a plan for how to achieve them. Having goals that you are working toward can benefit you in many ways like:

Giving you drive

When you have set goals for work, you have a clear direction to follow and this makes it easier to stay motivated. This path will allow you to improve your focus by developing new habits that build new skills. It’s important to ask for assistance (when needed) and to make sure challenge yourself to get things done quicker. Your goals can course correct you when you are distracted or you face difficult moments.

Building stronger work connections

Having individual goals that you strive to achieve can help build connections with other like-minded employees. While you are growing and accomplishing your goals, you will set an example for other coworkers and this helps motivate others to achieve more as well.

Accomplishing more

When you set goals for yourself, you will likely improve your dedication to your work so that you can live up to your word. This will increase your productivity, improve the quality of your results, and will grow your overall ethic. The more boxes you check off your list, the more you stand out as an employee, which can get you to a higher position.

How do I create personal development goals for work?

To get started on creating your work goals, follow this process:

1. Decide what you want to accomplish.
2. Create a realistic plan to follow.
3. Check in regularly to stay on target with your goals.
4. Adjust your plan as you go.

 

1. Decide what you want to accomplish

The first step is to decide what your goals are. You will need to consider what pace you are currently at and the realistic time it will take to get to where you want to be. The vision of your future self will help you determine how much work will need to be put into your goals, the time it will take, what steps you will take.

As time goes on you will get better at splitting your goal into smaller, more attainable goals. It’s good to remember why you set out on this journey and make a note or a vision board that you can refer to that will remind you of where you need to go.

2. Create a realistic plan to follow

A plan that’s based in reality is a recipe for success. Once your goals are established you will need to map out any tasks. This represents the “work” you will need to do.

After mapping out as many tasks as you can you need to figure out how long it will take to do them. Add in some prioritization and you have a plan.

Your plan should include room for missteps, skill and knowledge development, and alternate ways of achieving your goals. Take time to figure out the best steps that work for you and your timeframe, and create measurable and attainable SMART goals that can keep you on track.

3. Check in regularly to stay on target with your goals

You can keep track of your goal progress in many ways, what is most important to your success is that you keep track. When something goes right because of your hard work, make a note of it so that you can look back at your accomplishments and understand how to replicate the positives. These moments where you can be proud of the growth that you have made can help push you forward in achieving your bigger goal.

When things happen take you farther away from your goals, checking in on your plan will help you get back on track. What’s important is to remain accountable.

4. Adjust your plan as you go

Every year or so, review your personal work goals and decide if they still make sense or if the plan needs to be adjusted. Look back at your accomplishments, the knowledge you acquired, and how much closer you are to your goal. You may want to add or remove certain things, and since you may now have a better understanding of the timeframe you need, that can also be adjusted.

What are some personal development goals for work examples?

If you are unsure about what kind of goals you want to strive towards, take a look at our list of sample development goals that can help guide you to success. They are:

• Become a better communicator
• Learn a new workplace skill
• Improve your attitude
• Be open to expanding your mind
• Read inspiring and educational books

 

Become a better communicator

It’s key to speak in a clear and purposeful manner, it can change the way people pay attention to your words. If you take an active approach to being a good communicator and choosing your words carefully when getting your point across, you may be heard by the right people who can help elevate you at work. Half of communication is listening, so practice actively listening to people’s words to build stronger work relationships.

Learn a workplace skill

If you are not sure what goal you want to achieve, developing a skill that is relevant to your workplace can show that you are self-sufficient and resourceful. Not only will it make your life easier at work being able to accomplish tasks in a smarter way, it will make you stand out against others who may not have taken the same initiative.

Improve your attitude

Consider how you act and react to others and if there are areas that you could improve upon. Changing the way you behave to be more positive and friendly can help show that you are a valuable team member. Improving your attitude can help you grow within the organization.

Be open to expanding your mind

Being open to new people and experiences will make you more approachable and empathetic. While it can be uncomfortable to try new ideas, you may find that they work best and offer a different response than you imagined. Push yourself out of your comfort zone and you might surprise yourself with the results.

Read inspiring and educational books

To motivate yourself to achieve more, reading inspirational books can encourage you to take the leap to find your dreams. Not only can they inspire you, they can also improve your knowledge on subjects related to your work. Getting into the habit of regularly reading books that will change your mindset can be an easy step in the right direction.