Originally Published: February 5th, 2023
Updated: August 20th, 2023
This article is all about how to set work goals.
For those of us who are still employees, it is important to set goals for work. In this post, we will go over both personal and professional goals to set for work.
You may ask “Why should you set work goals”?
Work performance goals are what carry you past the mundane and repetitive tasks that are leaches of happiness at work. It is important to do your best whenever you step into the office and setting goals for work will inspire you to challenge yourself and work at a higher level.
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In the era that we are currently in – at least on social media- it seems like everyone is leaving corporate to work for themselves and be the bosses that they were always meant to be.
The reality is that that is the experience of a few individuals.
The majority of us are still working for others, at least at this moment, and we want to make the most of our experience on the job. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this as it provides you with a sense of security and stability to have a job that can consistently provide for you and your family.
Why It is Crucial To Set Work Goals
Take Back Control of Your Life
When you work in a traditional job, your day is directed by the things that other people need to do. If you are not proactive and don’t set work goals, you will find yourself constantly behind the curve.
The thing about working in a traditional job is that it can become quite stale very quickly, especially if you do not enjoy the work that you are doing.
Your environment, the people, and the tasks that you do are heavily determined by others and the needs of the company. It can be hard to stay motivated when every day feels like it is sucking the life out of you.
While everyone may not be able to jump up immediately and quit their jobs when it is convenient for them, everyone does have the ability to change their perspective. Believe it or not, you can find fulfillment in the most mundane of things if you look at it from a different perspective.
If you feel that you have to fight the urge to quit your job every day and don’t because you know that you have other responsibilities, use this as your source of motivation.
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Mindset
One of the things that employees should analyze is their mindset.
Your mindset will determine the experience you will have and what things you take away when you leave work each day.
In the United States, 40 hours a week is the standard amount of time that people work. These hours usually take up the majority of the daylight hours and they make up a large chunk of people’s weeks.
40 hours a week spent working at a job that you are not passionate about is a long time to be bored and unmotivated. This time can be better spent by you finding things within the job that you do that brings you fulfillment.
Each day at work is an opportunity to gain skills and add value to those you communicate with and serve. I am also a strong believer in balance and it is important to take your FULL breaks and prioritize rest in between your working sessions.
It is good practice to do your best and have a great attitude because you never know who is watching or who could be recommending you to others.
By having a productive and positive mindset you will set yourself up for opportunities that you did not know existed. People reward hard workers and reliable workers and you will open doors that you could not have imagined for yourself by working hard.
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Set work goals
It is important to set goals for yourself at work.
Your employer may try to guide you by setting quotas or recommended metrics that they encourage you to meet, but these goals are only motivating to a certain type of person.
When you set goals for work whether they are personal, professional, or performance goals you have to set them for yourself. You should set them with the intention of pleasing yourself, not your employer, manager, or coworkers.
External Praise
The gratification that you receive from external sources is temporary and you may come to expect the same praise when you hit similar goals in the future, thus setting yourself up for disappointment if it never comes.
External praise is also unreliable, you may never receive it, which is why it is so important to set goals so that you can gain self-satisfaction. You don’t need to please anyone at work but yourself.
When you set goals that consistently challenge your physical limitations and your mind you will naturally be able to accomplish more.
By setting goals for yourself, you give yourself something to work towards, which can make mundane work more interesting, or at least more bearable. When you begin to exceed in the tasks that you are assigned, people will take notice and trust you with more complex tasks.
Why should you set work goals?
You should set goals for yourself at work because it will motivate you to do well when external motivators fail you. If you have been running on external motivators the progress will be inconsistent.
For example, if you receive a raise or a new project, over time this initial event becomes less new and more normal. The serotonin and energy that you received from this event eventually run out leaving you unmotivated to perform at the same level that you did when it first occurred.
Coincidently, supervisors still expect you to perform at the level that you did when you first received the reward. Your hard work or the value that you brought to the team was what probably brought you the reward in the first place.
You should also set goals so that you can maintain a consistent workflow.
When you work only when you have the motivation or only when you are rewarded, your work performance can be much more erratic. Which can be documented by your metrics. The goal is consistency and steady growth over time.
Proper goals should have steps to achieve them and most goals won’t be achieved overnight. If you can show that you have improved over time, you can make a case for whatever you want (growth, a raise, job change) at work.
If you liked this post, you’ll love these:
- Starting from Zero | Best Ways to Set Yourself Up for Success
- How to Stop Overthinking and Take Back Control of Your Life
- How to show yourself love on Valentine’s Day
Are work goals only for people who don’t like their jobs?
The answer to this question is absolutely not!
Everyone should set performance goals for work. Performance goals are not only for the employer but the employee as well.
Even your dream job will not be fun or life-changing every day. There will always be tasks at work that you would prefer not to do. Intrinsic motivation through goal setting will guide you through undesirable times.
Setting goals and checking them off will give you as an employee a sense of accomplishment.
You may not be fulfilled by looking at your metrics alone if you even have access to them. It is important to find value in what you do even if it is not your preference. Setting goals and eventually achieving them will give you a sense of fulfillment as you contribute to the operation of your company.
Setting goals and documenting them will also help you remember what it is that you have accomplished. It is easy to go through day-to-day tasks and forget what it is that you have done months later.
When you are in line for another opportunity and you are asked about previous projects or accomplishments, you will have benchmarks that you can speak to.
Remember: If you have done a small thing that contributed to a big thing overall, speak to it, and hype it up! The larger project at our job could not have been completed if there were not people like you willing to do the work. No project that you were seriously involved in is too small for you to use.
You Must Practice Setting Work Performance Goals
You have to remember why you are setting the goals in the first place.
These goals are for your personal growth so that you can leave work feeling accomplished and knowing that you are working towards your next thing.
Whether it is a promotion, a new job, or even getting good references, it is much easier when you are self-motivated to do your best at work.
It isn’t always easy to show up and try your hardest when you are going through it or your supervisors aren’t supportive, but this was never about them in the first place.
You showing up and doing your best is another decision that you make to show up for yourself. You have to be your own biggest cheerleader and braving the storm now of an unfulfilling work environment will prepare you for your next challenge.
Conclusion
Learning to set work goals will elevate your overall work experience and quality of life at work.
Chin up buttercup! This isn’t the conventional road, but you don’t want conventional results do you?
Let’s Keep the Party Going!
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