Goal Setting & Personal Responsibility

Our successes and failures are our personal responsibility. The best goal setting strategies and practices won’t work if we don’t or can’t take personal responsibility for our direction, and our results.

Setting up your own Role with Goals gives you a sense of ownership: the outcomes are what you set forth for yourself, and by accomplishing them you will become a more responsible person.

Here are some ideas:

• Career advancement often requires a broad scope of skills and experiences. Try adding seminars and other educational opportunities to your Goals list, because continued learning is critical to your ability to expand your responsibilities and career development.
• Dream small dreams. If you make them too big, you get overwhelmed and you don’t do anything. If you make small Goals and accomplish them, it gives you the confidence to go on to higher Goals.
• Listen. Oftentimes it’s best to listen and pay attention to others, especially in the workplace, as this indicates that you value what they have to say. Use active listening, open-ended questions, positive body language and eliminate distractions that can get in the way of your ability to really take it in.
• Gain feedback from your team members on a regular basis to find out what you can improve upon. Obtaining your team’s perspective is a great way to see how your behaviour and practices impact those around you and can provide immense insight when it comes to what works and what doesn’t.
• No one person knows everything, so ask for support/help if and when you really need it. Look for allies, both within your company and outside of it, and build a network of professionals who are like-minded. Talk to them, ask for advice and apply it in your situation to reach your Goals.

“Once you start making the effort to ‘wake yourself up’ – that is, be more mindful in your activities – you suddenly start appreciating life a lot more.”

Robert Biswas-Diener