Goal With Some Life example essay topic

Plan to live your life your way. Everyone has goals in mind, whether they are personal or business. When I began to actually start writing the goals, I quickly learned maybe I did not clearly understand what I intended to accomplish. My thoughts were a collage of short-term thoughts without any cohesive consideration to a lifetime goal. The challenge was not just stating my goals, but rather reflecting on the important aspects of my life, then setting those goals in some or all areas. To insure I have considered the important aspects of my life I used the categories discovered in research ("Planning to Live").

After identifying the categories, I then chose to prioritize them. Hopefully this paper will enlighten the reader on not only the important aspects in my life but also the categories an individual may use in determining the personal goals important in providing a broad, balanced consideration in their life. Family is the most important aspect in my life today. I am determined to be a better father and use that knowledge going forth with being a new grandfather.

I will accomplish this by being consistently available during those grand and not-so grand moments in every child's life. I now understand I sacrificed parental involvement for the sake of a career. I do remember missing some of the little league games, concerts, and academic events for the sake of furthering my career. I had always felt the lack of a college degree required additional work hours to remain competitive with my peers. I will be a more devoted husband. I wonder every day how I managed to find such a beautiful partner and person in life, and I will let my wife know her importance hopefully everyday.

She is a devoted Catholic and I will partner with her in that faith. Education has always been at the forefront of my mind; however, my personal commitment to a formal education needs to be focused. My goal is to graduate with my Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from the University of Phoenix in 2006. My career field and company strategic direction are moving technical positions to cheaper overseas technical talent. This direction is an industry movement known as "offshoring". In the past, the cheaper overseas labor was primarily used for the manual labor or factory jobs.

India has produced a labor force of technical talent that is highly educated and the salaries are from 25% to 50% more economical than the comparative labor force in the United States or Europe (Fording). To insure my family goal, I need to complete my degree to enhance my career opportunities of staying in Oklahoma. Education to me is not only academic but also spiritual. To accomplish this I am enrolled in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) Catholic education program. I am scheduled to complete the training and get confirmed in the Catholic church Easter 2004. This also ties back to the family goal.

Physical and pleasure goals are combined in a single activity. I am an avid outdoors person and have backpacking as a hobby. I have set a goal with some life-long friends to plan at least one trip a year to a different remote wilderness. This goal also facilitates my physical well-being goal because these backpacking trips require physical training due to the strenuous activity. My friends and I have found it is also a great bonding adventure and provides wonderful stress relief from the work environment. My family enjoys the short and minimal impact camping trips also.

My financial goal is to insure my wife and I will not be a burden on our children during retirement. It is my goal to continue to contribute 20% of my gross salary to a 401 k savings plan. It is our protection against any economic burden and will provide a comfortable living during retirement. A career goal is to reach the level of Enterprise Architect before I am 55 years old.

This ties into the education goal. The completion of my degree should enhance my opportunities for possible advancement to this level with my current company. An artistic goal is to learn to play the guitar before I retire. It has always been an interest but I am determined to set aside time to accomplish this before I am 60. My attitude goal is improve my personality in the areas of understanding what forgiveness really means. I typically do to not forgive people long after an uncomfortable event has occurred.

This will be facilitated by my religious education with RCIA. RCIA will teach me the art of forgiveness hopefully in a timelier manner. In summation, I hope the reader will give some thought to the important aspects of their life by categorizing those aspects and assigning priorities. My goals are mapped around family, education, physical, pleasure, financial, career, artistic, and finally attitude. The goals are summarized and explained in priority order. Plan to live life your way but write the goals down, it will become clear and attainable.

My world will begin and end with my family.

Bibliography

Fording, Laura "Jobs Go Global" Interview with Ron Hira Newsweek Web Exclusive 7 November 2003 web Planning to Live Your Life Your Way - Personal Goal Setting, Mind Tools 1995-2003 web.