The title of this entry seems like a simple yet infinitely complicated sentence.  Do you have goals for where you want to be in your personal and professional life?   Do you have hopes and dreams for who you want to be once you have graduated? Have you ever thought about getting these goals organized to see how they all fit together?

 We have all learned at some point in our lives that having goals is a wonderful thing.  Actually writing goals down on paper, however, can be an powerful instrument through which you can visualize the successes of your life and actually experience them.  Writing down your goals can seem like a daunting task, that is why so many people never bother doing so.  Here are a few ideas on how you can map out your future:

1. Divide your goals into professional and personal.  Sometimes these areas will crossover with one another, but by and large, keeping them separate will keep things from getting too confusing.

2. Give time limitations to all of your goals.  For example, you may choose to have goals for the next month; quarterly; 6 months; 1 year; 5 year; 10 year; 15 year or whatever you choose to do.  This helps to quantify a finite amount of time that you actually want to accomplish your goal.  Simply stating, ” I want to open my own practice” is too vague and open ended.

3.  Write everything down that comes to your mind, no matter how crazy or far fetched you think it sounds.  You may have multiple drafts of your goals so when you get ideas in your head, write them down.  You can always modify them later. Some of your aspirations or desires may be forgotten if you don’t put them on paper.

4. Have a reward system once you have reached a goal.  If your goal was to simply “study for Microbiology midterm” and you accomplished that goal, then reward yourself.  I am not saying go out and buy yourself something expensive, but make it a reward you look forward to.  It may be getting ice cream, watching television, playing your video games, or whatever.  Just make it fun once you get to your goal.  The bigger the goal you are striving for, the bigger the reward might be.  It’s your choice.

5. Re-evaluate your goals on a regular basis.  I tend to review my goals every six months.  Sometimes I may not get to it for one year.  When you are looking them over, you might be surprised to see how many goals you have achieved faster than you thought you would.  Then you can set new goals and adjust your time frames accordingly.

 The most important thing to remember about goal setting is to try and make it enjoyable.  You are challenging yourself to shoot for the stars and be the best you can be.  Think of your goals as a road map to where you want to be some time in the future.  Put them down on paper, visualize and achieve your dreams.  Have fun out there!