Are you ready to live a highly successful life, achieve all of your goals, and enjoy the success you know deep down that you really deserve? If your answer is yes then before you go any further you must answer the following searching question.
Just what is your purpose in life? If you dont have a ready answer, dont be too surprised. Even the greatest of the philosophers who have ever lived succeeded only in making this question more profound. Why? Because the answer lies not in simply knowing what is your purpose in life but lies in discovering what is your goal in life. The last one is only possible if you have already gone through the process of goal setting.
Soul searching is actually personal goal setting in its infancy. The only problem is that for many people that infant never grows up into maturity. The person involved in soul searching might dismiss this process as nothing but being sentimental. Without realizing it, the person has just killed the infant, or his chance to flesh out the course of his purpose driven life.
But luckily, soul searching is a recurring process. So the next time you have been given the honor of another visit, be mindful.
Personal goal setting is a powerful tool for setting a course for a meaningful and fulfilling life. The process of personal goal setting in itself is powerful enough so that if you are going through with the process you might think that your lifes meaning or purpose had been found. But it is not. The euphoria is only a result of your self finally realizing that you are on the right track.
For some, the process itself is motivating. Once you have found a way of making this a habit, you will soon realize that achieving your goals that look like impenetrable walls in the past is nothing but a purpose that needs a set of personal goals as the key.
Personal goal setting: what should be set?
Since there is more to life than the four letters that it represents, personal goal setting involves a review of all the aspects of your life, and all of these should have a corresponding goal. But before going to the process of setting up goals, you must have one general goal that encompasses all the other goals. In fact the other and smaller goals should work in the service of this large goal of yours.
1 Career. What aspect of your career do you think needs an improvement? Or perhaps, ask yourself, is it time for a new career?
2 Outlook or attitude. Is there a part of you, particularly on how you perceive things, that needs to be changed?
3 Financial. Do you have a clear projection as to how much you should be earning in a particular moment in your life? This aspect is closely related with career, so better review and come out with a goal with these two side by side.
4 Potential development. Perhaps some of your talents and skills need an improvement, or are maybe already clamoring for an improvement. Life, after all, is discovering your potential and developing it in the process.
5 Academic. Perhaps you are no longer getting any mental stimulation lately. Maybe your education related goals have expired many years ago. Perhaps it is time to go back to school for another degree, or engage in some thought provoking activities.
6 Family. What is your idea of a family? Getting married, having and raising kids? When? How?
7 Social involvement. Perhaps you want to help achieve something that would make the world a better place? Perhaps you are into animal protection, environmental concerns, and human rights issues?
These are just some aspects that generally come to mind when it comes to personal matters. If you feel or think that this list is not enough, or does not fit well with you, you may add or change it. Remember, personal goal setting is what its name is, a personal task. It is all up to you to device it and make it happen.
This article has just scratched the surface as far as goal setting is concerned. There is a lot more information out there in such places as the local library, the local bookstore, and also there are a number of very helpful Blogs on this subject.
John Savage
http://www.articlesbase.com/goal-setting-articles/personal-goal-setting-for-a-purpose-driven-life-91010.html
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Would anyone be willing to look over my personal statement for college?
I want to make this as powerful as possible. My name is Suzanna, I’m 17, and I’m applying to UCLA, UCB, UCSD. Harvard, Yale, Columbia, BU, Washington in St. Louis, and NYU. Thank you, everyone. Happy Thanksgiving!
You can find my personal statement through this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fj4aGPFhMMo4eJ5dj_u8OLqoycKxMKQA3CnqqVnatBM/edit?hl=en&authkey=CK2ZreIC
Or, below:
PROMPT: Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.
“No, no, no…” I whined as mother continued to coerce me into lending her my $100 stash to buy “groceries” – and I was well aware of her gambling tendencies. I was overcome with anger, tension, and angst, which were all festering inside of me. I was stuck; I knew if I defied her it would end in mental and physical exhaustion. I surrendered in my weakness and handed her the money. The second she drove off and left me home alone, I cried and cried. Anchorless, I dropped to the floor to cry some more. I yelled, writhing, gripping my legs and screaming out of anger. I pitied my plight. My life that moment felt unbearably wrong and pointless.
“No. It’s not,” my conscience countered.
“Okay.” I said, taking a breath. “That’s true.”
Whether mother is fuming at my back or absent when I need her, I feel alone in my philosophies. Yet when everything around me is going opposite Suzanna, a conscience in the back of my head reminds me that everything is going to be okay. This positive voice is my safety net whose words are like a gift, a voice that is mine. It has saved me from self-destruction countless times.
I was in limbo before I manifested this “net.” That was a bleak time when I thought each step in my life, whether it was walking from biology to math or waking up in the morning, was done for some undefined goal. Even right now as I muse life’s purpose, I feel the immensity of time and space. Everything suddenly happens at a rapid, queer rate: heat beaming through the library windows, simultaneous chatter, beeps from a computer game a foot away, a girl working diligently on her college apps, a teacher hastily editing a student’s personal statement – it’s difficult to take in. This trouble I have, which maybe is typical of a 17-year-old on the brink of adulthood, provokes me to find answers. Why do I bother doing anything? Why am I alive? What’s the point?
The point is to be happy. I want to believe happiness is a state of mind that is not predetermined by one’s background or setting; I refuse to suffer the same financial and mental demise as my immigrant relatives. I desperately seek insight and need a break from this cage of constant frustration and confusion. I pick up new age self-help books by spiritual leaders, and I practice happiness habits faithfully. They twist my views and impact my state of mind positively. They reassure me of what I have come to know: there is no set path I am supposed to take; rather, every step should be taken boldly and backed with will. I have learned to take in every living second, to appreciate the diversity of people in this library, appreciate the sunlight that passes through the shades, appreciate the help of these underpaid teachers that mean so much to these kids. These books are the reason I smile to strangers, why I am so happy among my teachers and colleagues at school. These books tell me that I am larger than life, that happiness is within reach, that I am certainly not hopeless. I can go to college, give back, and make a difference. All these things, I CAN DO. And I don’t know what I will do exactly, but I just want to help anyone who feels so lost like I once was.
This newly found strength I have is because my mother broke me down. She neglected me and diminished my morale to nothing, but little does she know I have evolved from being that sedentary sulking girl to an independent young woman. I found sustainable methods of happiness, such as a voice, on my own. I built myself back up stronger and wiser. I know now that feeling present is essential. I don’t wonder why I routinely take one step after the next, but rather understand it’s the way with a smile and leaving the explanation at just that.
You write really well, but I’m not sure you’ve answered the question. You haven’t really described your world/family/community as directed by the prompt. You’ve told the reader that your mother neglected you and has a gambling problem, but you’re capable of a more complex and vivid description. Where does your confidence come from? Was there a defining moment? Is your goal to find personal happiness or are you seeking something more?
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