1 Attitude, Goal Setting, and Life Management

FUTURE DREAMS HAPPINESS

After studying these topics, you will benefit by: Discovering the influence professionalism and positive human relations have on personal, academic, and career success Knowing how individual personality, attitude, and values affect the workplace Recognizing how self-efficacy and personal branding affect your confidence Developing a strategy to deal with past negative experiences and other barriers to success Examining the impact goal setting has on creating a life plan in today’s economy Choosing priorities to support your goal

ALL ABOUT YOU “Mirror words” describe the foundation of how you view yourself and others, and how you will most likely perform at work. Personality and attitude dictate how one responds to conflict, crisis, and other typical workplace situations.

ALL ABOUT YOU Professionalism: workplace behaviors that result in positive business relationships Healthy relationships at work start with first understanding your own personality and attitude Personality and attitude dictate how you respond to positive and negative workplace situations

ALL ABOUT YOU Human Relations: interactions with and through people Get along with your colleagues, and positive workplace interactions will result in workplace productivity In order to understand workplace relationships, you must first understand yourself

PERSONALITY AND VALUES Personality: stable traits that assist in explaining and predicting behavior Behavior is a reflection of personality Positive: caring, considerate, organized Negative: rude, unfocused, lazy A result of influences Experiences and influences outside of work affect one’s professional behavior Family, friends, religion, society

PERSONALITY AND VALUES Values: things that are important to you as an individual There are good and bad values Based on your personal experiences and influences May include: achievement, family, money, or security Shaped by experiences

TOPIC SITUATION Charley’s Values TOPIC RESPONSE: If Charley continues to associate with his non-supportive friends, how could these friendships influence Charley’s performance at school and work?

ATTITUDES Attitude: a strong belief about people, things, and situations Related to values and personality An individual’s performance influences a group’s performance, which then impacts the organization’s performance Since you cannot avoid others, be aware of the impact other individuals have on your life; choose to surround yourself with positive people

THINK ABOUT IT Identify one friend that you believe is a positive influence on you and a friend that is a negative influence. How should you handle these relationships?

TALK IT OUT What cartoon character best reflects your personality and why?

SELF-EFFICACY AND ITS INFLUENCES Self-concept: how you view yourself Self-image: your belief of how others view you Self-efficacy: your belief in your ability to perform a task Projection: the way you feel about yourself and your environment is reflected in how you treat others

SELF-EFFICACY AND ITS INFLUENCES Personal Brand: reflects traits you want others to think of when they think of you May include: Appearance Values Knowledge and skills Value to others Make a commitment to enhance your personal brand

DEALING WITH NEGATIVE “BAGGAGE” Past experiences impact your personality and influence behavior Negative baggage will affect your performance Confront your past Practice forgiveness Move forward Keep in mind that it is sometimes a painful and long process to reach your goal of becoming the best individual you can be

TOPIC SITUATION Keira’s Past Poor Choices TOPIC RESPONSE: What steps should Keira take to help her achieve her goals?

LOCUS OF CONTROL Locus of control: identifies who you believe controls your future Internal locus of control believes that he or she controls his or her own future External locus of control believes that others control his or her future Extremes on either end are not healthy

LEARNING STYLES Learning Style: the method by which you best take in information and/or learn new ideas Visual learner—learns best by seeing Auditory learner—learns best by hearing Tactile/kinesthetic learner—learns best by feeling, touching, and holding

THE IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL GOAL SETTING Goal: a target Think of it as a reward at the top of a ladder; you must climb the ladder before reaching the reward Goals provide focus; increase self-concept; and help overcome procrastination, fear, and failure Setting goals will help you become more successful in your career

TOPIC SITUATION Austin’s Goals TOPIC RESPONSE: What are specific steps Austin can take to ensure he reaches his goal of becoming a CPA?

INFLUENCES OF GOALS Goals help to make career plans clearer and more meaningful As a goal is reached, you will experience motivation and self-confidence Set goals in the major areas of your life including personal, career, financial, educational, and physical

Example of Austin’s Goals Five-year long-term goal: Obtain a bachelor’s degree in accounting Three-year long-term goal: Obtain an associate degree in accounting and secure a job as an account clerk One-year short-term goal: Successfully pass the appropriate courses toward the associate degree and identify an internship Now: Apply for school and find a part-time job to obtain work experience

TALK IT OUT Share one goal you have set for this class.

HOW TO SET GOALS Achieving short-term and long-term goals is like climbing a ladder Goals need to be put into writing Set long-term goals Set short-term goals for reaching long-term goals

HOW TO SET GOALS Long-Term Goals Long-term goals: reached within a time frame of 5 to 10 years Setting long-term goals starts with thinking of what you want to accomplish in your life From your list of accomplishments, choose items you most value Keep goals realistic, attainable, measurable, and important (have a reason for the goal) Remember Austin’s goal to be a CPA? He believes becoming a CPA represents success. It is important to him, and it is a realistic goal that can be reached.

HOW TO SET GOALS Short-Term Goals Short-term goals: goals that can be reached within a year’s time Referred to as objectives in businesses Set to help reach long-term goals Keep them realistic, achievable, measurable, and important to you

HOW TO SET GOALS SMART Method Specific Identify what you want to accomplish or quantify Measurable Identify how you know when you have achieved it Achievable Challenging, yet attainable and realistic Relevant Make it meaningful to you Time-based Attach a specific time to reach the goal

HOW TO SET GOALS Goal Aspects Own the goal Each goal must belong to you YOU need to decide what your goals will be Control the goal Know what resources and constraints are involved Be flexible and maintain realistic control

Education and career Social and spiritual Financial Activities CREATING A LIFE-PLAN A life-plan includes: Education and career Social and spiritual Financial Activities

CREATING A LIFE-PLAN Education and career Degrees/certificates Time frame Financial resources Support network Education is the key to achieving your life plan

CREATING A LIFE-PLAN Career Why is your selected career important? How will you know if you achieve success? What resources are needed? Choosing the right career is important Different reasons include earning power status intellect self-satisfaction

CREATING A LIFE-PLAN Social and spiritual Marriage Family Friends Religion What types of people do you want to be a part of your life in the future?

CREATING A LIFE-PLAN Financial Home Car Ownership Where do you want to be financially? What amount of money will you be comfortable with?

CREATING A LIFE-PLAN Activities Hobbies Travel Life experiences What do you want to be able to do in the future?

CREATING A LIFE-PLAN Writing Life Goals Consider degrees/certificates, time frame, financial resources, and support network required for educational success. When planning your career, consider: Why your target career is important to you What resources are needed to achieve it How you will know you have achieved success Consider the type of personal relationships you want in the future

CREATING A LIFE-PLAN Intrinsic (self-satisfaction) Rewards that come from within you Extrinsic (money, praise) Rewards that come from external sources

TALK IT OUT Share common rewards that are important to you and identify those rewards as intrinsic or extrinsic

PRIORITIES Priorities: determine what needs to be done and in what order You may need to adjust your priorities to reach your goals Trade-off: giving up one thing to do something else Be prepared to be flexible in all areas of your life-plan

TALK IT OUT Identify priorities and trade-offs for successfully completing this course

YOUR PERSONAL HANDBOOK Personality and attitude affect your performance, both personally and professionally Use the text as a handbook to guide you in both personal and career plans Begin developing a positive attitude and believe in yourself and your abilities