Personal Goals

What do people want out of life? This question has been bothering many people, and not only the college students who are trying to figure this question out, but also many professionals who are well established in their career. From a professional standpoint, goals have been established and successfully met. With that realization out of the way, the focus should be more on goals related to education, also keeping in mind long-term goals as a professional. Returning to school to complete a degree will prove to be a smart decision. Understanding deficiencies and areas of improvement was the criteria used for selecting these goals. As a University of Phoenix student, three major goals have been set. These are to improve working within teams, writing skills and decision-making/problem-solving skills.

The ability to work well with teams is an invaluable asset that everyone should always strive to improve. Dejanasz, Dowd and Schneider lend that, "The essence of teamwork is to create a product through collective effort that exceeds the quality of any individual endeavor or the collective efforts of several individuals." (p. 310) Teamwork helps develop characteristics that can help to become successful both at work and life in general. For example, Honeywell has adopted the team approach to solving numerous types of problems. These problems can range from interpersonal to technical in nature. So, the importance of being an effective team player for career success is mandatory. In order to accomplish this goal, active participation in teams is suggested. Additionally, continually striving to improve the key elements of teamwork, which include dealing with change, dealing with conflict and reaching one's potential, is important.

The next goal, improving writing skills, is an important goal that if mastered, will drastically improve the ability to effectively communicate. Writing is a process that involves at least four distinct steps: prewriting, drafting, revising and editing. Writing is sometimes difficult to transpose thoughts to paper. One possible reason for this can be attributed to poor planning and preparation. Rooks (1998) supports this thought by stating, "Good planning and preparation are the keys to good writing." In many instances when writing a paper for college or work, skipping the initial prewriting and planning process is common. One reason for this can be attributed to patience. Instead of taking the time to sit down and plan out what will be written, people jump immediately into writing the paper. After reading the University of Phoenix supplemental materiel on The Writing Process, the importance of prewriting and planning became clear. Becoming a good writer for some may be out of reach but with a little focus and effort he or she will be able to drastically improve these skills.

Lastly, but certainly not least, as a University of Phoenix student it is imperative to improve upon skills related to decision-making and problem-solving. Critical thinking is at the heart of decision-making and problem-solving. There are many facets to critical thinking. Some of the critical facets are the ability to take in information, question information and transforming the information into something useful. Applying critical thinking skills can help