Goals: What are you preparing for?

  • Published
  • By Maj. Paul Brown
  • 860th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron commander
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Preparation is an important part of every facet of our daily lives. One key aspect to readiness is preparation. It is our duty to be prepared for the challenges we face.

One important long-term piece of preparation is goal setting. When new personnel enter my squadron, one of the questions I ask is what their goals are. Many have specific goals, while some have none in mind or hadn't really thought about it. Goal setting, in both personal and professional arenas, is an important and powerful tool that can give you deeper satisfaction as you travel through life. When properly focused, these goals can also improve our overall readiness.

So, where to start? I recommend identifying important areas in life and selecting goals that you actually want. Some people set goals because they sound good ... "I want to be a millionaire" or "I want to be a general." However, when you actually ponder what's important to you, what you need to be successful, and what will bring you happiness, you may find other goals override the perceived pinnacle of your current pursuit. Subsequently, it's helpful to focus on key areas to develop goals. I've developed goals for family, professional, financial, fitness and spiritual growth. You may have other areas that are important to you.

Once you've picked these key areas to set goals, select them for short term (in the next year or two) and long term (three or more years to accomplish). Make sure goals in your important areas don't contradict each other. For example, your financial goals should be in line with your family and spiritual goals so they don't work against each other. In addition, goals should not be something easily obtained ... they should challenge you. When the maintenance group was preparing for the Spring Logistics Standardization and Evaluation Program, we set the highest rating of "Outstanding" as our goal and worked towards earning it. If you don't set the bar high, you won't achieve your goals, or even come close.

Next, it is very important to write down your goals, revisit them regularly and visualize achieving them. Writing goals is the first step in formalizing a plan for attaining long-term readiness in all those key areas of your life. This plan can be focused on and should be regularly read and updated as your life, mission and family change. Visualizing achieving your goals is a powerful motivational tool. See yourself walking across the stage at that graduation, imagine the feeling of scoring your best ever on your fitness test, sense the joy of increased spiritual understanding and renewal and then get to work achieving those goals!

While preparation is a key to success, as you prepare, make sure you have goals in mind. In the end, you'll achieve more - success, happiness and spiritual growth. Ultimately, this will help increase our readiness.