Looking Toward the Future

Pondering about my future, I was able to identify three goals to work towards to better my life. The first goal is personal, my fiancé and I have been trying to save for a house and a car and this is the year we are going to make the purchases. My second goal is professional, in the future, I would ideally like to be a social worker. However, thinking about the immediate future, I would like to find a job that will give me real world experience in my chosen field of study. Finally, my third goal pertains to my on-line education. My goal is to graduate on-time with honors, and I am willing to work arduously for it. As stated by MacLeod, “In order to reach a single goal, several enabling or supporting objectives usually have to be met”(2012). Therefore, a plan needs to be put in place in order to reach your goals successfully.
When approaching your goals it is best to go about it in a S.M.A.R.T. way, which is to ensure your goal is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound (Cohen, 2013). Starting with my personal goal of buying a house and a car, I have made a precise plan of action. Specifically, my fiancé and I are looking at a used 2003 Volkswagen Jetta that is three thousand dollars. We have more than half of the money put aside for the car, and we are paying off all our bills before we make the purchase, so we do not incur an extra expense. Realistically, we need this car to be able to travel to look at potential houses for sale in our desired neighborhood. We can afford the car, so it is attainable, yet we are waiting until May to ensure our bills are paid off. Getting the car before then is doable, however, staying on schedule will guarantee us being able to afford the insurance payments and still have money in our pockets. Once we have the car we can then start looking at the houses I have been keeping a list of and thus begin the home buying process. We have narrowed our search down to Westchester, New York and a hundred and fifty thousand dollar house is attainable. Once we have our car we will most likely get a real estate agent, which is essential to the search for a home. The house cannot be further than an hour and a half away from my fiancé’s job and we would like to move by the end of the year.