Do you know what personal aspirations are and how they can take your life to the pinnacle of success? Human beings are born to dream big and break down any barriers that prevent them from reaching their goals. haven’t you ever been in that situation where you wanted something so badly that you gave your best and did everything you could to achieve it? Everyone has aspirations in life that they would like to achieve, achieving them is not as simple as imagining them, don’t you think?
“Those whohave a why to live for, can endure almost any how.” inspiring, don’t you think? We bring this quote from Friedrich Nietzsche, to explain to you the importance of knowing your personal and professional aspirations.
If you think about it, the only constant in today’s world is transformation. Changes in the economy and new technologies put you in the need to find a compass for your personal life in a scenario of uncertainty. Only by defining your personal aspirations will you be able to give meaning to your life that will allow you to be victorious in any circumstance, develop your full potential and be happy.
do you want to know how you can identify your personal aspirations for your life project? In this blog post you will find inspiration to define yours! Therefore, we will explain in depth what personal aspirations are and we will share with you several examples of personal and professional aspirations to start drawing them from today.
In addition, we will provide you with a series of tips to fulfill your aspirations successfully and give your life a direction. So get your resolution board ready and add your new personal aspirations!
what are personal aspirations?
Personal aspirations are the vision you want to achieve in the different areas of your life. It is about consciously visualizing the reality you would like to see in your life. Like any vision, a personal aspiration involves defining actions, developing systems, investing time and energy to fulfill it.
The interesting thing is that if you set your personal aspirations properly, they become a source of well-being, motivation and purpose. But, if the personal goals you set are unrealistic or outside your current possibilities, they can bring frustration and dissatisfaction into your life.
Relationship between the Ikigai and personal aspirations
have you heard of the Japanese term Ikigai? Well, the definition of personal aspirations is in tune with this concept.
The Ikigai consists of identifying the following:
What you are good at.
What you love.
What the world needs.
What they can pay you for.
Interestingly, according to Expansión, some research done in Okinawa, Japan, shows that having a sense of purpose can promote longevity .what do they say about the importance of personal aspirations? Take a look at this chart to find out how the Ikigai concept relates to personal aspirations!
Source: Sofiri
Differences between personal and professional aspirations
Defining your personal aspirations can be confusing, as people usually have work issues on their minds.
But, the professional aspect is part of personal life, isn’t it? Yes, that’s the key to understanding the difference between personal and professional aspirations: work is just one part of life! and you can develop yourself in many areas of your life project.
Wheel of life
According to the visual tool “Wheel of Life”, human beings have 10 different areas:
Personal growth
Health
Spiritual
Love
Family
Friends
Recreation/Fun
Contribution
Finance
Business/Occupation/Studies
So, the big difference between personal aspirations and career aspirations is that personal aspirations are a guide to give meaning to your life in a general way, while career aspirations are everything you want to achieve in a work environment.
Personal aspirations guide you in what you want to achieve on an internal level (travel more, be fitter, master drawing), while professional aspirations guide you in a work environment (get a raise, become a specialist, attract more clients). Now you understand the difference between these types of aspirations.
it doesn’t mean that personal aspirations are more important than professional aspirations or vice versa! And that’s because, according to the Wheel of Life approach, you can only reach your full potential and be happy if you fully develop in all 10 areas of life. So defining your career aspirations is part of what defining your personal aspirations is all about.
Source: Mentoring School
what is the importance of personal aspirations?
Being clear on the concept of personal aspirations is key to enjoying your life and developing your full potential.
Now, let’s look at the importance of personal aspirations. Personal aspirations are indispensable for the following reasons:
1. They keep you focused and centered
Defining your personal aspirations makes you feel more focused and capable of achieving things, and you tend to be more effective and productive in your day-to-day life.
This makes sense, because your personal aspirations are the compass that points you in the direction you need to go. By knowing what goal you want to reach, you will be much more efficient with your time management and more assertive in your decisions .
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of “The Little Prince”, sums it up very well: “The whole world turns away when it sees a man passing by who knows where he is going”.
Source: Freepik
2. Enable you to achieve
Being clear about a personal goal allows you to develop the systems to achieve it. For example, having a healthy lifestyle is one of the most common personal aspirations, but even so, it is one of the most difficult to achieve, as people try to change their entire life in a snap of the fingers. The key to achieving your personal aspirations are systems or strategies.
The key to achieving your personal aspirations are systems or strategies. As you can see, small steps build big achievements in your life project.
Source: Pexels
3. Improve your self-esteem and motivation
Edwin Locke’s goal-setting theory says that the motivation you have to achieve your aspirations is determined by the simple fact of having set personal goals.
According to Clarisa María Ponte Betancourt, teacher of the online course of self-motivation and achievement motivation, “motivation is the engine that makes you, as a person, pursue a goal, find that inner and outer force that moves you. It is the magic to make things happen”.
That means that your personal aspirations are the engine that drives you to work with energy and give the best of yourself.
Source: Freepik
4. Give meaning to your life
Achieving your personal aspirations empowers you and makes you feel like you can achieve anything you set your mind to. This is called momentum.
The truth is, having personal and professional aspirations to work towards fills you with optimism and a good attitude, even in tough times. In addition, goals give you a reason to get up every day, overcome your failures or limitations to strive and live a purposeful life.
On the other hand, not having your personal goals clear can make your life lack direction and make you feel like you wasted your time or that you could have done so much more.
how do you identify your personal aspirations?
Now that you know what personal aspirations are and their importance, it’s time to identify your personal aspirations. To do this, you can do these 5 actions:
1. Look inward
Fabián Moncada, publicist and personal branding expert, says that the traditional education system has only taught us to work in companies, but not to work on personal aspirations of a life project.
So much so that among the distractions of everyday life, you can forget the importance of looking inward to identify what your personal aspirations and potential are.
To define your personal goals, you can start by answering questions such as:
are you really doing what you want?
what strengths and weaknesses do you possess?
what have you done that makes you proud?
what do you regret?
what activities do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Fabian Moncada reminds us that “after facing your fears and all those inner monsters, you find a chest full of gold, and that gold is your talent, your courage, your ability, the best of you”.
Source: Freepik
2. Delimit what you don’t want
Another way to define your personal goals is by delimiting what you don’t want. Knowing what you don’t want to spend your time on or what activities don’t bring you happiness is a good starting point for defining your personal aspirations for your life project.
You can make a list of the activities that made you feel uncomfortable and examine why you felt that way in these situations. By defining what you don’t want, by contrast you can find the personal goals you do want.
Source: Pexels
3. Experience new things
Getting out of your comfort zone is always a good idea to find out what your personal aspirations are.
how to get out of your comfort zone to find your personal goals?
Apply some of these activities:
Travel
Enroll in free online courses
Participate in events
Read or listen to podcasts
Learn new skills
The idea is to live as many experiences as possible to discard the activities you are not passionate about and identify your personal aspirations for your life project.
Source: Freepik
4. Be inspired by the people you admire
Reading and listening about the lives of people you admire is an excellent way to identify your personal goals, because they have already achieved the goals you want to achieve.
Study their lives and identify what are the personal aspirations that guided them: what things did they have to go through to get where they are, what are their tips, what do they spend their free time on, how do they organize themselves?
Source: Freepik
5. Meditate and relax
The process of identifying your personal goals can fill you with stress and fears. and that’s normal! But, don’t let this interfere with the goal of all this research, which is to design the life you want and deserve.
If your anxiety levels are high, take a pause, relax and breathe. When you are calmer, your search for personal potential and aspirations will be more effective.
Source: Unsplash
how to define your personal aspirations?
Edwin Locke ‘s goal-setting theory posits that personal goals should be clear and attainable. If they are too general or ambiguous, it will not only decrease your motivation, but can also open the door to frustration and dissatisfaction.
To define your personal aspirations correctly, follow these tips:
Check in which area or dimension of your life the vision you are thinking about fits.
Ground this vision in concrete actions/goals.
Organize short, medium and long term goals. start with the short-term actions!
Define your SMART objectives. The more specific a goal is, the more focused you will be to achieve it.
Create a system or strategy to meet these goals and keep it interesting for yourself!
Remember that personal aspirations are unique to each person. Enjoying the process is what will have the greatest impact on your daily actions and your life.
Qualities to achieve your personal aspirations
As mentioned earlier, defining personal aspirations requires an investment of time and energy. with the right attitude and qualities, you can achieve whatever you set your mind to.
The qualities you need to achieve your personal aspirations are:
Character: A good attitude keeps you optimistic and solution-focused.
Discipline. it is the key to making small “sacrifices” in the present to achieve the vision you have for your future.
Passion. working with excitement and commitment keeps your motivation up.
Resilience. knowing how to adapt and adjust your plan is important to avoid frustration.
Examples of personal aspirations
If you need some inspiration, here is a list of examples of personal aspirations. Don’t forget to ground these personal aspirations with SMART goals that will keep you motivated and help you achieve your vision.
Here are some examples of the types of aspirations out there – take note and map out yours!
Examples of physical, mental and spiritual personal aspirations
Have a healthy lifestyle.
Develop my musical talent.
To enjoy peace and mental well-being.
Mastering a new language.
Redecorate the house.
Examples of social aspirations
Knowing how to communicate assertively.
To go out with my friends frequently.
Participate in a volunteer project.
Travel the world to meet more people.
To become a great speaker.
Examples of family aspirations
Visit grandparents more often.
Spend more time with my family every day.
To start a family.
To educate my children with good values.
To get married.
Examples of work aspirations
To become an entrepreneur and run my own business.
Improve my digital skills and knowledge.
Be a manager in my company.
To become a reference in my sector and create my personal brand.
To be an innovative and creative professional.
Examples of personal aspirations in finance
To live from my passive income sources.
Double my income in the next 5 years.
Have control of my monthly budget.
Pay all my debts.
Diversify my investments.
Examples of student aspirations
Complete homework early each week.
Participate more in class.
Get a scholarship and study abroad.
Graduate from college in the top 10 of my class.
Pass the international English exam to obtain an FCE certification.
Examples of future aspirations
Finding stable job security.
Obtain a master’s degree abroad.
Buy my first car or apartment.
Go skydiving.
Expand my line of business.
Source: Unsplash
Tips to fulfill your personal and professional aspirations
Well, you already know how to define personal aspirations and you have several examples to inspire you, but they will be useless if you don’t establish a strategic plan to fulfill them.
Therefore, here are some infallible tips to make all your personal and professional aspirations come true.
1. Divide your personal aspirations by stages
A common mistake is to achieve too many goals at the same time, what a mess in your head! Therefore, it is important that you develop an action plan to fulfill each personal aspiration in stages or established periods.
Another tactic is to break your goals into smaller, easier-to-achieve tasks. taking one step at a time makes it much easier. For example, for long-term personal aspirations you can opt for a weekly rather than a daily check-in.
In addition, you can keep track of your progress. This will keep you motivated to be consistent in meeting your personal aspirations.
2. Create a purpose wall
how do you find inspiration every day to achieve your personal aspirations? what you need is a resolution board!
Just like you used to stick posters of your favorite artists on your bedroom wall, you can also see your life aspirations when you wake up.
Basically, a resolution board is a creative way to put down the personal goals you want to achieve. This way, every time you see it, you will feel motivated to accomplish them and you will try your best to reach them.
As you can see, by setting personal aspirations in your work and in any area of your life, you can get noticed and leave a lasting impression on others, which will propel you to create a personal power brand. Of course, after setting the right goals, you must know how to achieve them in order to stand out and make a difference.
It’s important to recognize that, over time, we all change and your personal aspirations are likely to change as well. so, it is worth reviewing them frequently to see if they continue to motivate you.
Remember that everyone has different personal goals and objectives, but we all have the power, desire and determination to go after them.
make your list of aspirations a reality and empower your skills!
see you soon!