Vision, Values, and Goals

Creating a five-year plan is important to do for anyone who has a certain life they would like to achieve. The five-year plan should have a vision, goals, and values. Snyder, Dowd, and Houghton (1994) state that vision, strong values, and goals are leaderships skills. A vision includes the life you see yourself having and encompasses the specific qualities of that life. The goals include the way in which you will achieve your vision clearly defines steps. The values that you have will help you get closer to attaining your five-year plan. My five-year plan encompasses all three qualities for success and happiness: my vision, values, and goals.

On December 17, 2017, I envision myself living in San Diego, California. I will have a career in a prominent radio station, not national public radio, as a Disc Jockey for a popular morning show radio program. I will be married to someone who I met at the radio station with two kids, a boy, and a girl. We will live in a house that we have recently bought as first-time homebuyers. We will have big toys in the form of a big TV, multiple vehicles, the newest electronics, a boat and jet skis for when we want to go on the ocean or on vacation. In order to achieve this vision, I will need clear cut goals that will provide me with a path to these goals.

The first steps in achieving this vision will be to obtain an education. In college, I will be a communication major which will provide me with the theoretical background I will need to have a successful career in radio. I will graduate from college with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. Once I graduate from college I will apply to internships multiple radio stations even ones that require me to travel. An internship will allow me to get my foot in the door at a radio station as I will be free labor to them however I will gain the valuable experience I need to obtain a job. I will network within the radio station and build relationships with prominent members of the station to be able to obtain a job once one becomes available. I will begin with a job working in a late-night time slot as a disc jockey who does not get much airtime. Through working hard in this position I will eventually be promoted to the sought after morning radio program position. In order to be successful in this position, I will need to have good communication skills, be ambitious in pursuing my goals and understand the technical aspects of running a radio program - like the successful A Prairie Home Companion. I will have learned some of these skills, especially communication skills, while in the communications program in my college. However, most of my education will come from the internship experience and on the job experience of being a disc jockey for a less coveted time slot. Through these goals, I will be able to achieve my vision of having the career I want. I will also need values to ensure that I have the inherent qualities to be able to achieve these goals successfully and to be happy once I have my vision.

The values that will be important to me will be happy rather than make a lot of money. Although a career in radio will not make me a fortune it will make me happy as it is the ideal job I have wanted since I was a teenager. I will also be achieving my values by having my friends and family around me. I will also not spend all my time at work as I will focus more on my family which will make me happy. Having these values will allow me to be able to achieve my goals which will lead me to be able to achieve my vision. One step cannot be completed without the other which is why it is important to ensure that your five-year plan has a vision, goals, and values. As one missing link can make it so that your goals will not be achieved which would lead to an unhappy life. I hope to have this life or some semblance to this life in five years.

Reference

Snyder, N. H., Dowd, J. J., & Houghton, D. M. (1994). Vision, values, and courage: Leadership for quality management. Simon & Schuster.