“If you don’t know where you’re going, you might not get there.” New York Yankees player and manager Yogi Berra was right on-target when he made that statement. It is an excellent thought to keep in mind for your work life.

You may be surprised at how many people do not know what they are aiming for in their work life. On the other hand, you might be one of those people yourself. If so, now is the time to become goal-oriented. When you know where you are going, that is one of the biggest steps toward ensuring that you do get there.

When you are preparing to go to work in the morning, what is the very first thought to cross your mind on the subject of your goal? If you are like many people, you do not think about it in terms of a goal at all. Instead, you may be thinking about how much work you will have to do, or how nice the paycheck will be at the end of the week. If you shift your thoughts to a goal, you will be much more productive.

Depending upon the nature of your job, goals can take a variety of different forms. You may have something to produce on your own, or you may be a part of a team. You may have a very positive sense of self-discipline, or work very well as a team-player. Whichever sums up your place in your work life, being goal-oriented will increase your productivity.

Being goal-oriented does not need to mean focusing solely on one large accomplishment. If you begin looking at it as a number of small goals, each one that you attain will provide two benefits. Each one will make you more motivated to continue, as well as getting you that much closer to the large accomplishment.

Nothing can be accomplished overnight. Anything that is truly worthwhile takes time, effort, and work. When you set your sights on both the large goal in the distance, and each one which you need to accomplish in order to get there, you will soon see how much more productive you will be every step of the way. Simply going with the flow and not placing your emphasis on your goals will slow you down. You will not accomplish much if you do not focus on accomplishing. When you know where you are going, it is the surest way of knowing that you will get there.