12 Chapter 1 Entrepreneurial Careers Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Your attitude also impacts your work ethic. Those with a strong work ethic place high importance on working hard, being productive, creating positive interactions, and efficiently performing assigned tasks as directed. Building and maintaining a strong work ethic will contribute to your professional success. Values Values are the beliefs of a person or a culture. Personal values are sometimes called core values. What do you value? Values guide a person when making decisions and choices. Therefore, a person who understands and clarifies his or her personal values has a better sense of purpose. For example, a teacher values education and wants to make sure that students learn while in class. You may value a clean, healthy environment and join the school’s environmental club. Goals A goal is something a person wants to achieve in a specified time period. We all have goals. You may have a goal to get a good grade on your next test. Your friend may have a goal to save enough money to take a trip over spring break. Well-defined goals follow the SMART goal process. SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely, as illustrated in Figure 1-4. Specific How will you know if you have reached your career goal? You must be specific about it. For example, “I want to be rich” is not a very specific goal. Instead, you might say, “I want to have $100,000 in a savings account.” Ethics is a set of rules that define what is wrong and right. Ethics helps people make good decisions in both personal and pro- fessional lives. Business ethics is a set of rules that help define appropriate behavior in the business setting. It is important for an entrepreneur to set the example of ethical behav- ior for the business. Entrepreneur Ethics Figure 1-4. Set SMART career goals. S Are my short- and long-term goals specific? Exactly what do I want to achieve? M Are my goals measurable? How will I know when a goal is achieved? A Are my goals attainable? Am I setting goals that can be achieved? R Are my goals realistic? Have I set goals that are practical? T Are my goals timely? Are the dates for achieving my goals appropriate? SMART Goals Goodheart-Willcox Publisher