Everyone you meet in this industry is going to be involved for a different personal reason. Some people are here because their family members before them were Emergency Medical Services Personnel and they are following in their elders footsteps. Others are here because they are looking to pursue a career in the medical field and need patient contact experience to put on their school applications. Military veterans may pursue a career in this field because they were medics during their time of service. And sometimes you get people like me who originally started out as pursuing this field because I needed patient contact experience and then decided the career field itself is something I want to pursue. Regardless of the reason, every person you come into contact with in this field has taken on the responsibility of providing care to individuals in the community they work for under emergency circumstances.

In the state of Pennsylvania in order to become a practicing Emergency Medical Technician you need at least a certification from the state along with several other relatively easy to obtain clearances. In order to become certified through the state you need to complete an approved program and pass the psychomotor and cognitive examinations. Due to the proximity to my house and the option for an online blended course that allowed me to stay employed throughout the duration of my class, I chose to enroll in the Online Blended Emergency Medical Technician Program offered at Harrisburg Area Community College during the Summer of 2018.

Although I had graduated from college with my biology degree, I admit that I was nervous at the start of this class because I knew that I would be cleared to act as a primary care provider and make decisions that could effect the outcome of a person’s well being. I also had never taken a blended class before and was concerned that I would not have the self discipline needed to get all of my work done. Thankfully I was able to pass, near the top of my class no doubt, but not without a lot of dedication and hard work. I know that sounds cliche, but when you consider that your future career will involve people putting their lives in your hands at their most vulnerable moment, it becomes easier to dedicate yourself to your studies.

I learned a lot from my EMT certification program too, not just about how to save people’s lives, but about myself as well. I sort of went through a major life switch that resulted in me breaking up with a boyfriend, moving back in with my parents momentarily, quitting a job I thought I’d have for the next couple years, and I began to work on myself from a values perspective. When you begin to write down goals and hold yourself accountable to completing them in a reasonable amount of time you’d be surprised how much your life can change in a short amount of time. Goal setting is a skill that I actually learned from my EMT program. It sounds strange, but I was honestly surprised by how poor I was at executing on my goals simply because I wasn’t making goals that were structured in the right way.

And that’s actually what I would like to start this venture on because without goals, you are acting without purpose. When you act without purpose you often get that sensation of moving throughout life without accomplishing things you want. Complacency is a dangerous thing that creeps up on a lot of people often without the person knowing it. I know you may be thinking what does this have to do with a glimpse inside of what EMS is like on a day to day basis. Trust me when I say the life style of an EMS provider is easy to get complacent in and there will be plenty of time for me to give you the exciting emergency details later. Depending on where you work, you can put in an entire week’s worth of time in a matter of two or three days. That leaves a significant amount of time each week for you to better yourself doing something that you value, whether if it’s spending time with your kids or taking classes like I will be doing. You only get one life, so you might as well make the most of it while you can.

The first thing I recommend is going out and purchasing a goal book. You read that correctly, go buy a notebook. Many people set goals they will never achieve simply because they forgot it was a goal of theirs or they forgot how they were planning on accomplishing it. So the theory is that by writing down what you want to accomplish and how you are going to accomplish it, you will have it to reference back to later. Also for you tactile learners out there like me, it will be much easier to remember your thoughts after you’ve written them down. This book doesn’t have to be anything fancy just something you can write in and keep nearby.

Then grab your favorite writing utensil, mine is typically a bright colored pen, and write down whatever goal you want to set for yourself. We’ll call that the rough draft. You are then going to take that goal draft and work it through what is called the SMART goal setting technique. This technique allows the goal setter to revise their goal in such a way that it becomes more accomplishable. As you may have guessed SMART is an acronym. It stands for:

S- Specific. The theory behind making your goal specific is that it will allow you to narrow in on your goal and get you thinking about the process to achieve that goal. For example, if your goal draft was “to make more money”, making the goal more specific would look like “to make more money by taking up a part-time job working for a neighboring ambulance company”. To help make your goal specific ask yourself questions like; Who will be involved? What will they be doing? And where will they be doing it?

M- Measurable. In making your goal measurable you will be able to track your progress towards accomplishing the goal. This will encourage you to keep pursuing your goal until you actually accomplish it. Another reason why a lot of people fail to meet there goals is because they have no way to track their progress. They just see they are not at their end game after x amount of days and give up. For example, if your goal draft was “to lose weight”, making the goal measurable would look like “to measure my weight loss on the 1st of every month”. To help make your goal measurable ask yourself how you are going to track your progress throughout the venture.

A- Attainable. When it comes to making your goal attainable you need to think about how you are going to accomplish the goal. Do you have the resources necessary to accomplish your goal? If not, can you obtain those resources in a reasonable amount of time? People often do not accomplish their goals simply because the goal is not realistic. You can’t win a tournament without first beating your opponents on the way to the finals. Your goal draft may be “to become an EMT”, but first you need to “pass an accredited EMT program”.

R- Relevant. Relevance is the one part of the goal setting technique that allows you to explain why you are making the goal. For what reason are you setting this goal? To start a new career so you and your loved ones can have a better life? Is it because you wanted to try your hand at something new because you recognized your complacency? Or may be you have a lot of free time and wanted a new hobby? Whatever the driving reason is behind your goal just make sure it aligns with your core values. This is a vicious world and if you want to accomplish something you are passionate about you should not be discouraged just because someone else does not understand why you would be interested in your goal.

T- Timely. This is probably the trickiest section of this goal setting technique and the one that requires the most self awareness. You need to be able to look at your goal and determine how much time you will need to accomplish it. It’s tricky because if you fail to meet your goal by the allotted time it may discourage you from pursuing it further. However if you don’t set a time you will forever be telling yourself that it’s fine to start working on it tomorrow. You need to be honest with yourself and your capabilities and yet be able to push yourself so you can keep making measurable progress.

After you run your goal draft through the SMART goal setting technique you should then rewrite your goal. You’ll notice that the draft you started with is vastly different than the goal you ended up with and you’ll already have started out planning how you are going to execute on your goal. It was by following this technique that I was able to drastically switch my professional and personal life around in such a short period of time. I highly recommend at least giving the process a try, you may surprise yourself. And if you are sitting there thinking “I don’t have any goals”, I recommend sitting down and having an honest conversation about where you are and where you want to be.

“People with goals succeed because they know where they are going”. – Earl Nightingale

Of course if you have any questions or need help setting your own SMART goals, don’t be afraid to reach out. I’ll help to get you started!