About Setting Goals
Sure, we all know we’re supposed to do it, but the idea of goal setting gets taken for granted too much I think. No matter who you are what you do, it’s never enough to just have a clear idea of what you need to do in your mind. You’ve got to commit it to writing, and you’ve got to think through the differences between goals, objectives, strategies, and techniques.
This post is just about goals. I’ll talk more about other things in later entries.
What characterizes a goal is that it is specific and it is measurable. It is fine to have a dream of building a small business, but that isn’t a goal….at least not until you add some definition. For example, for this dream, your goal might be to build a small bookkeeping business that will allow you to work with clients in the health care industry, maintain a flexible schedule, and limit travel.
Where dreams can be fuzzy, beautiful….perfect even, goals are clear, concise, and while not imperfect, certainly based in the real world.
To get to the goal stage, try sitting in a chair. Close your eyes. Then picture yourself as you will be when you achieve your goal. Imagine where you will be sitting. Who will be with you. Coworkers? Employees? Clients? Do you have an office? Equipment? A nice desk? A certain type of software? Imagine looking at your bank account, or at least the kind of lifestyle you might be enjoying. What kind of income will you have? How will your business benefit you?
Keep asking yourself questions and adding to the picture of you having reached your goal. Then, before you do anything else, write down what you see.
There is something very powerful about writing down your goals. Be patient. Try to include as much detail as you can. It isn’t that things won’t change. They could…and probably will. Still, writing forces you to consider details that might have been lost or missed when you were keeping everything in your head.
Write in a list format, outline, or paragraph or outline…whatever makes you comfortable. If you’re so inclined, you might even consider drawing a detail picture where you lay out the details of your goal.
Post your goal on your desk in a frame or on a bulletin board or on your office wall. Use colored paper, big fonts, or pictures you clip from a magazine…whatever helps make your goal real, important and present in your life.
If might sound hokey, but it really does work.
One last point…avoid making your goal something like “going to school,” or “learning to use Facebook.” These are valid strategies, but for most people they really are not goals….not ends, but rather means to an end….and something we’ll be dealing with as this blog continues…