Got Goals?

A key tool for business or personal success is having clearly-defined goals. Meaningful goals and a plan to achieve them can help reduce stress and anxiety, increase mental clarity and focus, and improve performance, confidence and satisfaction. Having goals provides a clear compass for time and resource management - if its not part of the plan, it just isn't a priority.

Sounds good, right?

Having said this, most of us don't routinely set or monitor our progress towards goals. Why? Many relate to goals as "have-to's" - something to get beaten up about if they are not achieved. Conversely, at times goals seem to be little more than pipedreams or nice ideas that won't come true.

An easy way to remember the minimum requirements for goals is that they should be S.M.A.R.T:

Specific

Vague goals are little better than no goals. For example: "Being the best printer in central Indiana" may sound like its on the mark. However, you can be the best and still not make the kind of money you want for your business. Try "increase earnings by 25%" which may be a more specific indicator of printing perfection.

Measurable

Simply put: People need to know when they've won. Without a clear "winning point," having a goal seems Herculean. You'll need to have your goal written in such a way that it is clear then the goal has been achieved. While your overall mission may be "Service," a goal of "25% increase in customer satisfaction" or "30% repeat business" is a very clear indicator of the progress towards that overall mission.

Attainable

A goal that's too large, however, can flatten the most intrepid soul. Think about your current projections and resources and develop a goal that, while a stretch, is still in the realm of possibility. While Ghandi and Dr. King are two examples of people who created huge goals -- ending Indian apartheid in India and racial harmony in the US, respectively, they never considered their goals "done." They were very motivated and set what others would call impossible goals. For the rest of us, we relate to goals we can't or don't achieve as marks of failure. Know yourself, know your organization, and set goals that make you sit up and take notice, but not want to fall over and play dead.

Relevant

You may want to have a wonderful website for your business and that may, on the surface, seem like a great goal. If, however, your business is not amenable to electronic purchases or your best clients don't look for services like your on the web, this goal, while a fine one, may not advance your business.

Time Delimited

People need to know when they've won. In the game of basketball, there are limited number of periods and those periods are of a pre-determined length. Similarly, in the game of business, you'll want to know "by when" the goal is expected to be accomplished so you can better monitor your progress and celebrate your success.

Now, each year, millions of people create S.M.A.R.T goals only to have them fail. Consider the missing elements.

Challenging

There is no point in setting a goal that's too small. Goals that are a bit bigger than your current structures will allow you to attain can help you to organize your thinking in new ways. If every year, you increased productivity by 3%, setting a 3% increase goal for 2005 may be too easy and may not allow for the kind of growth you want to achieve. It may take some real "outside-the-box" thinking, instead, to generate a 10% increase in 2005.

Buy-in or "Perspiration Comes from Inspiration"

One reason that people fail at achieving goals is that that goal doesn't "light them up." While "doubling first quarter revenues" may be a turn-on to some, others may need to be thinking about what they could do with their huge bonus, like "spending my bonus money on Margaritas in Mauritius." Be sure to phrase your goals in a way that will keep you moving towards them - particularly, if it doesn't seem likely that circumstances will easily allow you to achieve them. One sales professional had a goal of making $150,000 a year in his position. When I asked him how long that had been his goal, he shared that he'd been trying and failing in hitting the mark. When I asked him how he'd spend the money, he described the new house he wanted that his mother could move into with he and the rest of his family. "So, I really want "to bring Mom home' as my goal!" The results he produced were consistent with this, the real outcome he wanted.

Consistent with your values

If your values are "harmony, integrity and collaboration" a goal of "destroying the competition" may be inconsistent with who you at your core. Again, a goal that is not carefully constructed exists as a dream or a nice idea - one that you may find yourself struggling to achieve. Your goals should make you feel good about yourself as you work towards them.

I've got goals: Now what?

Part of having a big goal to accomplish is having the structures to fulfill that goal with velocity -- now, not someday or one day. Producing a breakthrough result in your business or in your career may take having help seeing things differently. Consider working with me as your partner in definitively creating powerful goals and in achieving these newly-developed goals or goals you're already working on with added velocity.

Want to Hear More?

Contact me to schedule an appointment to learn how to create inspiring goals for extraordinary results.