Setting Goals
Lighten!
What are your goals?
Setting a goal is not the main thing.
It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.
Tom Landry
Use the SMART mnemonic – usually stands for:
S – Specific (or Significant)
M – Measurable (or Meaningful)
A – Attainable (or Action-Oriented)
R – Relevant (or Rewarding)
T – Time-bound (or Trackable)
Set precise goals, putting in dates, times and amounts so achievement can be measured.
Prioritise – For several goals, give each a priority.
Write goals down – This makes it clear and gives each goal more force.
Small and Achievable – Keep low-level goals to work towards. If a goal is too large, it seems no progress is being made.
Keeping goals small and incremental gives more opportunities for reward.
Set performance goals, not outcome goals – Set goals where you have as much control as possible. It can be quite disheartening to fail to achieve a personal goal for reasons beyond our control. Society or outside sources may influence our achievement. Don’t let it rain on your parade.
If you base your goals on personal performance, then you can keep control over the achievement of your goals, and draw satisfaction from them.
Set realistic goals – It’s important to set achievable goals. All sorts of people (for example, employers, parents, media, or society) can set unrealistic goals for us.
Set lifetime goals first. Then, set a five-year plan of smaller goals necessary to complete the lifetime plan.
A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.
Bruce Lee