How to Set Goals

Resources

The Site

[?] Subscribe To This Site

How to Set Goals

How to set goals and achieve them!

Set SMART goals that cascade to objectives and watch your personal time management improve.

It is our view that for corporations and individuals to excel and achieve their vision, there must be a clear alignment between personal/corporate goals to objectives, and the personal behavior and actions at a daily level.

The problem is that often we are pulled off our priorities by urgent tasks!

Do you feel that you are putting out bush-fires?

Are you busy, but not really meeting your objectives?

Are you looking for more focus and ways to boost productivity?

In How to Set Goals, we provide you with a plan to set goals that cascade into your objectives and focus you on your priorities.

This forms the basis of a solid time management system - a system that clarifies your priorities and that you can defend with your objectives and overarching goals.

This allows you to make decisions on incoming tasks and workloads.

How to set goals that cascade to objectives and determine priorities?

Some of the most effective leaders are able to clarify their vision and set clear goals and objectives.

How to set goals is the foundation of good personal time management.

Goals clarify your objectives and determine your priorities.

But setting goals that cascade into objectives requires a plan!

As the saying goes:

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

Having a plan that is SMART increases the likelihood of having successful teams, organizations, and individuals.

But what is SMART?

SMART is an acronym for planning - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.

People who set SMART goals know what their desired outcome is and how they are going to achieve it.

Three Questions to Ask Yourself When Setting Goals

The three questions you need to ask yourself when setting goals:

What do you want to achieve? This identifies your wishes and desires and harnesses your focus on what you want.

Why do you want to achieve it? By answering this question you build your personal conviction. Every goal has a price - in effort, time, or resources. Are you willing to pay the price? This question identifies your motives.

How are you going to achieve it? For most this is where goal setting and planning falls down. People have a dream, and a conviction to achieve their dream, but the steps to get there are less clear. By having a goal setting plan with clear objectives you develop a mechanism that connects today's vision with tomorrow's reality.

How to set goals: Objectives - the stepping stones of goals

Suppose you wanted to build a house.

You would most likely have detailed plans of the house that you want to build, the size of the kitchen, how many bathrooms and bedrooms, and so forth.

Planning your Objectives

Plan your objectives and write them down.

By writing your goals and objectives on an action plan or goal setting forms you clarify your targets and solidify your personal commitment to the actions.

"The weakest pen is better than the strongest memory."

All this planning occurs before you lay the first stone of the foundations.

While we may spend this time planning the building of a house, we don't go to the same extent in planning our lives.

Only about 2% of the population write down goals and their plans to achieve them.

However, overwhelming research in this area suggests that the more concrete and specific your plans the more likely you are to achieve them.

By having a plan to achieve your goals, whether personal or corporate, you outline the objectives and milestones to goal achievement.

How to set goals: Progressing from objectives to priorities

Taming the Inbox

Did you know that on average, knowledge workers read and respond to email for 2 hours a day.

Based on over 500,000 PC-user hours, email is checked, on average, over 50 times a day.

This makes taming the Inbox an important productivity boon for workers.

Good email etiquette saves you time and focuses you on your priorities.

You can make or break your career by your ability to clarify your vision, setting clear objectives, and being able to articulate and hold your priorities that reflect your vision.

It is our view that for corporations and individuals to excel and achieve their vision, there must be a clear alignment between personal/corporate goals, objectives and the behaviors at a daily level.

To do so, this involves superior time management skills and the ability to determine your daily tasks based on a priority system that reflects your overarching objectives and goals.

This is difficult when you are faced with constant and competing demands on your time, shifting priorities from above, or unrealistic expectations.

While no ONE priority system rules, I particularly like the Pareto principle as a means of organizing and determining your priorities.

fear of failure

The Pareto principle is based on the idea that 20% of your tasks yield 80% of your results.

By prioritizing with the 80 20 principle you develop time management skills that boost your effectiveness.

When daily demands are competing for your time you want to apply the 80 20 rule to the task.

By triaging the task in terms of important (rather than urgent) and defending your priorities with your objectives (which should be written down) you can ensure that you are on the right side of the 80 20 rule.

By scheduling your priorities and objectives in a time management planner and using these time management tools ensures that you get the most important things done in your schedule.

Goal Alignment Activity

Fill out a time management log or download free time tracking software and monitor your time for 7 days.

How much time are you spending on your priorities that are measured in terms of your objectives?

If your time is not being spent on your objective ask yourself why?

Are you pursuing someone else's objectives or could you improve your personal time management?