Going anywhere in life requires setting goals. This applies to not only your hopes and dreams but also to the little things that make your day go by. Your plan for future riches and success or just a simple “to do” list are all goals. They just have different scopes and time frames for completion.
I’m sure books have been written covering effective techniques for setting an achievable goal. I’ve personally never read one, however. 
The best approach I’ve come across that works for me is the SMART method. I’ll spare you a detailed discussion of the SMART’s but will tell you that they stand for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. In my opinion, you can’t go wrong setting goals that follow these guidelines. For more details you can find all kinds of info on the web by Googling “smart goals.”
While SMART works well for crafting each individual goal statement, I think you still need to consider grouping your goals according to some categories and timeframes. Categories and timeframes can be as broad or defined as your desire. But remember the “S” in SMART. The more specific you can be the more clear your vision and your actions will be. My personal technique is to examine the next year, the next five years and the next ten years and set goals that address my Personal, Professional and Financial desires at each of those points in time.
I try to be very specific in the one-year time horizon. I only have 12 months to complete the goal, so I need a clearly identified target. However, I tend to be a little less specific with the five-year and ten-year goals. My reasoning is that I’m likely to change direction a bit over that time horizon, so I don’t go too far into the weeds.
Goal setting should be an annual event in your household at a minimum. While I will refine my “master list” throughout the year, my main effort is at the end of the year when I do my other “housecleaning.” Things like rebalancing my financial portfolio.
I’ll share my goals in a future post. How do you set your goals?
- Jeff
I’m minding my own business, are you minding yours?
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4 Comments
May 24, 2008 at 10:04 am
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August 18, 2008 at 4:16 pm
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