5 Keys in Setting Goals

All of us have experienced the frustration that comes from really wanting to accomplish something important and thinking we are really committed to it only to realize several months later it did not happen.  When I evaluate personally and professionally where the breakdown occurs it usually centers on the disciplines involved in effective goal setting.

These are the five critical things I have learned over the years:

  1. Write it down—if it is not important enough to write down in your personal planner or enter into your cell phone list then it will almost always never get done.
  2. Check your resources—do you realistically have the time, energy, knowledge, skills and commitment to make this happen?
  3. Make it clear—you must be very specific about what you want to accomplish.  It cannot be I want to lose weight; it needs to be twenty pounds over next six months.
  4. Develop your plan—strategy is the realistic intersection of resources and commitment.  There is a big difference in walking twenty minutes five days week and training for marathon.
  5. Evaluate your progress—this is where the rubber hits the road.  Do it often until you know you have sustainable momentum and most important celebrate every win.

The old expression if you don’t measure it then it probably doesn’t matter still rings true to me.