Rather than send this blog on April Fool’s Day, I aptly waited ?. But now it’s time to check back in with your 2017 goals. How was your 1st Quarter? Did you achieve your desired results (personal & professional)?
Sure, on January 1st, we all start out bright and shiny with all kinds of proclamations and self-inflicted edicts for the betterment of our selves. While it’s true that expectation precedes achievement and avoidance does not, now is a good time to re-evaluate: What do I really want to accomplish this year, and am I making any progress towards it?
If to date, you’ve made limited progress on your goals, you may want to consider following a methodology instead of just having broad, open-ended goals. One methodology, called SMART, is beneficial in not only validating goals but also in helping to track your progress. Be sure to ask yourself these questions (below) for each of your goals. There are several versions to the acronym SMART, but one version is listed below.
S: Specific – What precisely is your goal?- M: Measurable – What performance measures will show progress for that goal? What can you actually track?
- A: Actionable – What concrete steps can you take to achieve this goal? What is your plan?
- R: Relevant – With available time & resources, does this goal reflect your priorities for long-term success?
- Time-Bound: How/When will you measure the outcome of your actions?
SMART is often used in corporate America but can also be used for personal goals. For a more thorough deep dive on SMART, I recommend taking this free online class on Udemy.
Goals (for most people) do not manifest simply by setting them. We’ve got to be in sync with them, & that requires some active concentration. Besides measuring performance and activities related to your goals, remember that one of the main reasons to do this is to focus on “it”.
“It” refers to any single goal that you want to achieve. And anytime you galvanize energy around “it”, “it” has a greater probability of coming to fruition. But be sure that energy is positive, not negative. Don’t hate chocolate cake just because you’re on a diet. Positive attention leads to positive results – every time!
One other tidbit in goal planning is from a highly recommended book, The One Thing. If you start to look at your grand list of SMART goals and are overwhelmed, you will find this advice valuable.
The authors’ premise is that all of us have “this one thing,” that if we focus on just that, the rest of our list would become obsolete. Is there something that you love to do, day in and day out? Start thinking about it…and you will illuminate your path to success. And if nothing else, it highly simplifies your SMART list because there is just one thing on it!
Bottom line is that you need to think about, act on, and take steps to achieve your goals. If you haven’t done it yet for 2017, there is still time to get moving. Best of luck & let’s check back in 2Q!
Sustain the good work and producing in the crowd!
Spot on with this write-up, I truly suppose this website wants rather more consideration. I’ll most likely be again to read way more, thanks for that info.