Wedding Favors
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How To Make New Years Resolutions That Work
   
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Wedding Extravaganza
The extravagance of weddings is a popular topic. We blame it on modern commercialism. But then, what excuse could President Ulysses S Grant have for the money he spent on his .....
The extravagance of weddings is a popular topic. We blame it on modern commercialism. But then, what excuse could President Ulysses S Grant have for the money he spent on his .....
The end of 2001 approaches and I want to set you a challenge. I
want you to set yourself one major goal for next year - and I
want you to do it now - not on New Year's Eve.
Too hard? Amazon.com lists 113 books on the subject of 'goal
setting', so it must be complicated, mustn't it? The truth is,
it's actually very simple.
We all know how to achieve goals. We have known since we were at
secondary school and received our first assignment, sat our
first exam or competed in our first sporting event. As we became
adults and got our first job, we started achieving goals on a
regular basis - writing reports, making patients well, designing
or building things, completing projects. We achieved goals when
we organised parties, weddings, Christmas dinners.
So why do we find ourselves setting the same 'big' goals -
getting fit, losing weight, getting organised, finding a new job
- year after year? Because when it comes to these goals we break
all the rules that we intuitively apply to the smaller goals in
our everyday lives. In particular, we tend to be far too 'fuzzy'
when it comes to defining our goals in the first place.
A common framework for defining goals is the 'S.M.A.R.T.'
approach. This approach has been widely used for some time, with
variations. It is simple and easy to apply, which is why I like
it.
'S' stands for SPECIFIC. This is the first hurdle at which we
often fall. Day-to-day goals are usually implicitly specific:
'provide Christmas dinner for the family', 'provide report to
client'. 'Big' goals are often non- specific: 'get fit', 'grow
my business'. A personal goal of mine is to participate in the
7-day cross-country 'Great Victorian Bike Ride'. This is a more
specific version of 'get fit', because I know that I have to be
fit to achieve it.
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MEASURABLE is a particularly important aspect of successfulShopping for plus size prom dresses does not have to be a harrowing experience. Young girls all want to look their best for the prom, the most important event of their high .....
'big' goals. Not only do we need to be able to measure the final
result, we also need to be able to set intermediate goals and
measure our progress. If a business goal is to 'double turnover
to $1 million in 12 months', monthly targets can be set over the
12-month period, which step up to that level. While riding in
the Bike Ride can be measured simply on a scale of 'done or not
done', actually achieving it will require the capability to ride
about 100 km per day for a few days in a row. Now I have
something to plot my progress against.
ACCEPTABLE brings your personal and/or business values into the
equation. Your goal must be, first and foremost, YOUR goal - not
something you are trying to achieve under duress or on someone
else's behalf. Further, your goal, and the resources (including
time and money) required to achieve it, must fit within your
overall life situation and values. For example, your commitment
to family/work balance will often determine how many hours you
can put into your business.
All goals need to be REALISTIC. This can be a hard aspect to pin
down because it is easy to underestimate ourselves and therefore
aim for less than our potential. I know that the Victorian Bike
Ride is a realistic goal because thousands of people like me do
it every year. On the other hand, if I were to set myself the
goal of riding in the Tour de France, at the age of 37 and with
no prior training, that would be unrealistic!
Having set a 'big' goal that meets the four criteria above, it
is critical that we apply a TIME FRAME to our goal. Our
day-to-day goals usually have pre-set time frames or deadlines.
Ever known a family to eat Christmas dinner on Boxing Day
because they missed the deadline? Business goals are often set
by the boss or by clients. This is where 'big' goals often fall
down. Because they are OUR goals, it is very easy to find
reasons to put them off, or not to set time limits at all. A
goal without a time frame is no goal at all because (a) we can't
monitor progress and (b) something else will always be more
important.
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There is one more important aspect to setting 'big' goals: WRITEBefore the discovery and widespread use of electricity, candles and firelight were the only instruments humans could rely on to navigate after dark .....
THEM DOWN.
Writing goals down has numerous benefits: -Writing somehow makes
the goal 'real'. It acquires a weight that cannot be achieved if
the goal is kept in your head.
Putting a goal into words on paper forces you to think it
through. It gives you an opportunity to test the goal for
'SMARTness'. Writing facilitates 'going public' - telling
business associates, friends or family what you are trying to
achieve. This in itself increases the chances of achieving the
goal. Importantly, writing gives you the starting point for
planning the achievement of your goal. Having written down the
'big' goal, you can now write down the intermediate goals you
will need to achieve to get there. If each of these intermediate
goals is also SMART, you have a solid basis for monitoring your
progress. So there you have it. Sure, plenty more can be written
- at least 113 books attest to that. But the biggest challenge
is not HOW to set goals. It is actually DOING IT - without
overlooking the basics.
And if you've had time to read this far, you have time to write
down at least one 'big', SMART goal for 2002 right now. Get to
it!
*********** David Brewster, December 2001
About the author:
After 10 years as a line manager in manufacturing, and four
years as a consultant, my goal is now to fight the constant war
against the complexity which too often hampers business
progress.
In my consulting and coaching work, I perform business analysis,
design and facilitate business process improvement and educate
people at all levels about how they could do their jobs more
simply.