My first organization skills were learned in college when I invested in a Franklin Planner. If I remember correctly, the cost was over $60 – a ton of money to a college student in the ’80′s, but it was money well spent!
With those pre-computer-day skills, I’ve lived an organized life. Now that I’m blogging, I’ve found the words already printed out on Mind Tools a free resource for organization skills. It’s not surprising that 30 years later, the information is the same.
Its important to start our goal creation by envisioning where we’d like to be in 10 years and you’ve probably already done that with a dream board.
Then to put our dreams on paper in general terms. Now it’s time to break it down, scrutinize our general goals.
Using the general goals you’ve already written, set a 1-year plan, 6-month plan, and a 1-month plan of progressively smaller goals that you should reach to achieve your lifetime goals. Each of these should be based on the previous plan.
Back in my Franklin/ college days I planned life-time goals (you know, the ones that cover 10 years of your life.) Now, 30 years later, I’m writing new goals for this chapter of my life, marketing online.
Goal setting is a life long project that needs daily attention.
Goal Setting Tips
The following general guidelines from Mind Tools help to set effective goals:
• State each goal as a positive statement: Get in the habit of expressing your goals positively – “implement this technique well’ is a much better goal than ‘Don’t make this stupid mistake.’
• Be specific: Set a precise goal, putting in dates, times and amounts so that you can measure achievement. If you do this, you will know exactly when you have achieved the goal, and can take complete satisfaction from having achieved it.
• Set priorities: When you have several goals, give each a priority. This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by having too many goals, and helps to direct your attention to the most important ones.
• Write goals down: This helps you focus.
• Keep operational goals small: Keep the low-level goals you are working towards small and achievable. If a goal is too large, then it can seem that you are not making progress towards it. Keeping goals small and incremental gives more opportunities for reward.
• Set performance goals, not outcome goals: You should take care to set goals over which you have as much control as possible. It can be quite disappointing to fail to achieve a personal goal for reasons beyond your control! If you base your goals on personal performance, then you can keep control over the achievement of your goals and draw satisfaction from them.
• Set realistic goals: It is important to set goals that you can achieve. As you learn and grow, you’ll recognize how much to expect of your time, adjust your goals accordingly.
Mindtools. Has a clever mnemoic-
SMART Goals:
A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants, SMART usually stands for:
• S Specific
• M Measurable
• A Attainable
• R Relevant
• T Time-bound
For example, instead of having “to sail around the world” as a goal, it is more powerful to say “To have completed my trip around the world by December 31, 2015.” Obviously, this will only be attainable if a lot of preparation has been completed beforehand!
Goal setting works! Tomorrow we’ll put it all together and talk about our daily To-Do list.
Have you mastered the skill of setting goals? I’m curious if you used the Franklin Planner when it was first introduced in the early ‘80s?
”People with goals succeed because they know where they are going. It’s as simple as that.” Earl Nightingale
July 14th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Great tips, Linda! I love the part about goal settings as a life-long project that needs daily attention. So true.
Janette
Janette Stoll recently posted..Marketing your direct sales business this summer- tips to staying connected
July 14th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Hi Linda, Thanks for sharing these great ideas. I recently created a “vision board”, which as it turns out is the same as a “dream board” so I thought that was very cool! I’m going to have to check out Mind Tools, haven’t heard of that before. Btw, I didn’t use the Franklin Planner back in the 80′s but like you said, it was pretty pricey back then and I was in a rock band… i.e. a broke musician! LOL.
Deb Augur recently posted..5 Steps to Creating an Engaging Video
July 14th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Wow! In a rock band, exciting! Are you a singer or a player? Details, I’m anxious to hear details!
July 15th, 2010 at 9:35 am
LOL… I was a singer and played guitar and piano. We toured around the U.S. and a little in Canada for a couple of years. Never “made it big” but played some really great places. Had tons of fun, and I have lots of stories, great memories.
Deb Augur recently posted..5 Steps to Creating an Engaging Video
July 15th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
I love it! I’m glad you shared! Now you’re on to being famous online! I can’t wait to read you latest post!
July 14th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Hi Linda, this is a powerful post Linda, full of lots of really good tips for those who are serious about getting somewhere in life. I baulk for some reason at the write them down bit with my goals although I know how important that is. It is as if I am committed to it then and I know that is the whole point of it. Too many unattained goals I guess so some issues there I need to work on. Thanks for this, just one more to add to the list of personal development. I seem to be having a reoccurring theme lately about taking myself serious, I think I need to take my goals a little more seriously as well. My my it is interesting what a single post can bring up.
Belinda
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July 14th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
I love this post Lina. There is so much information out there these days about goal setting, but your article sums it up beautifully and breaks it down into bitesize chunks. I have neglected my goal setting of late, so thank you for the reminder and making it so much easier.
July 14th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Hi Linda
Thanks for writing this post. I go through stages in my life where I am really good at this process and then I let it slip.
I have a dream board but it needs updating. Thanks for the reminder.
Sue
Sue Price @Residual Income recently posted..The Importance of Residual Income
July 15th, 2010 at 4:34 am
Great information, we see all the time set goals, but rarely see this kind of detailed information on the topic. Thanks for providing great information.
Rob Franta recently posted..How to Succeed in Network Marketing Overview of Modules
July 15th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Rob~
Thank you for saying so! I know why it isn’t covered often – because it is boring!! I’m glad you can see value!
~Linda
July 15th, 2010 at 11:02 am
I have really enjoyed this goal setting series Linda.
Where would we be without setting goals? – > coasting through life wondering how we got here.
Peter Fuller MBA recently posted..Support my entry to the Famousbloggers ComLuv contest
July 16th, 2010 at 7:36 am
Linda,
You’ve got a great post here. you touch an all the specific things that are important in setting goals. While I’m not familiar with mind tools I am familiar with the SMART approach and have used it often. One thing you mention is to set performance goals vs. outcome goals. This is a results oriented world we are in. And, it has to happen NOW. This is a trap that’s east to fall into. If you set effective performance goals and hit them then you’ll achieve the outcome. This can make a big difference in how a person feels about their progress. Thanks for touching on that point.
BTW, I wasn’t a Franklin Planner user either. I used to even older tools of good old pen and paper. No matter what system you might use, as you said, goals should be reviewed and updated often.
Thanks!
Don Enck recently posted..Is Customer Service A Lost Art
May 12th, 2011 at 6:12 pm
I do agree with you, especially the point you say, “Set performance goals, not outcome goals”
Sometimes one forgets that there are things out of control that s/he is not ready for the failure. I’ve experienced this problem. Yet, I learn from my mistakes. Nice post. Thanks.
lazaro recently posted..Cardio Cross Trainer
May 17th, 2011 at 6:27 am
Lazaro,
You are so right, we can’t control everything, I wish I could control everything in my life!
Linda
Why don’t you get a Gravatar, a picture connected to your comments? I’ll show you how here http://lindagraceonline.com/get-the-focus-on-you/ then leave another comment and let me see!
Linda
June 5th, 2011 at 5:45 pm
I think that’s a good tips, Linda! I feel lucky to read the information in this article, because this article provides important information for me. I love the part about goal settings as a life-long project that needs daily attention. And thanks for sharing information and tips.
June 5th, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Katie,
Thank you for visiting my blog! I’m glad you found great tips here! I recently found a free tip that I want to share with everyone! It’s free video email! It’s http://iWowWe.com/LindaGraceCox ~ check it out!
Linda
September 1st, 2011 at 4:54 pm
I really liked the list, thanks for sharing your knowledge to us. Setting priorities is really important, sure we want to chase our dreams and goals but at the same time we can’t forget our responsibilities. Also putting yourself in a positive mindset is so great not only for goals but for everyday life as well.
I learned a lot here Linda, looking forward to reading more of your posts.
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September 2nd, 2011 at 10:05 am
Dennis,
We can’t get too much reading about goal setting, can we?!
Linda
September 27th, 2011 at 11:52 pm
Very informative post. Goals in necessary for everyday living. Without goals we nothing to achieve. Without achievements is like a living dead.
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September 30th, 2011 at 3:29 pm
Jerry,
Yes!! I believe in goals, written down dreams!
Linda
October 5th, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Making list of our goals daily is good activity. But usually there are problems that may occur in some people as well, laziness. everyone absolutely know the importance of setting up a list of our goals but if it’s done every day, there are some people who are very difficult to implement. Can you give advice how to stimulate and get that person to want to write his / her daily setting goals?
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January 9th, 2012 at 3:15 am
It is 100% truth that goal setting can really give good results but it is only possible if we will set a good realistic goal otherwise we can wander in illusions only.Now I will also set my 6 month goal.