Goal Setting for Business and Personal Life

Why is goal setting important?

Goal setting helps you get ahead at work, have a rewarding personal life, be more successful than you ever were before and best of all, make more money.

Don't believe it?

Well, Researchers polled a group of graduates from Harvard Business School in 1979, and 20 years later, found out how they had fared in life.

* 3% set goals and had the goals written down in 1979, when the study was done, and 97% hadn't.

Twenty (20!) years later, the 3% were way better off in life - healthier, happier and reached all their financial goals. Indeed, they were at last twice as rich as their peers who hadn't written down the goals.

That's too much of a co-incidence, don't you think?

Yes, certainly goal setting helps achieve success at work and career.

Let's talk about goal setting in more detail.

The SMART Way to Set Goals

While setting goals, it's important to have a "Vision" in mind and to work towards that vision. The way to do this is to envision where you'd like to be and what you'd like to achieve in, say, 5 or 10 years time. Write it all down, and to work backwards, think about all that you'll have to do to make your goals come true.

Create a "big picture" of what you would want out of your life in 10 or 15 years from now, where you would want to be. Narrow down on a single long term goal.

Now, working your way backwards, break the BIG goal into a number of smaller goals and smaller targets - back to where you are at right now. You will reach little milestones this way, and you'll be able to reach your final goal with more ease. Formulate a plan and work your way towards that plan, and start the process through which you'll be able to reach the larger goal in mind.

Work Backwards

First, write down the BIG goal for, say in 10 years. Jot down a line on a piece of paper, write on the left where you are now, and your big goal at the end of the line to the right. Then mark it with 5 smaller segments on that line, and write down your stepping stones with the targets for 5 years, 3 years, 1 year, 6 months... and set about achieving them.

A great way to set goals is to use the SMART strategy, which is quite self-explanatory, and should be of a great help to you.

SMART stands for goals that are:

• S - Specific (or Significant).
• M - Measurable (or Meaningful).
• A - Attainable (or Action-Oriented).
• R - Relevant (or Rewarding).
• T - Time-bound (or Track-able).

Keep this strategy in mind when setting goals.

What Should You Keep in Mind While Setting Goals?

While setting goals, it's important to set them, keeping the work-life balance in perspective. It's important to achieve the right balance between your personal life and your work or business, both need their own space, neither should make the other less important.

Here are some of the questions you should ask yourself while setting your goals, about the areas that need to be covered. We suggest setting goals with a 5 and 10-year perspective.

• Career - Where do you want to get to in your career? What would a successful career mean to you? Which position do you see yourself 10 years from now?
• Financial - How much do you want to be worth 10 years from now? How much income do you expect to earn by then? What about assets and net worth?
• Education - What are the skills, degrees or courses you will want to pick up over the time frame of 10 years or lesser?
• Family - Do you see yourself married in 10 years? Do you see yourself as a parent? How many kids do you plan on having in 10 years time?
• Artistic - Do you have any artistic goals in mind?
• Attitude - Is there anything that is holding you back, a bad temper, social anxiety, or a lack of confidence? How do you bring a change in your attitude and behavior? Do you see yourself as a new improved person in 10 years?
• Physical - What are your fitness goals in 10 years? What's your ideal weight? Can you stick to your fitness goals and maintain your health for the next 10 years? How do you do that?
• Fun & Leisure - How do you plan on having fun in a healthy way over the next 10 years?
• Public Service - How can you help make your community, country and the world a better place? Have you, for instance, considered going to Africa and serving the people there? If so, how do you plan on doing that, and which organization do you plan on joining?

Work on these ideas and be as systematic as possible with your goal setting. Be explicit, and detail oriented, but don't get lost in the goal setting itself.

Execution of the goals is more important than merely planning them.If you are spiritual like myself, you will see the Universe will hand you a whole lot more to make it to your goal. Smart women set goals, and hence smart women finish rich.

Always remember that.
By Norja Vanderelst  |  Source