‘Tis that time of year when people like to burden themselves with unrealistic expectations and unobtainable goals. If this is you, let me reassure you. It’s not too late!
Hey, the year has only just begun. It’s not too late to pull out of your journey to disappointment. There is a better way.
It’s rather simple, really. Go ahead and set yourself a goal for the year. Think about what it is you’d like to accomplish in the next six to twelve months. Make it something you feel you can actually achieve. Becoming an astronaut would not be it for most of us; saving the money for Space Camp might be.
That’s your long term goal. Now set another obtainable goal for yourself. This one you’ll set for somewhere in the next couple months. This medium term goal should ideally help you achieve your long term goal, but that’s not always the case.
Now we’re at your short term goal. Figure out what needs to happen in the next one to seven days. Again, make sure it’s realistic and something which you feel you can do and achieve.
Once you reach this short term goal, make yourself another one, and then another one after you get that. And when you complete your medium term goal, write up another. Do the same with your long term goal when that’s reached.
What I like to do is have a set of goals for different areas of my life. Career, family, house (property), financial, etc. If you’re just getting used to setting goals, don’t try to do all of that in one go, just set goals for one area.
Perhaps you’d like to clean up the basement by Halloween (it’s a horrible mess and needs ten months to do it). That’s your long term goal. Your medium term goal might be to organize one corner of it. Then your short term goal could be to get boxes and bags for storing your items. Your next short term goal might be to arrange for someone to watch the kids for a few hours so you can concentrate on the task. And so on.
This will be much more effective than having a resolution to “clean up that basement!” That’s too much to do. It’s not a step you can take. It’s a year long journey.
So take your “New Year Resolution” and transform it into your Long Term Goal. Then figure out the steps needed to get there and create your other goals. Now you have a plan. Now you have a vision. Now you have a chance to actually get there.
If you liked this…
You might like the free course at Simpleology.com (no relation 
). It’s a great series of not just goal setting, but much more. Go ahead and check it out. You’re bound to see your productivity improve.
goal setting is very important in life an also in business~.~
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October 11th, 2010