Today’s post is by Bhav Seera. Bhav is a digital marketer that is experienced in creating motion videos, graphics design, copywriting in areas of leadership, management, finance, business and he currently works for London Management Centre. In this article, he shares his knowledge on how to create reasonable goals for yourself.

Settings goals are different to setting new year’s resolutions, settings goals should be a process taken seriously with a detailed plan of action to help you achieve what you set out to. Without having a structured plan to help you it may be a very daunting task, with no solid road ahead to follow it is easy to stray off course.

How To Set Yourself Reasonable Goals

When engaging in goal setting, you have to define your objectives clearly and identify what exact path you must take in order to reach the goal, this includes what resources are needed, how long is to be spent on achieving this goal and what investments you may need to take.

As we know, each person is different and will take a different route in setting their goals, if you are unsure of what your leadership style then takes this quick online test. Once you have completed the test, you will get your style when it comes to setting goals and also some handy advice.

CORE SKILLS

All successful leaders have a core set of skills that assist them in their role, one of the main ones being interpersonal skills, this umbrella term is used, to sum up, how measurable a person’s “people skills” are. Before creating reasonable goals for yourself, you should assess whether your interpersonal skills are the best they can be; your colleagues and employees should feel comfortable to talk to you about any problem they have and you should have the people skills to effectively manage your employees in any situations. Investing in interpersonal skills courses may prove to be a worthwhile investment if your core abilities aren’t to the highest standards.

SMART

The SMART system is the most recognized approach in business to setting goals, it is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic/Relevant and Timely. The overall gist of the SMART system is to ensure that your goals are concise, attainable and follows a progression. Research has proved that SMART goals can save time and simplify the process of setting measurable goals.

Setting SMART Goals

Goal setting is critical to your personal productivity. It is the single most important life skill that, unfortunately, most people never learn how to do properly. Goal setting can be used in every single area of your life, including financial, physical, personal development, relationships, or even spiritual. According to Brian Tracy’s book Goals, fewer than 3% of people have clear, written goals, and a plan for getting there. Setting goals puts you ahead of the pack!

Some people blame everything that goes wrong in their life on something or someone else. They take the role of a victim and they give all their power and control away. Successful people instead dedicate themselves towards taking responsibility for their lives, no matter what the unforeseen or uncontrollable events. Live in the present: the past cannot be changed, and the future is the direct result of what you do right now!

The SMART Way

SMART is a convenient acronym for the set of criteria that a goal must have in order for it to be realized by the goal achiever.

  • Specific: Success coach Jack Canfield states in his book The Success Principles that, “Vague goals produce vague results.” In order for you to achieve a goal, you must be very clear about what exactly you want. Often, creating a list of benefits that the accomplishment of your goal will bring to your life, will you give your mind a compelling reason to pursue that goal.
  • Measurable: It’s crucial for goal achievement that you are able to track your progress towards your goal. That’s why all goals need some form of an objective measuring system so that you can stay on track and become motivated when you enjoy the sweet taste of quantifiable progress.
  • Achievable: Setting big goals is great, but setting unrealistic goals will just de-motivate you. A good goal is one that challenges but is not so unrealistic that you have virtually no chance of accomplishing it.
  • Realistic/Relevant: Before you even set goals, it’s a good idea to sit down and define your core values and your life purpose because it’s these tools which ultimately decide how and what goals you choose for your life. Goals, in and of themselves, do not provide any happiness. Goals that are in harmony with our life purpose do have the power to make us happy.
  • Timed: Without setting deadlines for your goals, you have no real compelling reason or motivation to start working on them. By setting a deadline, your subconscious mind begins to work on that goal, night and day, to bring you closer to achievement.

BREAK TASKS DOWN INTO AN ACTION PLAN

Another effective way to set out your plan is to visualize your plan as already completed in steps and then work backwards from there, this is to get an idea of the obstacles and challenges that you will encounter on your path from A to B. When creating your action plan, it is important to always modify it as you go if needed and to always weigh up the risks and how to fit potential risks when they pose a threat.

Question: How do you set goals for your life & business? How do you monitor them? You can leave your comments or your questions, by clicking here