Monday, January 23, 2012

Goal Setting Exercise – Make This Your Best Year Ever!


I have discovered that goal setting does not come easily for many people. Perhaps they have never created goals that worked for them or perhaps they have created goals that were not measurable. When you can't measure something, it's difficult to achieve success. That's why as a companion to my post about Personal Goal Planning, I have written a goal setting exercise to help you make this year the best year ever. Remember, shoot for the moon. Even if you fail you will land among the stars!

Goals
Please think about goals you would like to set for yourself for this calendar year. Examples could be: business income; new clients; new AUM; new skills; development of new strategies; new marketing tactics; # of referrals received; networking events to attend; new business relationships created; COI coffees or meetings; personal wellbeing; stress reduction; elimination of frustrating circumstances; vacations; work/life balance. 

Please create goals using the SMART GOALS process: 
Specific – Make your goals specific.
EXAMPLE:  A general goal would be, “Get in shape.” But a specific goal would say, “Join a health club and workout 3 days a week.”
Measurable – Create goals that you can measure. If your goal is to attend five networking events per week and you attend two, then you can measure where you need to step up activity.
Achievable – Make your goal something that you can reasonably achieve. If your goal is to work out three hours seven days a week, is that achievable? Probably not.
Realistic - To be realistic, a goal should be something you are both willing and able to work on. Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. If your goal is $500K in revenue but last year you brought in $100K, then it's not realistic based on past results.  
Timely - Establish an achievable time frame that allows you to carry out the actions to achieve your goal. If you were to focus on your goals over six months to one year, that is an achievable time frame.

How many goals should you have? I like to have business goals and personal goals. Here's a good format:

Business Goals: what are the three business goals you would like to achieve in the next 6 to 12 months? Be as specific as possible.
1.
2.
3.

Personal Goals: what are the three personal goals you would like to achieve in the next 6 to 12 months? Be as specific as possible.
1.
2.
3.

Consistency
It takes twenty one days to build a habit. If you have exercise goals then realize that you'll need to build your habits so that it becomes natural for you to go to the gym or go for a run on a regular basis.  You'll need to do the activities that will help you achieve your goals. So check in with yourself from time to time to ensure you are taking action.

Here's to your success!!!

Suzanne Muusers

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