Goals

If Wishes Were Horses, I’d Have A Friggin Pony By Now…

Not to get all “new agey” on you, but… setting goals is really effective.  The world doesn’t really give a damn about what you want – your boss cares about the bottom line, their projects, their budget.  But that doesn’t mean you should only care about those things, too.  Set goals for yourself so you can avoid becoming (or remaining) just another cog in the machine.

You want a raise? Set yourself some goals.

You want to finish a big project? Goals.

Monkey on a Dog? Goals.

You just have to know what you want and get SMART.  Not like the movie or that old TV show – but like the acronym.

SMART goals consist of five ideas.

• S – Specific
  
  • Specific goals outline exactly what you want to achieve and when you want to achieve it.  You want to get a $5,000 raise on your next 6-month review.
• M – Measurable
  
  • Measurable goals are tangible – that is, they have specific results that you can see – or not, depending on if you’ve met your goal. You want to get a $5,000 raise within 3 months. You can measure your goal based on how soon you get your raise and how much of a raise you get.
• A – Achievable
  
  • Achievable goals are made up of objectives which allow you to know if you’ve met your goal or not. Objectives are just mini-goals – steps to accomplish in each goal. Earn a $5,000 raise in 3 months by completing each of my projects on-time and under-budget, and by showing up on time every day to work. Now you have two steps – complete your projects on-time and under-budget and get to work on time, and a way to measure your success or failure: being on-time every day and doing well on your projects.
• R – Realistic
  
  • Realistic goals may be difficult, but they are things that you can achieve. Don’t make goals you can’t follow through on. Earning a $5,000 raise is fine if your company hands out 10% raises at 6 months. If not, then set your goal a little bit closer to earth – most raises are around 5-6% at 6 months. So, $2,500 would be a good goal to set – although there is something to be said for people who know what they want and aggressively go after it.  If you can support your case for a 10% raise, go for it.
• T – Timely
  
  • You should set a time limit to accomplish your goals – a goal without a time limit is just a dream, and dreams usually only come true in Disney movies.  If you have a big goal, break it up into pieces.  Measure your success on those intervals, so you are able to measure your success and adjust your plan as you go.  Long-term goals are generally anything over a year.  Short-term goals are anything between now and a year – the more flexible your plan, the better your chances of success.

Create, Review, Re-Do, Renew…

Goal setting is a continuous process – not something just done once, but all through your life.  You constantly evaluate how well you’ve done, if you need to do more or less, or pay more attention to one goal over another.  When you look back, make sure that your goals are still relevant and meaningful.  If they are – renew your commitment to them and make sure you’re heading down the right path.  If not, change them.

Setting strong goals makes you look really good on paper.  But it only really benefits you when you follow through.  If you follow through, it can make you a highly successful person. Unless your goal is to fail… and then, you get what you ask for.  Remember, aim for the pony (or at least a monkey on a dog).

If you know what you want and have a plan to get it, you can do anything!