How Smart Are Your Goals?
When the clock strikes midnight and the confetti falls on New Years is not the only time to set goals for your life! Conversely, goal setting should be a consistent part of the growth and development of your life. To make dreams a reality in your life, you should always engage in setting and attaining goals. It is not about where you are; rather it is all about where you are going!
Goal Setting is about planning ahead and taking charge of your future. Because, let’s face it; no one else will. Or, as the saying goes: you either plan your life, or someone else will. You will, at the very least, fall into the plans of those around you. Don’t believe this to be true? I challenge you to observe your actions for a week and ask yourself if these are plans that you designed or if you just “fell into” the plans of those around you. It actually happens easier than we would think. When I engaged in this measuring of my actions, I was surprised at what I discovered. I was grateful for this eye-opening exercise and I now make it a periodic practice. We can all get off course sometimes and this is a good practice for measuring and assessing your progress and keeping yourself on track.
The Need For Planning & the Power of Written Goals:
A Ten year reunion study of Harvard graduates found:
83% had no goals
14% had unwritten goals
3% had written goals
The study concluded that the 3% with written goals earned TEN times the income the other 97% of the graduates combined!!
The obvious morale of this study is that you will achieve what you aim for and there is power of written goals. It has been said that if you aim at nothing, you will hit it with amazing accuracy.
I believe in securing the validity of my actions by checking them for their alignment with the standard of God’s word. Proverbs 29:18 says: “for lack of vision the people parish.” A definition of vision is: “the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.” I love what God tells Habakkuk: “write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. When we have a clear direction to focus on we can run with confidence and assurance.
Goals Need to Be SMART:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time Implemented
Three Action Steps Towards Goal Achievement:
- Identify any Current or Anticipated Obstacles: This helps in the realistic implementation and also eliminates the element of surprise. When you expect to push through some adversity, you will be more mentally prepared to deal with it.
- Consider Who May Be Involved as well as the Surrounding Circumstances: How can you share your vision and make it adaptable and cohesive with the surrounding circumstances and environment?
- Plan For and Expect Accomplishment: Write down an effective game plan for the execution of your goals. Expect them to happen! We always get what we expect! Henry Ford said “whether you think you CAN, or you think you can’t—you’re right”
- Inspect Your Progress: Check on your results throughout the process. Don’t wait until the end. When in flight, an airplane can land in an entirely different city if it just gradually gets off course a few unnoticeable degrees at a time. You can’t expect what you aren’t willing to inspect!
Below is an acronym I designed for GOALS that I hope will help sum up some of these principles and serve as a good reminder:
Gallantly means bravely! For, truly it takes courage to pursue your goals and dreams. But, you are worth it and the world is waiting to observe the landmark achievements that you successfully earn in this life!
