StartingOverNow.com
Articles
Goals - Four Goal Setting Strategies That Rock
We all know that setting goals is the first step to achieving them.
So why do we hate to do it? Because we might fail. Or worse yet,
we don’t know what we want to get us started – even more
frustrating. In order to plan for tomorrow, neat year, 5 years or 10
years from now you need a strategy to keep you on course. A plan
will have goals. And the goals should stretch you, invigorate you
and drive home your purpose. Studies support a linear
relationship between the difficulty of a goal and performance. As a
goal becomes harder to attain, performance increases, providing
the goal is SMART.
1. First Make Your Goals SMART
Understand the principals of SMART goals – Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Results Oriented and Time Framed. These goals are
so concrete you can’t mistake them. Often we don’t set SMART
goals but if you understand the acronym SMART and follow it you
have a blueprint for success. For example, a SMART goal would
not be, “I am going to quit work and start my own business.” A
SMART goal would be, “I am going to define my values and
strengths today to help focus my area of interest. By Friday I will
define my niche market by analyzing 20 business Web sites of
competitors in various niches.”
2. Back Into Your Goals
Back into your goals to execute them. By that I mean ask yourself if
you had already achieved the goal, “What would I have been doing
just before that point?” Write down exactly what happened the
week before you achieved this goal. What were you working on?
Write down what you were doing one month before. Three months
before. This is your plan of action. Make it concrete with specific
steps that follow the SMART standard.
3. Set Heartfelt Goals
The goals that you are working on should serve the greater good
and not just you or your team. The steps you are taking will serve
you and your team automatically when they make the world a
better place, rock someone else’s world or blow the roof off
someone’s expectations. Goals that are financially based with
disregard the greater human good will only serve a short term
strategy. They are not a long term solution. Companies such as
Zappos and Google are focused on the customer experience. Yet
their profits are soaring. Entice people to push through limitations
for a purpose.
4. Make the Goals Vibrant
Sticking to the exercise of setting and modifying goals is arduous,
tedious and hardly fun unless you are energized by the feeling you
will have with the results. Include imagery in your goals not only to
inspire your team but so that you may foresee any challenges that
may arise along the way. Tell a story. Ask your team to describe a
scenario of what it will be like when this goal is reached. Who will
be doing what? What will it feel like? Who else will be affected?
What will it sound like? Smell like? Taste like?
As a leader, you are the one to take charge of the goal setting
process. You hold yourself and your team accountable. It is hard to
be accountable if the metric for success is not concrete. Following
these four simple rules will set you on a course to fulfillment. Start
now!
Sign up for Mary Lee’s Free Coaching e-newsletter.
Get Mary Lee’s free tip sheets on Goals - What If You Don't Have It
All figured Out and How to Turn Thought Into Habit for Your Team
at Articles and Tip Sheets.
Mary Lee Gannon is the president of StartingOverNow.com –
Creating Productivity Solutions for People and Organizations.
Mary Lee is a graduate of The Duquesne University Professional
Coaching Program and an alumnus of the 2010 Harvard Medical
School and McLean Hospital Coaching in Medicine & Leadership
Conference. Her personal turnaround came as a stay-at-home
mother, with four children under seven-years-old, who endured a
divorce that took she and the children from the country club life to
public assistance from where within a short time she worked to the
level of CEO. Services include: Workshops, Meeting Facilitation,
Coaching, Webinars, Speaking and Management Consulting.
Areas of Specialty: Life, Organization and Career Transition /
Strategic Direction / Leadership / Time Management / Divorce /
Productivity / Relationship Shift / Purpose. Her book "Starting
Over - 25 Rules for When You've Bottomed Out" is available in
bookstores and at with online book sellers. Sign up for Mary Lee’s
Free Coaching e-newsletter
We all know that setting goals is the first step to achieving them.
So why do we hate to do it? Because we might fail. Or worse yet,
we don’t know what we want to get us started – even more
frustrating. In order to plan for tomorrow, neat year, 5 years or 10
years from now you need a strategy to keep you on course. A plan
will have goals. And the goals should stretch you, invigorate you
and drive home your purpose. Studies support a linear
relationship between the difficulty of a goal and performance. As a
goal becomes harder to attain, performance increases, providing
the goal is SMART.
1. First Make Your Goals SMART
Understand the principals of SMART goals – Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Results Oriented and Time Framed. These goals are
so concrete you can’t mistake them. Often we don’t set SMART
goals but if you understand the acronym SMART and follow it you
have a blueprint for success. For example, a SMART goal would
not be, “I am going to quit work and start my own business.” A
SMART goal would be, “I am going to define my values and
strengths today to help focus my area of interest. By Friday I will
define my niche market by analyzing 20 business Web sites of
competitors in various niches.”
2. Back Into Your Goals
Back into your goals to execute them. By that I mean ask yourself if
you had already achieved the goal, “What would I have been doing
just before that point?” Write down exactly what happened the
week before you achieved this goal. What were you working on?
Write down what you were doing one month before. Three months
before. This is your plan of action. Make it concrete with specific
steps that follow the SMART standard.
3. Set Heartfelt Goals
The goals that you are working on should serve the greater good
and not just you or your team. The steps you are taking will serve
you and your team automatically when they make the world a
better place, rock someone else’s world or blow the roof off
someone’s expectations. Goals that are financially based with
disregard the greater human good will only serve a short term
strategy. They are not a long term solution. Companies such as
Zappos and Google are focused on the customer experience. Yet
their profits are soaring. Entice people to push through limitations
for a purpose.
4. Make the Goals Vibrant
Sticking to the exercise of setting and modifying goals is arduous,
tedious and hardly fun unless you are energized by the feeling you
will have with the results. Include imagery in your goals not only to
inspire your team but so that you may foresee any challenges that
may arise along the way. Tell a story. Ask your team to describe a
scenario of what it will be like when this goal is reached. Who will
be doing what? What will it feel like? Who else will be affected?
What will it sound like? Smell like? Taste like?
As a leader, you are the one to take charge of the goal setting
process. You hold yourself and your team accountable. It is hard to
be accountable if the metric for success is not concrete. Following
these four simple rules will set you on a course to fulfillment. Start
now!
Sign up for Mary Lee’s Free Coaching e-newsletter.
Get Mary Lee’s free tip sheets on Goals - What If You Don't Have It
All figured Out and How to Turn Thought Into Habit for Your Team
at Articles and Tip Sheets.
Mary Lee Gannon is the president of StartingOverNow.com –
Creating Productivity Solutions for People and Organizations.
Mary Lee is a graduate of The Duquesne University Professional
Coaching Program and an alumnus of the 2010 Harvard Medical
School and McLean Hospital Coaching in Medicine & Leadership
Conference. Her personal turnaround came as a stay-at-home
mother, with four children under seven-years-old, who endured a
divorce that took she and the children from the country club life to
public assistance from where within a short time she worked to the
level of CEO. Services include: Workshops, Meeting Facilitation,
Coaching, Webinars, Speaking and Management Consulting.
Areas of Specialty: Life, Organization and Career Transition /
Strategic Direction / Leadership / Time Management / Divorce /
Productivity / Relationship Shift / Purpose. Her book "Starting
Over - 25 Rules for When You've Bottomed Out" is available in
bookstores and at with online book sellers. Sign up for Mary Lee’s
Free Coaching e-newsletter
StartingOverNow.com
Articles
Leaders who use
the FREE resources
on this site are:
* Wanting to make a
change
* Starting over in
their career or
personal life
* Empty nesters
* Entrepreneurs
* Networking
* Job Seekers
* Starting all over
again
* Going through a
divorce
* Looking for career
opportunities
* Seeking FREE
career advice and
education
* Finding mentors
* Setting new life
goals
To chart your road
map to success
click here for FREE
"Worksheets and
Articles."
the FREE resources
on this site are:
* Wanting to make a
change
* Starting over in
their career or
personal life
* Empty nesters
* Entrepreneurs
* Networking
* Job Seekers
* Starting all over
again
* Going through a
divorce
* Looking for career
opportunities
* Seeking FREE
career advice and
education
* Finding mentors
* Setting new life
goals
To chart your road
map to success
click here for FREE
"Worksheets and
Articles."
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Mary Lee Gannon's
Book "Starting Over" is
available in bookstores
or online booksellers
Amazon.com - 5 Stars!
Book "Starting Over" is
available in bookstores
or online booksellers
Amazon.com - 5 Stars!
Follow Mary Lee's tips
and information on these
Social Networking sites:
and information on these
Social Networking sites:
| I want to learn more about The Starting Over Now System. |
Get the FREE e-Book "Lead Your
Team with Values and Watch
Productivity Grow - A
Manager's Toolbox"
and the Executive Coaching
Newsletter.
Team with Values and Watch
Productivity Grow - A
Manager's Toolbox"
and the Executive Coaching
Newsletter.
StartingOverNow.com * info@StartingOverNow.com * www.StartingOverNow.com * 412-874-3918 |
| From welfare to CEO as a single parent of four children. |
| The Six Step Starting Over Now Video to Change Your Life! |
| Subscribe to Blog RSS feed! |
StartingOverNow.com/Gannon Group
Productivity Solutions for People and Organizations
Productivity Solutions for People and Organizations
| Change Your Life Now! |
