S.M.A.R.T.

As I mentioned before, I didn't make a bunch of resolutions this year, but EVERY year, I update and look over my life goals and take some time to set, reset, eliminate, and update.

Goals and the ability to set and follow them have been a big part of me becoming who I am today(that may convince some of you to avoid them). With any goal no matter how big or small, what has helped me is to review and check my progress regularly, I use the New Year as an obvious check up but also try to look at them at least monthly.

Many of you are familiar with the acronym SMART when it comes to goal setting, but it warrants review. A great place to start after thinking about a goal is to answer the Who, What, When, Where, Why, if you can't come up with answers, probably not worth the effort of reviewing further...Your goals should be--

Specific--It's easy to say "I plan to lose weight" but my goal is more like-I want to lose 1 lb a week for the next 20 weeks and will do that by running 20 miles a week and eating three meals a day that total less than 1800 calories.

Measurable--This is not always simple, since some goals "To be a better person" are not as easily quantifiable as my weight loss example above but it helps to have a measurement for success, If I want to help people I might use time and dollars given as measures of achievement. How much/How Many??
In sales we often say What gets measured gets done...

Action-Oriented and Attainable--This is an easy spot to get fouled up, but if you don't set some action steps up at the outset you are far less likely to follow through later, schedule some things you're going to do to help reach your goals...then do them. Nearly any goal is attainable if you have enough desire and time to work on it.

Realistic--Are you both willing and able to work on it? If not, don't waste any more time and work on something that you are willing and able to work on. Also, consider who else needs to be involved, if my goal is to have ten more kids, I better talk to the wife to see how realistic that is...

Time-Bound/Timely--I have LOTS of goals, and the ones that don't get attention are the ones with the longest time horizon or no specific completion date attached at all...WE are naturally drawn to the hottest fires, so if I have a goal to pay off my mortgage in 30 years, that's probably about when it will happen, but if I want to pay it down in 5 that will require I do a lot more action items and measure it much more closely...of course that could also be shortened so much that it no longer meets the realistic criteria...

One reason I check up on my goals regularly is that priorities can change...my goal of having a convertible moved down the list when I found out my wife was pregnant again, the goal of a Hybrid SUV moved UP the list at the same time.

Whatever your goals, write them down and visit them often.

Hopefully this will help you as you review and set your goals for 2009 and beyond...