Attainable Goals or Lotfy Ideas - Start 2009 with a Plan

As the year begins, most have given thought to what you want to accomplish in 2009. Sitting down with pen and tablet, you begin to list all the goals that you want to achieve in the coming year. After a bit, you have a long laundry list. With list in hand, what is the next step? Have you developed a plan to implement your goals? Are there tools in place to measure the achievement of your goals? Or, after a period time is the goal list shoved into a desk drawer until it is discovered months later when it’s time to set goals for the new approaching year?

Setting goals is more than making a list of items to accomplish. It’s laying out an attainable plan with guidelines, action steps and milestones. Goals should be set at a measure that is above your average performance level in order to heighten your skill set. They should not be based on your best performance nor should they be easily attained.

Process and Plan

As you think through the goals you want to achieve, ask yourself following questions so that you focus not only on the end result of the goal but the path needed to accomplish the goal.

• What do I specifically want to achieve?
• What resources are needed?
• Do I have the skill set needed or is there a learning curve to factor?
• Do I have the data and knowledge needed?
• Do I need assistance or collaboration with a colleague?
• What obstacles could block progress?
• What contributing factors are beyond my control?
• Is there more than one way of accomplishing goal?
• What does the desired outcome of the goal look like?
• Why do I want to achieve this goal?
• What is a realistic timeline for achievement?

Record and Review

After you have developed your goals and the action steps necessary to achieve them, write them down in a notebook and review them regularly. Jack Canfield suggests reviewing your goals daily and visualizing what accomplished goals look like.

The Point

Goals should be more than a laundry list of lofty ideas. Developing a plan to accomplish your goals lends itself as a huge contributing factor to successfully accomplishing them. Schedule quiet time to plan your path for the 2009 and achieve your dreams.

Photo by krisgriffon

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