Set goals concretely – write them down!
For most of my life, I’ve used a simple goal-setting method.
I learned this method from a colleague as a young man. I write my goals on index cards using this format:
- What? The specific, measurable goals that I want to achieve and the date that I set them. (No vague dreams.)
- By when? The date for achieving the goals. (Research shows that 90-day goals can be most effective. Longer-term ones tend to get lost; shorter-term ones come to resemble to-do lists.)
- Why? The reason why each goal is important. What values are central to the goals?
- How? The process, step by step, that I will use to achieve each goal.
- Support? The people I will work with to achieve each goal. I’ve got a whole box of index cards going back to 1968. I like this system because it’s intuitive. It follows the questions your brain would naturally ask: What do I want to do? How fast am I going to get it done? Why do I want to do it? How will I get it done? Who will help me?
Your plan doesn’t have to be hugely detailed, but you do need a plan. As a reminder of the goals I’ve set, I carry a folded- up index card in my wallet listing them. I add and cross off as I go.
There are more detailed goal-setting approaches that I use with clients, but this low-tech version is easy and effective. And it’s easily adaptable to our microchip-driven world. Feel free to make your shoebox full of goals a digital one.
(From Balanced Leadership in Unbalanced Times, Scoping Out Your Goals • 21.)
Enjoy your day, do your best work, and keep in touch,
Dr. Rob