About Purpose is about your purpose.
Aim: Identify and articulate your purpose.
Arm: Shape yourself around your purpose.
Act: Achieve your purpose.
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Physician, Heal Thyself
Setting Effective Goals
Bob Ryan, About Purpose, Inc. ©2004
As it happens, I had done quite a bit of thinking about the questions, but I had neither written my goals down, nor had I run them by a group of advisors to get good, objective feedback. Well, color me “embarrassed.” I’m quick on my feet, so I didn’t exactly stutter and stammer, but I did have to admit that I was not prepared for such a conversation. I promised to come to the meeting next month, ready to lay out my plans before this group of highly accomplished business people.
Like most people, I had fallen into the trap of doing what I do best, without really thinking it through in a structured, measurable way. How about you? Take this little “test” and see if you are prepared to meet the New Year head on. If you score well, you aren’t guaranteed success, but if you score poorly, you will almost certainly not do as well as if you had done a good job of planning.
1. What do you want to be when you grow up? Have you asked yourself this question lately? Can you articulate how you will be different as a result of another year in business? Do you have objective, measurable goals?
_____Rate yourself. Give yourself a 5 if you have identified specific goals for this next year in business and have written them down somewhere. You can give yourself a 3 if you have seriously thought about this and have a clear idea of where you want to be a year from now. But give yourself a 1 if you really haven’t thought about it at all.
2. What do your goals look like? Are they S.M.A.R.T. goals? That acronym means that your goals are specific, measurable, appropriate, realistic and time-bound. In other words, in order to have real goals, you need to be able to know without a doubt if they have been accomplished, and that they were not just “feel-good,” pie-in-the-sky sentiments.
_____Rate yourself. Give yourself a 5 if your goals are S.M.A.R.T. goals; a 3 if only some of the acronym applies, and a 1 if none apply or if you have no goals.
3. To whom are you accountable? No matter how good your intentions, if you do not share your goals with people who have the ability to look at them realistically and give you honest feedback, and hold you accountable for accomplishing them, you are not likely to get the results you want.
_____Rate yourself. Give yourself a 5 if you have a structured, on-going group with whom you can “lay yourself bare.” You can have a 3 if you informally share your goals with a few people; but only a 1 if you keep them to yourself.
4. Do you have the resources to meet your goals? (Of course, if you don’t, the Realistic part of the acronym doesn’t fit.) Have you planned out specific strategies to get results? Actual steps with people, tools, dollars, and timelines will make it much more likely that you will usher in the New Year with a smile.
_____Rate yourself. Give yourself a 5 if someone could look over your shoulder and feel confident in your ability to carry out your plans; a three if they would just be relying on your past record; a 1 if they back away nervously.
Time to tally the score. If you got a 20, I’ll see you at the end of next year, feeling good about yourself and your organization. If you got a 12, you are approaching the year like many people do the lottery – hoping for a big finish without working for it. Anything less and my experience is that you are short-changing yourself (and, if you have them, your employees). Some old wag said, “Fail to plan. Plan to fail.”
I make a living helping people set and meet goals. I know how unlikely it is that people will accomplish their dreams unless they have clear, well-written plans and have made themselves accountable for their completion. I went home after that meeting and carefully wrote out my plans. I will face those advisors next meeting and let them critique my goals and strategies. I plan to finish next year in a better place than I am in now. I have the resources to get there. I am boldly confident about this coming year. How about you?