Achieve Your Goals in 3.5 Steps

As Americans, we are a nation of goal setters. I’m sure you have set your fair share of goals that were forgotten, not accomplished or even lost. Actually, losing the goals (assuming you wrote them down) is very convenient when you don’t want to be reminded of your inability to finish what you started.

Achieving Your Goals

Today, I am going to tell you how to set and accomplish all of your goals in 3.5 easy steps (this works great for businesses, teams or individuals).

1 – Make your goals SMART

 S – Specific – Each goal should answer what, why, who and when. For example, let’s say you want to increase sales from the current the 2012 level of $2 million to $3M in 2013. Your goal should read something like this: “Increase Acme’s sales revenue to $3 million in 2013.”

 M – Measurable – You do not want any confusion when you are setting the direction of your organization. Refer back to our example goal of $3M of revenue in 2013. Is the goal to collect $3M in 2013, to make $3M of sales or to raise sales to an annualized $3M before the end of 2013? Each of these goals is very different. Make sure everyone in your organization understands and agrees to how the goal will be measured.

 A – Attainable – Perhaps the most important aspect of any organizational goal. Stretch goals pull an organization in the direction it should go. They drive innovation because you can’t keep doing what you have been doing to reach the goal. But, goals that are so big that the organization cannot create an achievable plan to reach them are not motivating and can in fact be demoralizing to your team. Make sure that you and your team believe in and have a plan to reach your most audacious goals.

 R – Responsible Person – If one person is not responsible for achieving the goal, no one is. Don’t get me wrong, being the responsible party does not mean you must reach the goal on your own. It simply means that you are responsible for pulling together the team to reach the goal. The buck stops with you!

 T – Time Specific – Due dates drive your most important goals to the top of everyone’s to do lists. Goals without a time specific plan to achieve them are simply dreams.

2 – Only set 1 or 2 key goals

Research has proven that once an individual or an organization sets more than 1 or 2 goals, the likelihood of accomplishing any of your goals greatly decreases. I can hear you now. We need to accomplish fifteen things this year, not one or two! I’m not telling you that you cannot set more than a couple goals. Just know what your number 1 goal is and make sure everyone on your team knows that accomplishing that goal supersedes all other goals.

Your number 1 goal should be the next most important step you can take towards executing your strategy. You can move on to your other goals once you accomplish your number 1.

3 – Break down your goal

The only way to have the slightest chance of achieving your long term goals is breaking them down into measurable, short term goals. Refocus your team at your daily, weekly and monthly goal sessions. If you are not on track to reach your goal, make adjustments early. Missteps and adjustments are normal. Expect them, look for them and make the needed changes.

3.5 – Never, Never, Never Give Up!

If it was easy everyone would do it. Expect little failures on your way to success. Dust yourself off, change your tactics if necessary, but never, ever give up just because accomplishing your goal is not easy.

Follow these easy, 3.5 steps and you and your organization will accomplish your biggest, most important goals.

What has gotten in the way of you accomplishing your goals in the past? Leave a comment and let us know how you overcame the obstacle.

Want to see how you are doing? Take our quick quiz to find out!

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/28430474@N05/6156635313/ 

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