Six Guidelines to Setting Effective Goals

1.     Identify and write your mission statement. Then, set goals that support that mission. 

2.     Be precise: put in dates, times and amounts so that achievement can be measured, then you know the exact goals to be achieved, and can take complete satisfaction from having completely achieved it.

3.     Set Priorities:  where you have several goals, give each one a priority.  This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by too many goals, and helps direct your attention to the most important ones.

4.     Write goals down to avoid confusion and give them more force.

5.     Set realistic goals: keep the goals you are working towards small and achievable.  If a goal is too large, it can seem that you are not making progress.  You should take care to set goals over which you have as much control as possible. 

6.     Think a goal through by asking yourself these questions:

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What skills do I need to achieve this?

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What information and knowledge do I need?

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What help, assistance, or collaboration do I need?

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What resources do I need?

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What can block progress?

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Am I making any assumptions?

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Is there a better way of doing things?

 

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