Goals That Work

Hi folks,

Last week I mentioned that my primary objective at this point in my life is to grow my business (Coaching Ottawa), feel free to check out the website.  You will also notice that I call it an objective, and not a goal.  This week I would like to talk about why that is not a very good goal, and what would be a good goal.    

As part of my coaching practice, I hear people say their goal is to become rich.  Others tell me they want to get fit. Still others say they want to be famous.  Great dreams, but not very good goals.

So, what is a goal? What makes a good goal?  How should I start if I want to set my goals?

Well, ideally I want to start with a dream.  However, I don't want to start with just any dream, Also, I don't want to start with more than one dream.

Okay, so what if I want to be rich, fit and famous?  There are people that have all of that, right?  Why should I restrict myself?

Fair point, they are all good dreams, and each can be achieved.  They can even all be achieved by the same person. Better yet, they can all be worked on at the same time.  However, I really want to pick my number one dream right now,  a dream that will inspire me to push past the obstacles in life that will inevitably pop up. So, the statements above (be famous, be rich, get fit or grow a business) may be great dreams, but only if they will inspire someone to push past the obstacles of life.

Why?  Well, sooner or later there are going to be conflicts.  eventually (and probably on a regular basis) I am going to have to make a choice between two conflicting dreams.  If I don't have a clear #1, I will likely choose based on each individual situation, and slow down my growth on all dreams because I am inconsistent in my decision making.

Won't all of these dreams complement each other? Well, no, not all of the time.  Every dream a person peruses takes time and resources away from the other dreams.  So, if my #1 is to be fit, I should spend more time and money on exercising and managing my eating habits.  If my #1 is to be famous, I need to devote my time and resources to getting my name out.  If my #1 is to be rich, I need to put all of my time and resources towards getting more money.  There are only so many hours in a week and people have limited resources, so I need to be clear as to where I am going to focus.  Especially when there are so many other things in life that can zap time and resources if a person is not focused (family, friends, work entertainment, etc.).

Okay, we need to pick a dream, I think I have beaten that dead horse (looking at it now, that is a really terrible expression).  OK, getting back on topic, I had said my dream was to grow my business... right?  But I also said that wasn't a good goal. Why?

A goal should be measurable (yes, there I go again with the measuring), a goal should be achievable (but push limits) and it should have a clear time-frame.  So, what is wrong with growing my business being my goal? Can't I measure and achieve that?

Well... yes... but... when will I have achieved it?  If I earn one more dollar, have I grown my business? yes.  If I get 1 more client have I grown my business? Yes.  See why this dream and not a goal?

So measurable... attain 2 new coaching clients and 3 new training clients for myself.  Can I measure that? Yup.  Can I achieve it?  Yes, I certainly can.  Does it push my limits? well that depends on the time-frame...

OK let's try again... attain 2 new coaching clients and 3 new training clients for myself by September 2016.  Well, that is better isn't it... A coach doesn't typically have more than 10 or 12 clients at a time, so 2 new coaching clients is a big deal.  Training takes a lot of preparation, so 3 more clients is also a big deal.  To do both before September is going to reasonably push my limits, but it is still achievable.

Now that is one goal, if I want to achieve my dream, will that be enough? No, probably not.  I am probably going to want to write some longer term goals in several areas... hire X employees by the end of 2017, grow revenues by X% each year, increase profit margins by X% over the next 3 years, etc.  All of these goals are measurable and potentially achievable with specific time-frames.

Also, I may want to have some shorter term goals, which we saw last week:

- I will write in my journal daily
- I will update my agenda and review it at least twice a day
- I will post a blog article at least once a week, which is also a great way to track my progress

Notice, they are all goals that are measurable with a clear time-frame (do activity X daily, twice a day or weekly), and, so far, they have been achievable (lol).

The same goal setting process can be done for any dream, just remember you need to have a clear #1.

Has this been helpful?  Do you have any comments?  Did I miss anything that you think is important? Please share your thoughts.  Have a great week everyone!