Goal setting is important in both your personal life and in business. It is important to bring the goal into focus quickly so that you can work towards attaining the goal. The goal setting process generally goes through three main phases. The most important phase, though, is bringing the goal into focus so that it becomes attainable. So, what are the three main phases?
First, the ideas pour in. In your personal life, these ideas come from you and those that you allow to speak into your life. However, in a business, other people will offer their ideas on goal setting. The inputs to the goal may come from a half-dozen people, and while it is the leader that generally coordinates it all, there will be many people that contribute to the ideas.
So, in our personal lives, we think a lot about our goals. You have maybe even discussed it with a few people. But, as the leader manager of a business, it is not just dependent upon you. You will receive input of descriptions, quantities, ideas and thoughts from the people who are in the company that are helping to construct the goal. And what happens is that as the ideas pour in, then they begin to jell and the picture of the goal becomes progressively clearer.
And, finally, the picture is as clear as it can be. You will soon begin to see the goal as a realistic and attainable objective. It will stand out and be enticingly clear to you.
There are two basic ways to bring your goal into focus further:
Future resources, particularly financial resources, will help you bring that goal into focus. Some of the questions to ask if you are the leader-manager are:
- How do you plan to get the income necessary to help you realize your goal?
- What will this income be five years in the future?
- How will your service or product change in five years?
- What will your “field of activity” be like? Expanded? Contracted? Changed direction?
One way to help you see the goal five years hence is to look back five years. This works for both personal and business goals.
- What was the situation five years ago?
- Will the changes that have taken place between then and now be similar in the future?
Another technique for bringing the goal into focus for your business is to think of another organization that exists today.
- What organization would be your ideal?
- What is a description of that organization?
That description could form a sort of “model” goal for you. While you probably won’t want to be exactly like something you already know, the descriptive elements of this other organization, or its quantitative factors can help you to bring your own goal into focus.
Once you have the clear goal in sight, you’ll work aggressively to go in one definite direction. Even if unexpected “opportunities” appear as you go along, your focused goal will help you determine whether you should grasp it or side step it. Because you know the direction you want to go, you’ll reject an opportunity that you recognize as an enticing side-path. You’ll be equally able to spot an un-looked-for opportunity that you hadn’t foreseen. It will be one that you can tell will carry you faster down the main road.
Goal-setting is vital to every organization and business. Goal-setting is vital to your personal life. It is time to set some goals and move aggressively toward reaching them. If your goals just need a minor adjustment, check out the blog Making Small Adjustments to Reach Your Goals.
What goals do you need to bring into focus today so that you can work towards reaching them tomorrow?
