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With the New Year fast approaching, almost everyone I know is thinking about what they want to accomplish next year. Though few express it, I believe there's a bit of overwhelm in the air as we all go about this ritual of committing to goals that will help us better ourselves, our businesses, our health, our surroundings. Why the overwhelm? I think we feel overwhelmed at the beginning of the process for the very same reason we find ourselves on the brink of abandoning ship on many of our goals before we accomplish them - they are things we think we SHOULD do and not things that we truly WANT to
do. Let's turn the overwhelm into overdrive!
What if we made our goals about making shifts that truly build on our strengths and cultivate new habits that support our growth? What if we kept our thoughts about ourselves positive? Just because there's something you could do better or something else that you need to start or stop doing altogether doesn't make you a miserable person or a failure if you have to go at it more than once. Be kind to yourself on this journey!
As I'm putting my goals in place for 2012, I've decided to not only make them SMART goals, but to make them energizing goals. I truly want to achieve these goals because they're MY goals - they mean something to me, I know that achieving them will make me feel great and open my mind to fresh possibilities.
Here's a new way to look at SMART goals:
Specific/Simple: Be specific, but keep it simple. Don't be tempted to make things more complicated than they need to be. We can change the world by starting with our own little piece of it. If gaining control over your paperwork happens to be one of your goals, "getting more organized" isn't a goal...it's a wish. Commit to a system that will help you operate more effectively. For example, each time you return from a networking event, immediately enter the contact information and pertinent notes for all the people you met into your database. Then file or toss the cards. No piles of business cards all over your office and wondering why you have them a month later.
Measureable/Meaningful: Why track something that doesn't have a real impact on your life? As you think about your sales goals for the New Year, quantify absolutely everything. How many appointments do you need to gain one new account? How many new accounts do you need each week to meet your goals for the year? What will it mean to your life and your business to meet your goals? Think about all the benefits, not just the monetary ones. How will your life improve when you're not buried in mounds of paper and worried about what you've forgotten to do?
Attainable/Authentic: Here's where the SHOULD's should be tossed out the window. Not only do your goals need to be attainable, but for you to succeed, they need to have heart. Your heart. What do you truly WANT? What will make you feel successful, satisfied, confident, worthwhile? Authenticity is the key to unlocking your greatness.
Relevant/Rejuvenating: If your goal is really important to you, you'll find a way to achieve it. And because you begin with the end in mind, getting there will be half the fun!
Time-Based/Timeless: Funny about us humans...we're so time-conscious, if we don't give ourselves deadlines, we can just procrastinate ourselves out of doing something. Either we do it by MM-DD-YY or we assign it the "whenever" designation. We all know that doesn't work. Give it a date and make it something that will make an impact well beyond the foreseeable future. Maybe you want to shed a few pounds or exercise regularly each week or start an IRA. Achieving those goals can impact your life forever.
I know we can achieve what we really set our minds on!
To Great Success in 2012!
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