Goals

A goal is a major achievement in life - something that can take a long time to achieve but is well worth the effort. Goals include being a first division footballer, being the MD of a company; being a successful opera singer; eliminating all debt and having ten thousand pounds in savings; owning a house in Greece; speaking fluent Japanese etc.

" a goal is a dream taken seriously" W.P. Hopkins

" if you don't know where you are going, don't be surprised when you don't get there" Anon

" life is what happens when you are busy making other plans" John Lennon

We need to set ourselves goals in life and work then break down these goals into smaller realisable objectives, specify these clearly then go for them!!

Going for them involves the following steps:

1) Stating the goal clearly and concisely e.g. Being Marketing Director, running my own business; Being fluent in French; Owning my own house.

2) Splitting the goal into achievable objectives i.e. the steps you need to take to realise your goal.

For example: Find out what Marketing Director does; am I in Marketing now? How could I move there? Do I need professional qualifications? and the like.

Find a product or service to sell; find the finance; attend courses on bookkeeping, marketing etc.; save up money to carry me over the first six months, and the like.

3) Prioritising the objectives i.e. what needs to be done when, which is the most important factor, are there any limiting factors?

For example: need to understand more about marketing - study for Institute of Marketing exams but first do I need more GCSE? A levels?

I need the money first and the idea before quitting my present job - how do I get these?

4) Setting time limits against each objective i.e. some of the less important aspects may take the longest to complete, so you need to be sure of all time constraints.

For example: Professional qualifications could take 5 years evening study can I do this as well as moving into Marketing and seeing what other skills needed to be Marketing Director?

For example: enrol local evening courses in bookkeeping - Sept. to March; save 10% salary each month into a special account (10 x6 = 5 years) etc.

5) Re-assess goals, objectives etc. against realistic time projections i.e. time to use some lateral thinking and to re-appraise if this is really your burning goal

For example: why Marketing? will any form of Directorate suit? what am I good at now?

For example: where else can I get money from to set up on my own? Bank loans, re-mortgage house?

6) Take the first steps !! and keep your end goal vividly in mind !!

Setting Objectives

To achieve a goal we must have a series of smaller goals or objectives that will help us to reach our goal. We must define the goal first, then break it down into smaller pieces all of which help towards that goal. Objectives must be:

• timely
• realistic
• measurable
• discrete
• precise
• action words

To create objectives from an end goal first you should 'brain storm' them onto a piece of paper to get all the ideas together, then sort into logical order - both in terms of time and place. For example; if your goal is speaking fluent Japanese then your brainstormed objectives could look as follows:

• obtain phrase book
• go to Japan
• get job with Japanese firm
• go to classes
• read about Japan
• watch Japanese films

Before ordering them, first get them into exact objectives:-

• Buy at least two Japanese phrase books before x date
• Visit Japan for two weeks next summer
• Find out if there is a recruitment agency specialising in Japanese firms by January
• Borrow 7 books in Japanese from local library and read them by the end of November
• Enrol on Japanese language night classes by the end of October
• Go and see at least 2 Japanese films a month for the next three months

In a work context, your GOAL will be connected to performing your job successfully e.g. being an excellent trainer; being a successful salesperson; being a successful support person. Your OBJECTIVES then are the sub-parts of your job that need doing to make you successful e.g. becoming an expert on Lotus; setting up for UNIX courses; developing a set of productive customers, ensuring all the timetables get to the appropriate trainers and the dates and courses match etc.

You should take care not to got too far with listing your OBJECTIVES since you may have got into the detail of TASKS - what is needed to make the objectives work.

In any case you should aim for no more than ten objectives to achieve any one goal. More than 10 and things get unwieldy and perhaps you need to re-set your goal.

Tasks translate to "to do lists"

Identifying Priorities

By putting precise timings and measurements on your objectives you not only make them clearer, but also get a picture of how to prioritise them appropriately. You need to ask questions - is logical to enrol with an agency specialising in Japanese firms before you know anything of the language? What would be the advantages? What the disadvantages?

It is at this point that you can distinguish between speed of action and urgency of action.

Key Tasks

These derive from objectives and are the action that must be taken too make those objectives happen. How do you make 'enrolment on a Japanese course happen?'

• phone the local colleges
• phone the county Department of Education
• determine you maximum travel distance
• identify a course
• investigate how to enrol - times, places, fees

This list cannot be exhaustive since some actions here will lead to others - but you have got a track of what you're doing, why you are doing it and what your end goal is.

After each key task you need to write the DATE you actioned it; WHAT the result was; any further ACTIONS and other pieces of information.

Key tasks form part of your To Do list - but are not exhaustive since this also includes all the other actions you need to do as a person.

Work Patterns and Prioritising Tasks

We have referred previously to prioritising of tasks and work patterns. To get the most out of every day we need to align these two together and try to arrange our days to suit our periods of best concentration.

To run efficiently as possible you should look at your TO DO list and tackle the tasks in order of priority AND with an eye on your own work pattern.

Obviously the URGENT and IMPORTANT tasks need completing first - Churchill for instance never did anything unless it was URGENT & IMPORTANT during the Second World War. As you will appreciate if you leave IMPORTANT things for too long they then become URGENT as well as IMPORTANT!

Work Patterns

There are some tasks that may not take much time to complete, are important and yet you need to be in the appropriate mood to complete them. If you are a morning person, then tackling the URGENT and IMPORTANT TASKS first thing will not cause a problem - but what about the afternoon - or evening - people?

For them the essential thing is to get some easy 'wins' early in the day when our bodies are not operating on full power, to encourage us to persevere with the day until our peak times come.

This is the time for the quick phone calls, the simple letters, the sticking things into envelopes - action items but ones that don't require much brain power. Morning people may care to reserve these tasks for the end of the working day. Those whose energy lapses after lunch can also reserve these events for then.

Prioritising Tasks

Look at your To Do list - which should be derived from all your key tasks lists, and distinguish between actions which are

• Urgent
• Important
• Necessary
• For information only

and code them on your To Do list. Some people use letters of the alphabet with A being used for the most urgent and important tasks; some use colours with RED for urgent; some use the first letter of the word (with F for Information only) and some on E-Mail use a letter or word at the title of the message so that those on the distribution list know how quickly to respond to the message.

Diary Management

• Now you have your goals, objectives, priorities and key tasks you should be able to transfer some of these actions into your diary.
• Put in the end dates - and a reasonable time beforehand a reminder to see how you are progressing towards your set deadlines.
• Put in the start dates - there may have been delays either self-driven or from others (e.g. it may not be possible to join a Japanese class until January) - and see how this will affect your end dates.
• Put in forward actions that result from completing one key task - e.g. note all the times of your course of study and the examination dates (if available).
• Identify clashes - and decide what to do with them!
• Re-prioritise if necessary
• Put in time to work on your objectives - book your own time to study; practise or whatever - personal time or work time.