Goals

What are your goals? Have you ever stopped to think about where you wanted to be in life, in 5 or maybe 10 years? Many people feel as if they are running and running, but their steps are taking them no where. The reason? They haven't spent enough time thinking about what they want in life and haven't set formal goals for themselves.

Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating yourself to turn a vision into reality. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know where you have to concentrate your efforts. You'll also quickly spot the distractions that can, so easily, lead you astray. 

As many of you know, I attended Thirty-One's National Conference a few weeks ago. It was my first time attending and it was an eye opening experience! 

What I saw was not only fellow sisters commiserating, laughing and having a fantastic time, but I also saw women, much like myself, who set those precise goals and let nothing stand in their way of achieving those goals. 

When asked how to "get started" in setting such high standards, one Senior Executive Director (the highest paid consultant status), write your specific goals down, breaking each goal down into smaller "pieces" and put a date in which you want to achieve each piece. She also mentioned sharing your goal with others, so they will help hold you accountable.

So, let's break this goal setting idea down into levels. 

• First, create a "big picture" of what you want to do with your personal life, in the next 5, or maybe 10 years. Identify the large-scale goals that you want to achieve.
• Second, break those goals down into smaller "chunks", that you must hit to reach your long term goals.
• Third, once you've broken down those "chunks", start working on them!

Setting a big picture goal, breaking that goal down into smaller, more obtainable goals and moving up the scale piece by piece. 

To give a broad, balanced coverage of all the important areas in your life, try to set goals in some of the following categories:

• Career - what level of the corporate ladder do you want to reach?
• Financial - How much money do you want to earn in what period of time?
• Education - What skills would you like to learn that you've been putting off because you have "no time?"
• Family - Do you want to have children? What do you have to do to prepare yourself and your home prior to doing so?
• Physical - Are there athletic goals that you'd like to achieve? Have you always wanted to run a 10K?
• Vacation - Where have you always wanted to travel to? Where would you like to go as a family to celebrate one another?

Take some time to think on these categories or maybe you have a goal that isn't listed above. What smaller goals can you set to achieve on the road to your "big picture?" 

Make sure the goals you set are your own and not a reflection of what someone else what's you to achieve. This journey needs to be one you've set for yourself, with the HELP of those around you. Share your "big picture" with your spouse, friends, family and co-workers. Send your goals to me, if you need to! I'd be thrilled to encourage you every step of the way! Make a graph of the steps you will take to reach the end result and post that graph somewhere you will be able to see everyday until that "big picture" is a reality. 

Gook luck and have a great journey!