Your Goals: Write Em' Down, Break Em' Down

Everyone always starts off the new year with a list of things they want to accomplish in the next 365 days. Lose weight, become richer, travel, whatever it is, it always seems we start off with a bang then slowly fizzle within a few short months or even weeks. Why does this happen year after year? The answer? No Plan!

The List is Not Enough
First of all, look at the example list above. Lose weight, be richer, travel.... these goals are much too broad! How are you going to lose weight? How are you going to become richer? Where would you like to travel and how will you get the money to do it? This seems to be the first thing people overlook when writing down their goals. They need to be specific! It's not enough to say I want to lose weight. How many pounds do you want to lose? By what date? What means are you going to use to get there? You've got to write it all down.

Create Action Steps
Once you have your specific goal, you need to create specific steps to get you there. If you can't think of what they are, start at the end result and work backwards at what each previous step should be before the next. Sometimes it's easier to figure out what you need to do by starting at the end. Number your steps, even add a sub list (a, b, c) under each step for more specific smaller steps.

Categorize Your Plan
For instance, I made a list of my professional goals for the year recently. I also created detailed action steps for each one. Then I broke it down even further. I categorized various areas of my daily business life (Marketing (along with a sub category for each type of marketing - i.e. website, blogging, social networking, etc..), Organization & Productivity, & Writing. I also created a category for Income, declaring what I wanted to make this year and what that will entail. By creating categories, you get an overview of each area of your business and what you would like to accomplish in each area or what might be missing that you need to work on.

Schedule Your Action Steps
Now that you've got a plan, you need to schedule it into your daily routine so you are consistently taking steps toward achieving your goals. This may require breaking down your steps even further into weekly and daily actions. Don't just write them down, set reminders in your Outlook or Google calendar so that even if you get busy doing something else, your computer will give you a gentle reminder of what you should be doing to stay on track.

Keep Your Goals Visible
Make copies of your goals and action steps. Keep one copy posted by your computer, another in your car, maybe another in your briefcase or day planner. By constantly being reminded of what you set out to accomplish at the beginning of the year you are more likely to achieve those goals.

Track Your Progress
Do a quick weekly and monthly check to look at what you've accomplished. Check off the goals as you accomplish them. This can be hugely motivating and also allows you to revisit your goals, make sure they are still what you want to accomplish or tweak action steps if something isn't working.

Wishing you much success this year in accomplishing your dreams!

Jackie