Have you taken time to write down your goals for 2011 yet?   I have learned a basic truth in my life:

When I write down a goal, it is MUCH more likely to be achieved.

Perhaps you have discovered the same thing in your life?

Here are some tips to writing your goals for next year:

• Review 2010
  • What should KEEP happening?
  • What should be done MORE?
  • What should you STOP doing?
• Consider the longer term – 5, 10, 20, 30 years from now
• Establish goals in the following areas:
  • Physical Health
  • Spiritual Health
  • Emotional Health
  • Family
  • Marriage
  • Financial
  • Career/Business
  • Fun

Share one or two of your goals with all of us – write them in the comments!

I’ll start:

• Run the Indy 500 Half-Marathon again (13.1 miles – my fourth time)
• Take my bride on a vacation that includes:
  • no children
  • sun
  • ocean
  • no Blackberry
  • no computer

Read recent posts

BONUS TIP: Reading these two series that I have written previously will really help you!

• Setting Goals
• Setting Financial Goals

Welcome to another series on JosephSangl.com – Setting Goals

I am passionate about helping others accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their personal finances.  I know that the number one way that folks will win with their personal finances is to have a well-written plan and clearly defined goals.

Part Five  Compare ACTUAL performance against the goals on a consistent basis throughout the year.

You have taken the time to prepare your vision, mission, and plan each goal.  Now go after it, and be sure to track your performance through the year.  Set monthly or quarterly review sessions with your team.

Be sure that the entire team KNOWS what the goals are and how their efforts funnel into the overall organization's objectives.

I have weekly meetings with my team, and update our key goals on a monthly basis.  Guess what?  The items that are measured are what is getting done!

I hope that this series has been helpful and that it leads to a prosperous year. 

Read the entire series 

Read recent posts by Joe

Welcome to another series on JosephSangl.com – Setting Goals

I am passionate about helping others accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their personal finances.  I know that the number one way that folks will win with their personal finances is to have a well-written plan and clearly defined goals.

Part Four  Narrow down the list to eight or less goals.

I remember my days of being in manufacturing.  As an engineer and business manager, I visited a lot of manufacturing facilities.  Sometimes I would see a production board covered with charts of thirty different measurements.  Guess what?  Nearly every production employee had no clue of 95% of the goals.  The goals were not relevant to then.  Even worse, the important goals were lost in the sea of less important goals.

What gets measured, gets done.  If everything is measured, nothing will get done.  Narrow down your list to the top eight.  It will be difficult, but it is very important!

Go ahead and narrow down your list and then go read Part Five.

Read recent posts by Joe

Welcome to another series on JosephSangl.com – Setting Goals

I am passionate about helping others accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their personal finances.  I know that the number one way that folks will win with their personal finances is to have a well-written plan and clearly defined goals.

Part Three  Establish SMART Goals

I do not know who invented the acrostic SMART for goal setting, but I have found it invaluable for setting my own goals.

Specific

If your goals are not specific, they are worthless.  "Teach people" is not specific enough! 

Measurable

What gets measured gets done.  If you can not measure it, how on earth can you know whether or not you are accomplishing the goal.  "Make the presentation pretty" will not work.  I can not measure pretty.

Attainable

Teach 5.1 billion about personal finances by October 2011 is certainly possible, but it is not probable. 

Relevant

Teaching people about hairstyles is not relevant to the crusade!

Timebound

"Teach 100,000 people" is not timebound.  It needs to have a specific goal date in which it will be accomplished.

It needs to be SMART.  "Teach 100,000 people by October 2011." is SMART.  It is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timebound.  Perfect.

Go brainstorm several goals for the next year.  Then go read Part Four.

Read recent posts by Joe

Welcome to another series on JosephSangl.com – Setting Goals

I am passionate about helping others accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their personal finances.  I know that the number one way that folks will win with their personal finances is to have a well-written plan and clearly defined goals.

Part Two  Determine your mission

What is your mission?  The vision is the guiding light for everything your organization does, but the mission answers "what" you are going to be doing right now to accomplish the vision.

The IWBNIN vision is …  to help others accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their personal finances.

This vision is what drives everything we do, but it does not say "what" we are doing right now to accomplish it.  The mission should say what the key focus is for the next several years.  The IWBNIN mission statement does that.

The IWBNIN mission is … to teach personal finances to 100,000 people by October 2011.

This mission is a (somewhat) manageable chunk that clearly defines our focus right now.  It seemed like such a huge mission back in 2006 when we set it.  But with the NewSpring growth rate, we might be running 100,000 people by October 2011!  Awesome!

One more thing about your vision and mission.  If they do not FIRE YOU UP, you probably have not nailed it down.  As I simply typed the words in right now, I literally YELLED out loud.  It FIRES ME UP!  I can not believe I get to do this stuff for a living.

Take some time to write out a (somewhat) manageable mission that will guide your efforts for the next few years.  Then go read Part Three. 

Read recent posts by Joe

Welcome to another series on JosephSangl.com – Setting Goals

I am passionate about helping others accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their personal finances.  I know that the number one way that folks will win with their personal finances is to have a well-written plan and clearly defined goals.

Part One  Clearly define your vision

Where are you headed?  What is it that sets your soul on fire?  What makes you wake up every morning and say, "Good morning, Lord!" instead of "Good Lord, it's morning."?

Without clear vision, it becomes difficult to set goals.

If you do not have a clear vision of where you are headed, then it might be that your vision statement would be "To find out and do EXACTLY what I have been put on this earth to do".

Write down your vision and ponder on it for awhile and then go to Part Two of this series. 

Read recent posts by Joe