Create Better Goals

How do you get better results?

Create better goals.

It's not all that you need but it's a great place to start. Whenever I create a goal that I find to be energizing that translates into more attention and action. Whenever I create a goal that has a noble outcome, I feel better about devoting resources to achieving it.

Great goals are exciting. Great goals contain opportunity for growth. Great goals get you going.

Here are what I believe to be the three key ingredients for great goals:

ACTION WORD:
The action word explains exactly what you will do. Create, make, deliver, teach, propel, design, change, sell, fabricate, transplant, modify, steer, obtain, tell, paint, draw, write...words like that.

RESULT:
The result is what you plan to achieve, usually expressed with some unit of measure. For example - a 200 word novel, 150 pounds, a graduate degree in chemistry, fifty new prospects, a year without crime, three healthy meals a day...whatever it is that you want to achieve.

TIME:
This is the easiest one - your deadline. When will you complete your goal by? While it is the easiest to write, you do want to be careful about setting a time that is both reasonable and reasonably ambitious. It shouldn't be too easy but it is worthless if it's impossible.

Those three key components are easy to remember, easy to write, and propel people into action. I've taught SMART goals many times and they certainly have merit. They just aren't that fun to write or that easy to remember. The next time you need to set a goal, make it an ART goal. Action word + Result + Time.

Better goals create better results.

And, isn't that what you want?

-- Doug Smith

What have you learned today?

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High Performance Leadership

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