Ready! Set! Goals!
Copyright 2006 So-lu'shunz Management Services
If you have a great list of Goals to support your exciting
Vision, but you're just not sure what to do next, join us for a
lesson in goal architecture. Follow the system and your goals
will be on-target every time!
PURPOSE is what you're created for;
MISSION is what you're meant to do about it;
VISIONS are the evidence.
GOALS are the means of achievement.
You're probably well on your way to tapping into the artist in
you and you're creating amazing dream canvases and recording
them. You're making sure to nurture your vision and keep your
passion alive. And you're excited and anxious to get on with it.
In a garden, where you might have a pond or a rose arbor in a
corner you would probably have a carefully laid stepping stone
path to guide you there. Goals are the carefully laid stepping
stones on which you will walk right into the reality of your
Vision. They are the difference between attaining a brilliant
vision and disappointment.
Our culture is extremely goal-oriented, particularly at the
beginning of each New Year (i.e. resolutions). Most of these
goals go unrealized, unachieved, for the simple reason that
frequently they just don't lead anywhere.
Though many are worthwhile, these goals amount to the same thing
as planning a lovely flagstone path, lined with flowers - -
guiding you nowhere. Goals must be part of an overall plan, one
piece in a process that begins with understanding your Purpose,
discerning your Mission and taking the time to create vibrant
Visions. Without these, your goals, regardless of how carefully
you lay them out, have no purpose, no direction.
If you've been following along with us in the process of
bringing your dreams into reality, you've arrived at the
crossroad separating the dreamer from the true visionary (see
Become A Visionary - Tapping Into the Artist in You, an earlier
article in this series). You have reached the point of designing
On-Target Goals and you may even have begun, finding it
labor-intensive, to say the least!
Be encouraged. As with all processes, if you stay with the plan,
remaining focused and taking it one step at a time, it's
completely manageable. How do you eat an elephant? Goals are
accomplished the same way - one bite at a time.
If you're a true visionary, and you've taken sufficient time to
paint a truly vibrant and brilliant Vision inside you, and you
continue to nurture the Vision (See Nurturing the Vision from
the last issue of The Commonsense Communique), you will have
stoked the fires of your passion and the confidence it
generates. The pressing need to see the dream realized will keep
you focused. During the process of designing and implementing
your goals, do not hesitate to take time to step back into your
Vision now and again and walk around in it for awhile.
If you haven't yet identified the 7 steps, the tools to insure
that each dream manifests in a better reality, now is the time.
Goal design is the work of an architect and it's time to sit
down at the drawing board. It is bringing those Visions which
above and beyond the norm into the realm of reality, utilizing
the tools of the real world, and changing the real world in the
process.
Begin by listing the goals you believe will draw the vision
closer to reality. Depending on its scope, each Vision will
probably have no less than 6 goals, in order to see it realized.
Think in small, manageable increments.
You're far more likely to realize your plan with many bite-sized
goals than you will with fewer all-inclusive goals. For example,
if your goal is a completely reorganized closet, which plan are
you more likely to accomplish - without stalling?
Plan A
1. Remove and sort current closet contents, arranging for
disposal & pickup
2. Research and purchase closet organizer system
3. Choose paint color, purchase and paint closet
4. Replace closet contents
Plan B
1. Determine the purpose of your reorganized closet
2. Make several drawings of your desired end result and choose
one
3. Develop a budget
4. Remove closet contents
5. Sort contents into 3 groups, TOSS, SAVE & GIVEAWAY
6. Package and arrange for pickup of giveaway items
7. Make a list of organizer resources using Yellow Pages and
Internet
8. Request catalogs and begin to visit stores to price desired
units
9. Etc.
As you work through the design process, be open to
reprioritizing at every step. How might you rearrange Plan B to
better suit your own way of operating? Stay with the process and
employ an accountability partner to help keep you motivated,
especially if the scope of your Vision is somewhat daunting with
numerous goals that require entering new territory.
Bon voyage - the journey has begun!