Focus Point of the Week: Goal Setting

By: Bruce Burke

The beginning of a new year is a great time to reflect and create goals for the upcoming year. Accordingly, “Goal Setting” is this week’s Focus Point.

Goal setting can be tricky. A few points to remember:

If you haven’t already, develop a vision for yourself.
Set goals high enough to stretch yourself and grow, but not so high that you set yourself up for failure. Create goals that are both attainable and sustainable.

Having a vision of who you aspire to be creates direction and adds power to your goals. It also makes the outcomes more sustainable.

An example would be everyone’s favorite of “going on a diet” and losing ten pounds. That’s great, but why? Is it so you can look good at your reunion? So you can fit into your jeans? There is no problem with objectives such as these (we all have them), but are they sustainable? Will you still have the same resolve after you have achieved your goal? Psychologically, we often feel as though we have “crossed the finish line” so to speak and have trouble sustaining our progress.

A more powerful approach is to set goals consistent with your vision. For example, if your vision includes being a good parent, your diet/fitness related goals and commitments will look different. Your desire to be a good role model creates added staying power and meaning to the pursuit of your goals. They will have no endpoint and be more sustainable.

Developing a Personal Mission Statement is an excellent way to capture your vision and begin walking it out. You can use it as a guide to create truly meaningful goals. It will also provide motivation and focus as you pursue these goals throughout the year.

Your mission statement should reflect what you hope your legacy to be. It should address who you aspire to be (your character) and what you want to accomplish.

There is no right or wrong way to create a Personal Mission Statement. However, here are a few tips to help get you started:

Identify someone you admire. Why do you admire this person? What values and principles does this person represent? What do they have that you want?
Imagine yourself at your own funeral. As your friends and family come to pay their respects, what would you hope each person say’s about your character and accomplishments?
Commit your thoughts to paper or an electronic document.
Write/type freely. Don’t worry about grammar…just get your ideas down.
Keep working until you have a meaningful statement that inspires you.

Clearly identify who you aspire to be and document it. Then, use it as a guide to develop shorter-term goals that will help you be that person.

Be on the lookout for next week’s Focus Point of the Week. It will discuss how to make your short term goals more powerful by connecting them to your longer term vision.