Goal Setting For The New Year

I don’t make resolutions.  Those things you vow to do that by the end of January are all but forgotten.  Instead I love to make goals and better yet, accomplish them. 

Goals are important.  They give us something to strive for; to work toward.  Once you have met that goal you are filled with a sense of empowerment.  However, I warn you to be careful because goals can be addictive.  Once you set and complete one you will want to do it again and then once that goal is done you will want to do it again and again.  Your productivity will soar and you will be amazed at all the many things you can accomplish.  Pretty soon you will find yourself unable to live without having a goal in place. 

I remember the first time I decided to set goals.  We had just had a staff meeting at work in which setting and achieving your goals was the theme.  It really stuck a chord with me.  The key points that have stayed with me are: 

·                     Set attainable, tangible goals.  Something important to you that is well within your capacity to complete.  Unattainable goals are a waste of time and effort plus they will not positively feed your self-esteem either.

·                     Write your goals down.  You are far more likely to work on them if they are written down somewhere.

·                     Set a realistic deadline in which you plan to accomplish this goal.  This will help you to consistently work toward it.

·                    Review your goals and your progress regularly.  Adjust where necessary but always work your way toward completion.

The first set of goals I set were things that I was wishing for in my head.  So I decided I had nothing to lose.  At the age of 26 I wrote them down: 

1.                   Get all my bills caught up

2.                  Pay off my student loans

3.                  Pay off my car

4.                  Save up for a down payment and buy a house by the age of 30. 

In four years I was able to complete every one of them.  If nothing else it proved to me that I could do anything I set my mind to.  I’ve been setting goals and accomplishing them ever since. 

I always set goals for the New Year as my way of jumping into it feet first.  Sometimes they are big goals and sometimes it is just a bunch of small ones.  But I think it is important to always be working toward something.  Have a sense of purpose in our lives. 

Do you set goals and, if so, what are you going to achieve in 2012?