Just hours ago I found myself in a spontaneous conversation with a group of salespeople about goals and the renewed energy toward those goals that the new year brings. One person talked about how diligently he had written them down this year (which apparently was new for him). As I asked a couple of questions about his goal setting process I realized he was not currently ready to go past the writing down stage. But I know from experience that he will soon begin wondering, “What now?” Here are some thoughts…
Most of us have heard the acronym SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely) when it comes to writing goals. It’s a good acronym and I agree with the content but obtaining your goals takes more. So after crafting a strong goal consider these questions.
1. What are the strategies that will move you toward the goal? Let’s use weight as an example. If the goal is “lose 10 pounds in 6 weeks” then the question is “How?” The “how” is the strategies. The strategies for the weigh project may be; join Weight Watchers and join a gym.
2. How will you implement the strategies into your daily life? In other words what are the specific activities that need to be accomplished to fulfill the strategy? In our weight example, a “to do” list may be; Find a local Weight Watchers group, check out the neighborhood gym, stock healthy food in the kitchen, get some support.
3.What barriers may get in the way? By identifying the potential obstacles or barriers in advance there is an opportunity to either remove it or change the plan versus just beating our heads against it (which I’ve been known to do). Following our weight example, let’s say that after investigating gym membership we found that strategy is cost prohibitive. In response to this barrier either the goal or the plan has to change. The goal could adjust to less weight in the time period or a longer time period for the same weight because of the lack of activity. OR the strategy can change to include physical activity that does not need a gym membership.
4. How/when is progress measured? This really is a biggie because I have seen this happen so often….salespeople commit to a prospecting activity and then get disgusted 6 months later because it’s not working and abandon it completely. Why? Incremental measurements with corresponding adjustments were not made. Back to weight…not weighing for 6 weeks may result in missing the goal. There was no opportunity to figure out that activity needed to be increased or food volume needed to decrease. Little adjustments made little integrals can make a huge difference in the outcome.
5. Can the end result be felt? Yes, odd question but valid. If the goal is so clear that it can be visualized with emotion then there is a greater chance of success. In the weight example painting a mental picture of how my body feels after the weight has been lost, will help drive the activities needed to get there.
As an exercise, take one of your goals and ask those 5 questions. If you are having difficulty with the answers then investigate whether the goal needs to be reconsidered.
Think about it……