What is the secret to achieving your goals? Set goals that are meaningful to you, clear, focused, flexible and supported by consistent, planned action. Goals are targets—you’re taking aim at successfully finding the right work, changing careers, re-entering the workplace or thriving as an entrepreneur. Goals inform decision-making, motivate you to stay the course and focus your activities.

Although no one can control outcome, having quality goals and working a well-crafted action plan absolutely increases your probability of success. Goals guide and energize your actions.

How do your goals measure up? Put them to the test by answering these questions:

1. Are your goals consistent with your values, needs and aspirations? Do they serve your real intentions and essential purpose? If not, these goals have no value.

2. Can your goals pass the clarity test? Or are they too ambiguous? How clear is your destination? We tend to steer in the direction we’re looking. Are you focused squarely on the direction you’ve chosen? How realistic is your timeline for getting there?

3. Do your goals allow for some flexibility? Are you open to new information, resources and valuable connections as you go along? Having significant goals doesn’t mean that you need to be dogmatic or rigid. Be your creative and inventive self.

4. Do your goals have your full, enthusiastic commitment? Your heartfelt dedication will give you the “oomph” and energy to keep going. During the times when you’re discouraged and distracted, you’ll need to return to the emotion, the “why”—to the source of your motivation. It will sustain you.

5. Do you have an action plan, a step-by-step design to accomplish your goals? Without it, great goals are just wishes and good ideas. The key to accomplishing your goals is purposeful, applied action—and showing up. Are you ready to start your planning?

In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it. -Robert Heinlein, US science fiction author

For more on the benefits of goal setting, please see our previous post, Get What You Want by Setting Quality Goals

Next time - Planning Makes Perfect

Today’s question

Have you set quality goals? What challenges do you face as you head in your chosen direction? Your comments welcome.