What comes next will be a three part series (maybe four) on working on your goals. It’s the end of the year. You’re going to work on goals, so here are some thoughts before you dig right in.
Want a really simple way to start getting your goals in alignment? Make boxes and then fill them. Once you have a sense of what your goals are, I’ve found that the best way to work towards them is to keep them front and center all the time. Here’s my trick for that: a goalbox.
The graphic to the left is a mock-up. It’s not my real goalbox, but I wanted to give you a visual to work with. It’s really simple. I set up calendar months from left to right. I then set up a block for every goal I intend to complete in the coming year.
So, in this example, I’ve put in writing projects, speaking gigs, consulting, and a few other things.
Once I have the boxes filled, then I’ve accomplished my targeted goal for that month. I have a visual of how well I’m doing. I have measurement that I can view simply. It’s not the calendar. It’s not anything but a visual goalbox of how my goals are aligning to my reality.
In my goalbox, I’ve got revenue amounts for each of the boxes where that matters. In yours, you might have your health and fitness goals. You might have your number of blog posts, your number of proposals sent to clients, plus a goal on wins. A quick note: do your best to make the goals something you can manage/alter. If it’s something not in your control, then how will you impact it?
You might do goals by week. If so, that’s okay, too. If it’s to eat 5 fewer take-out meals a week, then make a visual by week. Month is probably easier to visualize, but some of our goals work week to week, so don’t be stuck by what I’ve put here. Experiment.
I used Google Docs to make this, so I can view it anywhere. I can print it. I can view it on my phone. Another part of keeping a goalbox is having access to it everywhere. Keep the goals in front of you as often as you can.
What say you?
The next part of the series, I’ll talk about the question method for staying on track.
Chris Brogan is President of New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency. He works with large and mid-sized companies to improve online business communications like marketing and PR.
Chris – I am a big annual goal setter and enjoyed your post, as it gave me some ideas on how I could personally adapt my own goal setting procedures for next year to best be able to track and evaluate. I like the spreadsheet idea.
What you failed to do was to spell out the power of goal setting and how it has helped you achieve your success (overnight success, no less!). I think that most people ignore setting goals and drift along,…. and then wonder why they do not reach the top. Your influence on getting people to set written goals, review them, take action on them, and track their progress could have a huge impact on people. I know first hand that spending time each year (and quarter) to spell out goals has lead to more wins…but many who follow you probably do not have a system for goals. Give them more than a spread sheet (step 3), and motivate them to the whole process (step 1) and encourage them to commit to the process and take action (step 2).
Oh, and Merry Christmas!
To do is quite different than goal setting, n'est pas?
Goal setting is great. And this looks like a great way to keep them front and center. No one can argue that it's proved effective for Chris.
But I'm a bigger fan of putting some feeling into it. For me and my clients, I find Visioning and Setting Intentions very powerful. There's nothing woo-woo about it. (Goals without Vision are just chores… and account for a lot of needless stress and tension.) If you use your experiences to get clearer about what you want next, see it happening, and then take * Inspired Action* (the opposite of grit-your-teeth-and-force-it) , you'll get there faster, with greater ease, and most of all — enjoy the ride.
bien sur!
Great I gave taken myself through the process this year, giving up smoking and drinking less (I am Irish) and getting to grips with work and education goals. The tip on keeping goals in clear view is gold.
Thanks
Agree with others here Chris. Brilliant timing of this article for us that want to make a change with our goals and strategy for 2010.
The simplicity of your GoalBox is something I also will take to my hart. Have tended to make my goals and 'to do' list way to complex. So that you uses Google Docs for your goals.. just one word from me.. AWESOME.. Xmas is saved!
Cheers.. Are
Congrats on New York Times Bestsellers, you deserve yourself a guiness.
Thanks Chris!!! Inspiration, as ever. Have included this in a blog post about getting organized in 2010. http://tanyageisler.com/much-ado-about-to-dos/
: )
You might want to checkout http://www.mysomeday.com. I've been using it for a few months now and its really making a difference. Here is my version of a 'goal box' http://bit.ly/86su6e. For each goal, I'm able to put a plan together with a set of actionable steps. Oh, and for goals that I didn't have a plan, I was able to copy another person's proven plan. Its a really cool site and it works so I thought it worth mentioning.
Chris I always enjoy and appreciate when you give us a little peek into parts of your “process” and things like this. Thanks for taking the time to share it.
Chris, This is a great idea! Simple and useful. Thats exactly what I need. I think we tend to spend so much time planning how to track our goals we either never write them down or we just overwhelm ourselves and never accomplish anything. This will be my first full year as a Realtor so I have a few major goals I need to accomplish. Im very excited.
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I have never done a goal creation for my own business before since this is the first year of business for me, so I think a Goalbox idea is the best way to do it. Also adding into priorities of which should get done first in relation to how long it will take.
This is a great idea that I'm going to try out! Excel seems like an obvious place to do this, but I like your idea of Google Docs for access anywhere you are online. This could be a great upgrade for programs like Evernote or ReQall. It's so easy to get distracted…I agree that having your goals in front of you will help keep you on track.
Thank you! I feel like this should be taught in school.
I was just having a conversation with my wife about the frustration I was experiencing with scheduling and maintaining a calendar. Luckily nothing has ever fallen to the wayside, or been forgotten, and I hope it stays that way, but I've yet to find a system that is 100% or at least as close to perfectly functional for me. Speaking engagements, side projects, filming schedules, article writing, etc. all feel like they need to get done in one night. Juggling these tasks would be much more manageable if I could just a system.
I'd love to see how others manage their time and projects, what works and what does not. I've seen Covey system, and I'm familiar with GTD, but if anyone has any other suggestions I'd love to hear them.
A Great helpful post..I was heading for Google Docs before I even had it finished..but i persisted and finished it!
I love this idea because it has low overhead, it's well organized and it's very visual, which I find is key if I want to remind myself of something frequently. I'm going to use something very similar to help myself stick to a more strict blogging schedule.
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Chris, This is a great idea! Simple and useful. Thats exactly what I need. I think we tend to spend so much time planning how to track our goals we either never write them down or we just overwhelm ourselves and never accomplish anything. This will be my first full year as a Realtor so I have a few major goals I need to accomplish. Im very excited.
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I have never done a goal creation for my own business before since this is the first year of business for me, so I think a Goalbox idea is the best way to do it. Also adding into priorities of which should get done first in relation to how long it will take.