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Issue 00525 |
July 5 - 11, 2008 |
issn 0856 - 9135 |
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Breaking Barriers |
GEORGE, an executive business Coach, author and speaker lives in
Arusha. A dream with a deadline Can you ever achieve a non-existent target? How then are most people running their businesses without an efficient goal-setting system in place? Many of you reading this presumably might not even have a vision of where you intend to take your business in the next ten or twenty years, much less of developing mission statements on how you intend to get there successfully. That is why we shall consider here the keys to a successful goal-setting system which will help you considerably in your life and business. David Starr Jordan stated that, “The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows whither he is going.” You can be that man today and it all depends on your life and business goals. Ask yourself these questions: what will my business be like in ten or twenty years? What type of chair will I be sitting on? Where shall my business be located and who shall be my clients? All these might be able to help you in defining your vision twenty years from now, enable you to look at your strengths and harness them to achieve your well stated goals. Of course, it will also reveal your weakness areas that might hinder those possibilities, and how you compliment through others some of your weaknesses. So you have to set your objectives and stick to your goals. Therefore, the keys to a very successful goal-setting system will include but not limited to: set goals and objectives that are personally meaningful and challenging. Secondly, articulate very clear and specific long-range goals. Thirdly, set measurable short-term goals and objectives. They all seem very simply but ever wonder how many people actually have short or long-term goals for whatever they do or are doing. You will agree with me that goal-setting really helps in many ways like managing your resources, being pro-active about your decisions and indeed, to help you to evaluate yourself against set standards (appraisal). Why should I establish objectives for everything in my life? They will assist to give directives and patterns to my endeavours. There should be a clearer sense of commitment to be able to define what goals I am pursuing stated in specific terms. That way I’ll be able to locate where I am at any given point in time. I will not be like a ship just sailing to nowhere. Now you must have what is called SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-specific. Your criteria for embracing good objectives for whatever you’re doing must have elements that are clear, realistic, measurable and specific. That means your objectives must be able to respond to questions of what? how? who? and how much? I’ll like to counsel that your goals should not be based on retrospect but proactive. How do you try to get around that? In writing out good objectives, you must use a strong action verb and such a verb must be stated as a completed action. Your behaviour as an entrepreneur or a businessman or an upward mobile professional should exhibit a long range vision of where you are going. You must understand fully your strengths and weaknesses. Also, you have to strive and try to reach your stated objectives and goals on a daily basis, taking advantage of your strengths while anticipating problems that could arise due to your weaknesses. In conclusion, I am giving you an opportunity to make a personal statement of your objectives and a frank statement of your abilities and shortcomings. Take a clean sheet of paper and write a 15 minute essay entitled, “Who Am I? Describe yourself, your goals, your aspirations, your strengths and your weaknesses as you see them. This may be the only time you have to do such an exercise and you may be surprised how it can spur you to make big changes in your life and business. Let me hear from you how this has helped you. Remember, a goal is a dream with a deadline
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