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Achieving Success – Goal Setting
As you start your Internet business, or even if you need help running your business successfully, you can benefit greatly by setting goals and sticking to them. Before you start to plan your business, think of the reasons why you are starting it,...
Goal Setting Is the Fast Lane to Success
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Idiots Guide to Goal Setting: 5 Steps to Success
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Setting Financial Goals, The First Step In Turning Your Dreams Into Reality
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Setting Goals for Your Organization
One of the most important aspects of management is implementing change and setting goals. Managers must decide what their goals are and how they are going to achieve them. This is a basic part of strategic planning. Setting small goals is a...
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Setting our Goals for a Simpler Lifestyle
We are often asked how did we do it, leave our jobs, the
security of a steady paycheck and move across the country to
find a simpler way of life. While there are many answers to
these questions, the one thing that we did do is "set our
goals". Byron and I are both big believers in goal setting, and
have used goals in many areas of our life.
How did we set our goals? We answered three questions! Below is
a brief summary of how to set goals:
On a separate piece of paper, answer these three questions:
1.What three things would I like to achieve in the next five
years? Make sure your answers are specific and measurable.
2. Where am I today in relation to my three goals, and what
actions do I need to take to get me from where I am today to
where I want to be? This question, in my opinion, is the
key to successful goal attainment: The answer to this question
will help you determine what steps you need to take to reach
your goal.
3. What is the time frame required in order to complete each
action step? Putting time frames for each action step
allows you to monitor your progress, and helps to keep you on
track.
That's it . . . three questions, but often times there is
confusion between goals and action plans. Let's make an
important distinction between a goal and an action plan.
Simply put, a "goal" tells you
WHAT you want ;
and,
an "action plan" tells you HOW you are going to get it.
For example, let's say you want to go on a vacation next year.
You decide that your goal is to take a two week vacation in
Hawaii. Obviously, you could choose any goal whether it would be
to simplify your life, turn your hobby into your career, the
list could go on and on.
Your action plan tells you what steps you need to take to reach
your goal of going to Hawaii. For example, your action
Associated Websites
plan
would show you how you will get there, where you will stay, how
much money you will need, how you will budget for it, and when
you will make reservations.
So your "goal" is your trip to Hawaii, and your "action plan"
describes how you will go about achieving that goal.
Without action plans, the majority of goals are usually not
achieved. You need to incorporate how you will achieve your
goal.
An action plan also helps you to identify any obstacles or
challenges that you may encounter along the way. Let's assume
you do not have enough money to go to Hawaii right now. So, your
action plan would identify funding as an issue to resolve, and
highlight the necessity to develop a plan to ensure you obtain
enough money.
To summarize:
WHAT = Goal
HOW = Action Plan
WHEN = Time Frames
Our goal to "simplify our life" had a time frame of 5 years,
however, due to unexpected delays it ended up taking us 8 years.
There were setbacks that we did not anticipate, but we were
determined and very persistent to reach our goal to change our
lifestyle to one of simplicity. Each time we were faced with a
setback, we would go back and readjust our action plans, but the
most important thing that we did is that we never lost sight of
our end goal.
Today, we have achieved our goal of a simpler lifestyle. Our
hope in sharing this information is that you will set your goals
and never lose sight of your end goal. If you have determination
and persistance you will reach it!
About the author:
Catherine Pulsifer is one of the authors of Stress Relief by a
Simple Life http://www.stresslesscountry.com Stories,
thoughts, inspirational quotes, and poems on stress relief, by
living a simple life. We have found less stress by implementing
simplicity, being more frugal, doing crafts and more.
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