Creating Effective Goals

Creating Effective Goals
Creating Effective Goals

By Jim Estill


Do you have effective and clear goals?

In what direction do you want to go?


It’s time to replace your clock with a compass so you can head out in the right direction.


Why is it important to set goals?


Goals are important because you will get what you strive for. By actively thinking about what you intend to accomplish, you will work on achieving those accomplishments. Any area of your life which you focus on will improve, simply because you take the time to assess your habits.


Setting Effective Goals


Goals are Dreams…

…With Actions!


When you set goals, you need to take many questions into account: what, when, why, and how. What are you going to accomplish? Be sure to be concrete about your answer. When are you going to complete the task, or achieve your goal? Why is this important to you? How are you going to realize your goal; what is your strategy?


There is an easy acronym to help you create effective goals:

S - Specific

M – Measurable

A - Appropriate

R - Realistic

T - Timed


You need to create specific goals. The goal “I want to become a better swimmer” is almost impossible to judge because it is not specific enough. A better goal would be “I want to earn my bronze medallion by next June” or “I want to swim 10 laps of the pool twice a week.”


“I want to earn my bronze medallion by next June” is a more effective goal because it is measurable. There is a clear marker of achievement that you can earn.


Goals need to be appropriate. It is not only unproductive to say “I want to lose 40 pounds by next week,” it is also counter-productive. Unattainable goals are counter-productive because when you make a goal that you do not achieve, you experience an emotional let-down. It is not wise or healthy to get your heart set on something that is out of reach. However, keep in mind that goals should also be a stretch.


This is not to say that your goals cannot be large: they can! But your goals also need to be realistic. If you set a goal that is unrealistic and attempt to work towards it, you will exhaust yourself and your resources. Rather than setting one large goal in a short time-frame, create smaller goals that will lead you to accomplishing your long-term goal. Breaking your goals into smaller chunks helps you create goals that are more specific, often more measurable, more appropriate, more realistic, while creating a time-line for your larger goal. Having mini-goals is one of the keys of successful goal setting.


The idea of creating smaller goals leads us to the idea that goals need to be timed. Putting a timeframe on your goal ensures that it will not drop down to the bottom of your priority list. It also makes measuring your goal easier. Saying “I will sell $500 before 5 o’clock this afternoon” means that at 5:00 you will stop to check your progress.


When you create smaller goals in order to achieve your larger goals, be sure that they are on a timeline as well. If your large goal is to find a better job at Company X by next Christmas, your smaller goals could be on a weekly basis. For your first week, you would create a contact at Company X and attempt to establish if there are any openings. Week two, you could update your resume and cover-letter. Week three, you would make a follow-up phone call. Your smaller goals would function as milestones that are appropriate and realistic, while still being specific, measurable, and timed.


One of my favourite quotes is “We tend to overestimate what we can do in a day and underestimate what we can do in a year.” I see this time and time again. Great things can be accomplished over long periods if we keep heading in the right direction.

My book includes the most effective exercise I have ever seen for setting goals.  Buy it here.




http://resources.jimestill.com/2008/09/creating-effective-goals/