Goal Setting (Versus Resolutions)

The Ten Commandments of Goal Setting 1. Thou Shall Be Decisive Success is a choice. You must decide what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it. No one else can, will, or should do that for you. 2. Thou Shall Stay Focused A close relative to being decisive, but your ability to sustain your focus from beginning to end determines the timing and condition of your outcomes. 3. Thou Shall Welcome Failure The fundamental question is not whether you should accept failure. You have no choice but to expect it as a temporary condition on the path way of progress. Rather, the question is how to anticipate failure and redirect resources to grow from the experience. 4. Thou Shall Write Down Thy Goals Your mind while blessed with permanent memory is cursed with lousy recall. People forget things. Avoid the temptation of being cute; Write down your goals. 5. Thou Shall Plan Thoroughly Planning saves 10 to 1 in execution. Proper planning prevents poor performance. 6. Thou Shall Involve Others Nobody goes through life alone. Establish your own "Personal Board of Directors", people whose wisdom, knowledge and character you respect to help you achieve your goals. 7. Thou Shall Take Purposeful Action Success is not a spectator sport - achievement demands action. You cannot expect to arrive at success without having made the trip. 8. Thou Shall Reward Thyself Rewards work! Think of what you will give yourself as a result of your hard work, focus and persistence - you deserve it! 9. Thou Shall Inspect What Thy Expect The Shelf life of all plans is limited. No plan holds up against opposition. Everything changes. Therefore inspect frequently and closely, it's an insurance policy on your success. 10. Thou Shall Maintain Personal Integrity Maintain your commitment to your commitment. Set your goals, promise yourself that you will achieve them. Eliminate wiggle room and excuses. That's personal integrity! Copied under the condition that the following is included: Gary Ryan Blair is President of The GoalsGuy. A visionary and gifted conceptual thinker, Gary is highly regarded as a speaker, consultant, strategic planner, and coach to leading companies throughout the globe. Visit The GoalsGuy at www.GoalsGuy.com

Gosh, you know I never realized how many personal goal softwares there were out there. Interesting. Anyway, I'm still reminded up SMART goals - a term I learned at Weigh****chers a lifetime ago. Make your goals SMART, as follows: 1. S = Specific 2. M = Measurable 3. A = Appropriate/Acceptable 4. R = Realistic 5. T = Time Frame I thought A stood for attainable. In other words, don't set a goal to work out 7 days a week 365 days a year. That is just setting yourself up for failure from day 1 because we all know that something will come up that will keep you from getting that workout in. Setting a goal of working out 3 times a week for the next two months is specific, measurable, appropriate/acceptable/attainable, realistic and it is for a given time frame. Kathy

We have SMART goals at work for our evaluation process. Employees set goals at the beginning of the year, both developmental and business related and then at midyear and end of year, reveiw their accomplishments with their managers. For us it's: S - Specific M - Measurable A - Attainable/Accountable R - Realistic T - Timely Here's my "goals" for 2006: I will be smoke-free by May 17th - my re-birthday and not put myself into situations which caused me to start smoking again. I will begin walking again, either on a treadmill or at home if it's warm enough, at least 4 times per week, 45 minutes per day, beginning January 9th.

Sounds great, Becky!

What about the points system? Anyone do anything like that? Give yourself say a point for: every workout, every pound lost, every day that you take your vitamins, every day that you get your protein in, every day that you get your minimum requirement of water in, etc... Then set some type of reward for increments of points. 20 points is a manicure. 25 points is a new book from the library and time allocated to read it. 30 points is fresh flowers. Stuff like that. Interesting thoughts, eh?

You know I have not rewarded myself with my weight loss very much. I did in the beginning but I quit months ago. Thanks for reminding me to set up something. I love your idea. Let's see: 20 pts. = new pair of shoes 15 = a new cell phone 20 = make up splurge 5 = hubby cleaning the house, changing diapers, vacuuming, mopping, cooking dinner, doing the dishes afterwards, taking down the Christmas decorations, picking up dry cleaning, massaging my feet, bathing the kids, getting their teeth brushed, reading them a good story, saying prayers and tucking them in (he actually does a lot of that...but not in one day!) This is going to be awesome!!! Thanks again Kathy!! Ana

You are a nut! Kathy

I really like the points system idea, Kathy. Although it will be hard for me to change from my current practice of beating myself up if I don't do as well as I think I should be doing. If I miss a workout day, I'm guilty all week; if I overeat I obsess about it for days. Anyway, a change in mindset from punishment to rewards won't be easy, but is necessary, I think.

Hi Kathy!! Oh well, better late than NEVER I guess, lol! I have some definite goals for the New Year. Here goes: 1. get rid of my last 20 pounds!!!! 2. Be a terrific Manager at Pizza Hut and make a difference. 3. Buy and ride my new bike!! 4. Go roller skating and not mind if I fall on my arse 5. More exercise (not including work) 6. Plant a beautiful vegetable garden 7. Be a better Mommy 8. Be a better Wife 9. Be a better person 10. Be a more faithful Christian There you have it! My top 10 goals for 2006!!!

I love the points system - what a terrific way to reward ourselves!