5 simple steps to setting goals you CAN achieve

Working out what you want from life is really easy, right?

Wrong!!!

We can all provide a quick list of things we want:

• Happiness
• Wealth
• Friends
• Family

But really, what do any of those things actually mean?

And if you don't know what they mean, how can you possibly aim towards them?

Today, I heard an anecdote from a conference. The speaker asked the audience what they wanted. A guy in the audience shouted back "money", so the speaker threw him 20 cents, saying "OK, you have now achieved your goal".

So what's the lesson?

The answer is simple (or should I say SMART).

Make sure all of your goals are SMART.

Examples
"I want a to have one million dollars in my personal bank account in five years, earned by publishing information products."
This is 

• Specific about the amount (one million dollars), the time frame and the 'how'.
• Measurable - It clearly states how I will know I have succeeded
• Attainable - I know this is possible because I know people that have achieved it.
  I also know how I am going to do it (OK not every detail, but in principle).
  It's certainly not easy, but there is no point in setting goals that are tooe asy to achieve.
• Relevant - It's relevant to the business I am in (Publishing Information products)
• Time Bound - I will have achieved this goal in 5 years.

Compare this with the very simple goal:

"I want to get rich"

This is not specific, contains no details about how, gives no idea how you will know you have achieved it, (which means that it can not be attained) and is not time bound.
In short, it is not SMART!!!