Set Smart Goals

It is almost the end of January. It probably means if you made any resolutions that you are sticking to them or they are long gone.

I am not into resolutions so much. I like visions, strategies, objectives. SMART Goals.

I am also into strategy and business plans. It must be a hangover from my corporate past.

But there is a reason that some businesses succeed and win using these proven planning tools.

I see myself and my life as no different to a business. If only our government would run like a business?

I am challenging you to create a personal “2015 Business Plan for your Health”

Feel free to do one for your family too.

The real beauty is that in business there are multiple variables in the external environment that you have no control over but when it comes to your body and the actions you take you are in charge. You have much more control over the situation.

Your life needs a business plan with vision, strategy, objectives and action points.

It all starts with a vision.

What is a vision? It’s not as mystical or out there as it sounds. A vision, quite simply, is a picture of what success will be at a particular time in the future.

A great vision is inspiring

How do you picture yourself and your life related to health in 6,8,12 months time?

Off the top of my head , a great vision statement could be something like:

“My vision is to be a energetic, healthy human who regularly takes part in fitness events and nourishes my body with healthy real foods”

Your vision must be future-looking and motivating to you painting a picture of your desired life.

Create a vision statement for yourself. What is your vision for your life in 2015?
Take some time, think about it and write it down.

To be clear, a vision is not a strategic plan. The vision articulates where we are going; the objectives will support that and the action plan tells us how we’re actually going to get there.

We start that planning work only after we’ve written the vision and objectives.
Once you have a vision you want to set some objectives or goals that support the vision. I believe you should not have too many because that can take away from your focus and you need to priorities. I think 3-5 solid key objectives is enough.

The objectives are like goals and should always be SMART – that is the key

• Specific – exact details.
• Measurable – easily able to tell if you succeeded or not
• Achievable – specify goals that are reachable.
• Realistic – can be realistically achieved, given available resources.
• Time-based– specify when the result(s) can be achieved.

For example, “Lose weight” is not a smart goal.

“I will lose 20kgs by January 2016” IS a SMART Goal. It is specific, it can be measured, it is realistic for an overweight person and there is a clear time frame.

Once you have your 3-5 objectives now you can list actions that you need to undertake to achieve those objectives. If one of your goals is to take part in a Triathlon you may for example need to buy a bicycle and train twice a day for 3 months as hypothetical actions.

List all the actions against your objectives and create a project plan.

It does not need to be too complicated but giving yourself timeframes to complete tasks will keep you on track.

There are tons of fancy project and task management tools on the internet and applications for your phone. I use a simple Excel spreadsheet or you might even feel more comfortable with paper and pen.

It is great to highlight some milestones for you to achieve in getting to the overall objective.

Break tasks up to make them manageable.

Either way I believe if you fail to plan you are planning to fail.

So take an hour in the next week

– State you vision
– Set your objectives
– Build an action plan with some milestones

Stick to your plan ☺

Elan

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