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The Power of Being Different

Lesson 5: Formulating most important current goal & Plan of action.

Formulating your goals requires evaluations, analysis and reflection. But if you formulated your mission and vision statements, you should have a pretty good idea about where you are now (your mission statement should indicate that); where you want to be (your vision statement should explain that); and what the first step is to get there.

Remember that the a-b-c of setting goals is: reach-ability. Baby-steps. Goals that you attain easily, that give you an energy-boost to shoot for the next level, because you can see the results! That goes for everything: the CEO's of even the most impressive mammoth organizations know it, and we all should know it as well from our day-to-day operations.

 

Another important reminder when formulating goals is, that you should set them according to your own standards and not those of others.

Your current goal:

This should be nothing more than a statement of what you want to achieve on short term. Some helpful steps:

  • Review your mission and vision statement.

    • It's especially the mission statement that may give you the answers to your current goals. Your vision statement is more of a direction to keep in mind for the future. Comparable to the point B you are heading toward, so to speak.
  • Ask yourself:
    • If there is one thing in my life, work, or relationship that I would want to change, what would that be?

      • This question may require some deep digging inside for some of us if we want to obtain an honest answer, but once formulated, the direction for the near future is set: working on the realization of it!
  • There! Your current goal should be set. Make sure that every goal is focused on making you feel better toward yourself and the world. Otherwise it's not worth achieving!

    Plan of action:

    Once you have formulated your goal, you will have to develop your action plan toward realizing it. Depending on your goals, your action plan may be a simple one-liner or a detailed chart with a budget and a hierarchical set up. To use a generic, simple model here: You may get yourself focused on a plan of action, given your goal(s), by asking:

  • Where do I start?
  • What will it require from me to bring about that particular change?
  • Are there any costs (emotionally, financially, materially) involved?
  • How will I cover those?
  •  

    Try to keep it simple. Remember: baby steps and reach-ability!


    You are now ready for: Lesson 6