Rethink Your Priorities and Supporting Goals

Priorities are the handful of things in your life or career that are important to you. Priorities are broad elements of life, and they often become misplaced somewhere within your daily high-wire, somersault-through-flaming-hoops balancing act. In this society and in this era, it is wise to have only a few priorities. If you have too many, you’re not likely to respect each of them. At some point, too many priorities become paradoxical – only a few concerns can be of priority. Goals support priorities.

A single priority may have one or more goals associated with it. For example, if becoming supervisor is a priority in your life, you might set goals to get to work early, contribute as much as possible around the office, and speak to your superiors about any additional tasks that need to be done, and maybe compliment the right people here and there.

The choices confronting most individuals are often similar: career advancement versus a happy home life; income goals versus income needs; and social-, or employment-induced priorities versus individual wants or needs.

A goal is a statement that is specific to what you intend to accomplish, and when. All the goal setting and attainment if your goals don’t support your carefully chosen priorities.

Your goals can change as old ones are accomplished and, of course, if some of your life priorities change. Here are some well-constructed goal statements:

“To work out for thirty-five minutes, three times a week, starting today.”

Underlying priority: Staying fit. And as a side note, notice I said starting today,
Instead of putting it off until tomorrow.

“To recruit four new qualified salespeople by the end of the next quarter.”

Underlying priority: having the optimal size staff on board.

You can use the same procedure as you did for choosing priorities when choosing goals. The major difference is that each goal has to support a priority, and each priority is supported by at least one goal. Here are some poorly set goals. Tell me why (silently).

“To sell as much as I can in the next six month.”
“To complete the study for my client.”
“To be the best employee in the division.”
“To be a more loyal Britney Spears fan.”

Give up? They lack specifies and target dates. Impression in goal setting leads to missed goals. If you frequently find yourself procrastinating, often it’s because your goals are not well defined. Study the most successful people in your industry or profession. You’ll find that the majority are take-charge, confident, action-oriented individuals with clear priorities and supporting goals. In essence, they are self-starters. They know they can’t remain productive if they are not making the effort to determine what represents their next best move. Hmmm, sounds a bit like chess…


Regards,


Timben