A dream written down with a desired date of achievement becomes a goal!

After last week's article about the types of goals and the steps to setting goals, I hope you had the opportunity to begin documenting the steps to creating your own goals. If you have not yet had the opportunity, I would encourage you to do so soon. Remember that a dream written down with a desired date of achievement becomes a goal. When you break it down into steps, a goal becomes a plan. And if you back your plan with action, you will realize your dream. Failure to turn your dream into a goal with a plan of action will only lead you to disappointment.

It takes thought provoking effort to set goals. Last week we covered the steps to setting goals and recommended putting these steps down on paper. As you are now preparing to act on your goals, it is important to continue this process of documenting your goals in your written plan. At this point, hopefully you have broken down your outcome goal into smaller, manageable step goals. Now it's time to attach a task to each step goal. You should also label the priority of the task at hand. It could look like this...

1. Priority 1 - highest level, must be completed by a shortened specific time, such as end of day.
2. Priority 2 - mid level importance, must be completed but not urgently.
3. Priority 3 - low level importance, would be helpful if completed but not necessarily urgent. Could even be skipped or deferred to a later time.

Record the tasks in your plan by each step goal, listing the priority as noted above. Be certain and clear about what the needed task for each step goal is to avoid wasting time on "busy work" tasks. As you document the individual tasks and complete these by their priority you can gain a sense of accomplishment for each one completed.

While this process may seem too much for some, it really isn't a daunting task but makes you more mindful of what your goal is and what it's going to take to achieve it. You must challenge yourself each day to stay focused on your plan. And don't be afraid to fail at the individual task level. If your plan doesn't work like you thought it would, change the plan, but not the goal!

Goal tracking is a great way to monitor your progress in the plan. And to be honest, it is a system of accountability to keep you in check. You will quickly see how good a plan you put together and whether your goal is achievable, or if adjustments need to be made. And as mentioned in the last paragraph, if your plan isn't working, change the plan, not the goal.

On your written plan document, add a section labeled "Accountability Tracker". This should be a graph that contains the following columns...

1. List each step goal.
2. The deadline for achieving the step goal.
3. Associated tasks related to the step goal. 
4. Task priority. 1 - for highest priority, a  now  task; 2 - for medium priority, must be completed but not urgent; and 3 - low level priority, would be nice to finish but not necessarily urgent.
5. Check mark box as each task or step goal is completed.

You should review this graph regularly. Ideally it would be every day, however, at minimum you should review it weekly. To keep your motivation up with this tracking, you should consider rewarding yourself each time you complete a step goal. You determine your rewards, but it could be a dinner at your favorite restaurant, a movie you wanted to see or whatever other reasonable reward you think of. On the other side of this coin, don't punish yourself if you happen to fall off track. There could be an event in your life that sidetracks you. Forgive yourself and refocus yourself and refocus as soon as possible so you can get back on track.

Just remember that goals are important in everything we do. What is the outcome of any given situation you want to see? Having a plan of action to achieve your goal is key. Tracking is the key component to having accountability to yourself in pursuit of your goal. In researching the topic of goals, I came across a poem that summarizes everything we've covered these two weeks. It goes like this...

Mirror, mirror on the wall, I'll always get up after I fall. And whether I run, walk, or crawl, I'll set my goals and achieve them all! 

Your first goal this week?...

Be inspired! Inspire others!