Focus, focus, focus!!

How’s your day going?

It’s easy to dream – but it’s hard to follow and achieve dreams.

Dreams, after all, are just goals without a timeline and a definite plan.  Thus, if you really want your dreams, convert them into SMART goals.  Being SMART transforms prayers into plans and hope into action.

Specific
Do you think men would have been able land on the moon if they did not deal with specifics like the amount of fuel needed, the distance to be travelled and the place where Apollo 11 would land?

The bigger your goal, the greater need there is for specifics.  If you’re gunning for a great increase in sales, specify your target increase; is it 30%, 50% or 70%?  Specify, too, your target market or the group of people to whom you are planning to sell. 
 
More importantly, specify the means that you will use to achieve your goal.

Specific goals are great for focusing your energies and resources.  Imagine a target practice without specific targets. 
 
How do you take down targets when you don’t even know what they are?  When you have specific goals, you’ll have something specific or definite towards which you can direct your energies and on which you can devote your time.

Measurable
Your goals should also be measurable.  That is, it should be clear how far along you are to achieving your goals.  This means that you should have various indicators by which you can measure how near or far you are to achieving your goals. 
 
For example, if your goal is to reduce the time needed to produce one unit of your product, you have to set the parameters against which your progress shall be measured.  Such parameters can include: average packaging time, the average handling time or the Average equipment down times.

By having measurable variables that can be monitored and assessed, you will know exactly how successful you are at achieving your goals, how close you are to your targets, and who or what is causing the delays. 
 
Moreover, you will also avoid sending conflicting or confusing messages to your people as your judgment will be based on measurable variables, not on intangible and subjective opinions or feelings.

Achievable
What is the difference between world peace and financial independence?
World peace is a wish whereas financial independence is an achievable goal.  If you are going to use SMART in your goal setting, you have to be confident that your goals are attainable. 
 
Otherwise, all your efforts would be futile – you’d just be banging your head against an unyielding wall.

Relevant
Of course, the goals that you must set must also be relevant to the people who are going to pursue them.  Can you imagine trying to convince your marketing people that having the cleanest delivery trucks in town are a worthwhile marketing goal for the year? 
 
Make sure that your current goals are relevant to your business.

Time Bound
As mentioned earlier, a goal is a dream with a timeline.  By having a specific timeframe for your goal, you and your people shall be forced to spend your time on activities that will result to the achievement of your goals. 
 
Successful goal achievement is only possible if the goal is attained within the timeframe set for it.