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Do You Know What Your Goals Are?

We all need goals, an endpoint, a place to get to. That said, there’s a certain skill to living in the moment, being mindful of your presence, and generally not letting the stresses and responsibilities of life weigh on you. On weekends, and during our free time, It’s important to remove yourself from the rat race, breathe deeply, and enjoy a nice day in the park. However, when you’re behind the wheel, there’s also a certain balance that’s needed. As functional, responsible professionals, there’s a certain pressure to be ‘on’, all the time. Increasing talk of executives and companies applying pressure to exceed the 40 hour workweek. Peer pressure to accomplish more within the same 24 hours. This post isn’t about work-life balance. It’s about how to take the work part of that balance, and be efficient, accomplish more, and avoid stagnating.

I had personally found it more natural to have an internal checklist, a mental list of things I need to get done. It’s served me well up until now, until my responsibilities and requirements exploded. Within two years, I got married, had a kid, and got promoted. I moved into a new apartment, and I got a new car. It all happened so fast, and even though there were many more responsibilities for me to deal with, it took me a while to realize that my old system for getting things done wasn’t going to cut it going forward. In business and achievement psychology, there’s a concept called S.M.A.R.T. goals. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.

These characteristics define the nature of the goals, and whether they are realistic. They also need to be written down and organized, as well as prioritized. We know that there are a plethora of books written on the subject, lectures given, podcasts, and many other mediums, espousing the need for, as well as the noticeable lack of goal setting prowess. Don’t shy away from writing down your goals. You can try reverse-engineering it. Figure out what you need to accomplish. Then break that up into small bite-sized steps that are needed to accomplish that goal. Ask yourself, “What is the smallest step I can take to get this done?”, and then write it down.

I’m no expert.
What I do know is this.
If you don’t know where you’re trying to go, how can you get there?