Do you struggle to accomplish your business-related goals? According to Harvard Business Review, 84% of the population does not have goals, 13% have a plan in mind, with those goals remaining unwritten, and 3% have goals written down. According to the University of Scranton, a whopping 92% of people who set New Year’s goals never actually achieve them. A 2015 study by psychologist Gail Matthews showed that when people wrote down their goals, they were 33% more successful in achieving them than those who formulated outcomes in their heads. According to Inc. magazine, science says only 8% of people actually achieve their goals.

There are two parts to the goals challenge. First, you have to write down your goals and secondly, you need to develop strategies on how to accomplish them and ensure that you do. The Harvard Business Review article reporting that 83% of the population does not have goals written down shows this is an important challenge we need to tackle first.

In the Failure to Plan Means Planning to Fail chapter we emphasized the importance of making long term plans first and then working backward to tackle shorter term plans. I learned this lesson early on from my mother. She was a business owner as well, along with my father. She kept a yellow pad filled with tasks to complete and would cross off each item once completed. I can still see that image of her working off of the yellow pad, addressing one task at a time.

Assuming that the long term plans are in place and written down, you can start working on shorter term plans and tasks. If long term plans aren’t written down, and your short term tasks do not lead toward completing those plans, you will be wasting valuable time and will end up years down the road not knowing why you spent so much time on tasks and plans with no end goal in mind.

Time is a finite resource that we can’t manufacture more of. You will never be able to get wasted time back. Make the most out of the precious time you have right now and you will feel a greater sense of accomplishment when tasks and plans are completed. 

It is very easy to get off track and focus on other items that we enjoy doing that don’t take as much brain power or stress. Unfortunately, the jobs we have to get done still have to be done.

Figure out the best system for you to set and mark off completed goals. It is important that the goals are specific and can be accomplished in a timely manner, or else you will feel badly if you don’t complete them. Make sure you have enough smaller tasks written down that you can accomplish quickly. This will give you the sense of confidence, accomplishment, as well as the energy and drive to complete the larger tasks that take more time and energy.

A planning system known as SMART goals was developed by George Doran, Arthur Miller and James Cunningham in their 1981 article “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management goals and Objectives.” These stand for goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely (SMART). You can also replace “Realistic” with “Relevant.” Specific goals are focused, attainable goals are challenging but reachable, measurable goals are clearly defined, relevant goals are the ones important to the organization, and timely goals are those that need to be completed in the current time period.

Surmani Business Coaching will help you develop a system that works for you to mark off completed goals. Taking small steps today to knock down your short term goals and completing tasks will drive you toward achieving your long term goals. Don’t forget to set the long term goals first, then work backward.