Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Setting Realistic Goals!

Setting Realistic Goals!

Goal setting is an personal issue. When setting a goal it should be a very specific, measurable objective. One must have a time-targeted thought in mind when setting such a goal. Setting Realistic Goals is important for a positive outcome of any goal.

Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia says:

"Effective goals should be tangible, specific, realistic and have a time targeted for completion. There must be realistic plans to achieve the intended goal. For example, setting a goal to go to Mars on a shoe string budget is not a realistic goal, while setting a goal to go to Hawaii as a backpacker is a possible goal with possible, realistic plans."

Work on the theory of goal-setting suggests that it's an effective tool for making progress by ensuring that participants in a group with a common goal are clearly aware of what is expected from them if an objective is to be achieved. On a personal level, setting goals is a process that allows people to specify then work towards their own objectives - most commonly with financial or career-based goals."

There are a number of well know speakers who have made their living suggesting various types of goal setting. When we think of goal setting, the first thing we normally do is write it down and hang on the frig or mirror so it can be observed several times a day. The purpose of this of course is to keep a constant reminder in front of us as a remindere. There's nothing wrong with this idea, however, most of us soon forget why we made such a goal in the first place.

To achieve our goal we must do something more than just the norm in our lives. Each of us will follow a different path when pursuing our goals and as a result will have a different outcome.

In a recent article I had the priviledge of reading and I quote; "Goals provide a sense of direction and purpose" (Goldstein, 1993, p. 96).[vague] Locke et al. (1981)[vague] examined the behavioral effects of goal-setting, concluding that 90% of laboratory and field studies involving specific and challenging goals led to higher performance than easy or no goals".

In a business environment, there is somewhat of a competitive spirit when the management encourages the employees to put forth additional efforts. Here the goals are being set by the employer in an effort to challenge all the members of a specific group and knowing full well that there are going to be some in that group who will lead the way because of their competitive spirit. This will make the over achiever look superior, however, it will make the person at the bottom of the list look bad.

"Some managers would believe it is sufficient to urge employees to 'do their best', Locke and Latham have a clear contradicting view on this. The authors state that people who are told to 'do their best' will not do so. 'Doing your best' has no external referent which implies that it is useless in eliciting specific behavior."

When goals are set by someone else, it is human nature for or natural goals and ideas to be suppressed. In order for an employee to effectively be motivated then....would be for the goal(s) to be challenging above and beyond the normal scope of their duties.

Let's talk for a moment about our personal goals. We must believe in ourselves that we can attain our goals. Unrealistic goals will quench the desire to fulfill our goals. If our goals are realistic, then it will act as an energizer; higher goals will induce greater efforts, however, setting lower goals will encourage lessor efforts.

In summary: Believe in yourself that you are able to achieve your goals. Set goals that you are confident you can attain. Put forth the extra efforts to attain your goals. Keep track of your performance....without some form of feedback it is impossible to adjust for over performing or under performing. These aspects of setting goals and fulfilling those goals then becomes a unified effort with positive results.

If you need assistance in this part of your business life, the eBiz Solutions Team is standing by to assist you in your marketing goals. You can contact a member of our team at the contact information listed below.

"Let's Build Your Business Together"

Larry L Miller SEM/SEO Consulting

Private Line: 321-594-4405
Skype: larrylmiller121

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