(Click on above Image for larger size)
At the start of each new year we sit down to write our yearly goals.
There are many, many ways to write goals… and many opinions on what works best. We have found one way to write goals that in our opinion makes a whole lot of good sense. We write our goals as SMART goals.
What are SMART Goals? As outlined in the mindmap above and in the descriptions below, SMART Goals are…
| S | = | Specific |
| M |
= | Measurable |
| A |
= | Attainable |
| R |
= | Realistic |
| T |
= | Tangible |
Specific: There is a greater chance of achieving a specific goal than a general goal. For a goal to be specific, answer the six "W" questions:
- Who: Who is involved?
- What: What do I want to accomplish?
- Where: Identify a location.
- When: Establish a time frame.
- Why: Specific reasons or benefits of accomplishing the goal.
Measurable: Determine a concrete way to measure your progress towards the attainment of each goal. To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as: How much? How many? How will I know if I achieve this goal?
Attainable: If the goals you set are important to you, you will start to figure out ways to make them come true. You will develop the attitude, abilities, skills and financial capacity to reach them.
Any goal is achievable if you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you the space to carry out those steps. Goals that seemed out of reach become attainable because you grow to match them.
Realistic: For a goal to be realistic it has to represent something that you are both willing and able to work towards. A goal can be high and realistic… it all depends on you. Make sure that each goal leads to substantial progress. If a goal is set too low, there may be little motivation to reach it. A goal is realistic if you truly believe it can be achieved.
Tangible: A goal is tangible if you can experience it with one of the senses… taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing. If a goal is tangible it is easier to make it specific, measurable and attainable.
To make it easier for you to reference SMART goals and the criteria behind them, we have provided the following for your convenience:
SMART Goals as an Interactive Flash File
ENJOY!
About the Authors
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It's a New Year, and as always it is associated with new beginnings and new possibilities. What a great feeling that is! It's like starting with a clean slate or a level playing field with endless opportunities.
And of course it is the time for resolutions, plans and the setting of goals. Not only do people set personal goals, they set business goals as well. Great! It is much easier to direct a business when there's a plan or "road map" to follow.
Along with all the "usual" plans for a business…
… an essential question to ask is "What is the focus of our business?"
Believe it or not, there is one answer to that question that can apply to any and all businesses.
That answer is… "To provide value to our customers."
Business success would be much more prevalent if this simple motto was followed.
This motto has been and will continue to be the focus of our business at TheCoolestCouple.com.
So to all we wish a Happy and Prosperous New Year! May 2010 be all that you hope for and much, much more.
We would also like to thank all of our friends, clients and customers for the blessing of having you touch our lives. You are all very much appreciated.
To a Spectacular 2010!
About the Authors
Planning where you want to go personally, spiritually and professionally is a must. If you don't have a plan of what you want to accomplish and what you're going to do to get there, it can feel overwhelming or a lot like being lost.
To plan for the future, you need to know where you're at right now.
First let's look at relationships. You have a lot of relationships with other people; the question is what type of relationship is it? Is it a personal one, strictly professional, or both? How did you get to know this person? How can you help them? Do you have common relationships with other people?
So, to know how to keep and develop your relationships, it's important to have an understanding of what they look like now, how they relate to you and their connections with other people, events and information.
Now let's look at all the information and knowledge you've amassed over the years. It is said that knowledge is power. But as Goethe said, "Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do." Knowledge is of no value if it is not used.
How can you make use of, or act on, any information or knowledge you've acquired if you can't remember it or find it? To plan on where you want your business to go, you need to understand what you have in terms of information and knowledge you can use. Most of us don't need more information, we just need to know what we have and make use of it.
Now that we've demonstrated the importance of organizing and managing your relationships, information and knowledge, there are a couple of places you can go to to find out how we organize and manage it all.
To see a cool video on organizing and managing social media relationships,
go here!
And… for a cool video on organizing and managing your information and knowledge,
go here!
Trust us… knowing where you're at in your relationships, what information and knowledge you have… and being able to find it and make use of it, is a huge step in successful planning. That in turn is a huge step in your future happiness and success.
About the Authors
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Our friend Philip Mutrie created this Cool "Top 25" Twitters To Follow video. We are blessed to be included in this list and video.
We had to take it to the next level, so we've created a Dynamic Knowledge Map of these thought leaders which is after the video below.
Top 25 Twitters to Follow Dynamic Knowledge Map
To see a larger view of this Knowledge map "Click Here"
About the Authors
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As we sat here in the comfort of our home office, we thought about how thankful we are to have a house to live in. Others are not so fortunate… they do not have a place to call home.
So then we asked ourselves… what else do we have to be thankful for? A LOT!
We've outlined a few of the things we're thankful for in this mindmap:
So who said Thanksgiving comes around only once a year? We can be thankful (grateful) for what we have all year round. Think about and write down what you are thankful for, it's a very uplifting experience.
For us, our connections and relationships are especially important. On a daily basis we connect with so many people… in person as well as through all the wonderful social sites and technologies. Without even really being conscious about it, we are continually connecting with others.
These people teach us, support us, enable our success, bring us more joy… and basically complete us as human beings.
That is why on our blog we invite you to "Be Social With Us"! It is also the reason we organize and manage our relationships inside our knowledge maps. It is important for us to develop new relationships and to keep our established relationships alive.
It's all about relationships… how do you stay connected?
About the Authors
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