Pub. 1 2016 Issue 6

10 www.ctaahq.org W hat’s the first step to successfully setting goals? Grab a piece of paper and something to write with and sit down at a table. If you don’t like to use paper, use an electronic device instead.What matters here is choosing to write your goals down. How important is it to do this? According to Forbes magazine, the Harvard MBA Program did a study of graduate students. These students were asked whether they wrote down any goals for the future. Only three percent of those surveyed had taken this step. Another 13 percent had thought about some goals they wanted to accomplish, but hadn’t written them down. The final 84 percent just focused on their day-to-day work. Ten years later, the students were interviewed again.Those who set no goals earned half of what the 13 percent who had goals in their mind. The three percent with written goals and a plan made ten times more money than the remaining 97 percent of the class. That’s a lot of payback for a little effort. What if you don’t know what you want to accomplish? Ask yourself a few questions: • Think about your work. Do you want to make more money? If so, how? Do you want to change careers? What would you rather do instead of what you are doing? • Are you happy about your health and the way you look? • What’s your home like? How does it compare to your ideal home? • Is there something you’ve always wanted to learn? • Would you like to go to more concerts or art museums? • Would you like to learn how to sing, play the piano, or play some other instrument? • Do you enjoy travel? Where would you like to go? Would learning a language be helpful? You should have some ideas for goals by the time you’re done. Write down a few concrete goals and think of a reasonable deadline for each one. If you want to travel to Italy or France in five years, for example, you might need to save up, but meanwhile you could start learning Italian or French and you could also start studying the cuisine. Dinner at a fabulous restaurant featuring recipes from your selected country might also be part of your plan. Once you have a list of goals, write down three specific steps you can take for each goal in order to bring you closer to your dreams. These have to be measurable. For example, say you want to lose ten pounds of weight in the next six months. You can’t just say you will exercise more and eat less. What could the three measurable goals be? 1. Commit to going to the gym three times a week to lift weights for at least half an hour, and doing yoga three times a week at the community yoga class near where you work. Taking the dog for a walk works, too, as well as walking around the neighborhood with a friend or alone. Exercise gives you time to think, regain perspective, and look at something other than a desk for a little while. 2. Decide you will only eat dessert twice a week, and you’ll keep the portion size small. GOALS AND ROUTINES