How to make the goals you set for the short-term count for the long term.
At this time of year, many people are in the process of goal setting. And though we need to focus on short-term goals, it’s more important to plan for the long term.
It’s what Stephen Covey called “starting with the end in mind” in his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
How small goals add up to a lifetime.
“What is my destination?” “What do I want on my tombstone?” “What do I want people to remember me for?” These are all good questions to ask when you want to sort out what’s really important.
Highly effective people understand their own destination. And they’re good at developing a plan to get there.
Really, it’s pretty simple. If you can set goals for the near term that will help you toward your 5-year goals. Reaching those goals will help you toward your 10-year goals and beyond.
Meet Mavidea’s goal setting rock star.
We have a person here, Mike Somers, who is a rock star in doing this. He starts his goals by setting them all the way out to what he really wants to achieve.
He then breaks each year into quarters, quarters into months, months into weeks and weeks into days. Every day, he has plans on his list that will help him work toward his ultimate goals.
Working your goals daily is important. But think of your plan as a big staircase. One with lots of little steps between the first step and the top one. With a lot of work, consistency and forward momentum, you’ll get there.
The next generation of leaders starts with learning to set goals.
We’re seriously interested in building the next generation of leaders at Mavidea. As a step toward that goal, we recently hosted a series of goal-setting conversations for our staff.
It was centered on Jim Rohn’s Goal Setting Workshop. Jim walks through a very logical and rewarding processs that helps you learn to frame up some of the goals you want to accomplish -- starting with the end in mind.
We got together and started framing some things up. They didn’t have to be just business goals. They could be personal goals. Spiritual goals. Community goals. In fact, we encouraged people to set targets that encompass their whole life.
Goals fire up the excitement.
People left the room energized and ready to take action.
Of course, everyone’s end destination is a little bit different. But at the end of the planning session, we all walked away with goals that were written down and shared (to create accountability partners).
We then went about creating a strategy and tactical goals to help us work toward achieving our goals on a daily basis.
We didn’t do this necessarily to help Mavidea become a better company. We did this to help our staff truly understand the process and success that can be theirs simply by working toward goals.
Personally, I don’t want to look back later in life and regret things I didn’t accomplish.
At Mavidea, we don’t want anyone to arrive at his or her final destination and have that kind of a feeling. We want them to feel that their life and their work have meaning and mean something.
One of the things we can do as leaders is to help our people never find themselves in that situation.
Energy loves company.
Are you making plans for your destination? Looking for a partner in building success? Talk to Mavidea. By understanding your goals – and your business – we can help you achieve more.
