Ncharj's Blog

Short Term Goals

ncharj — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:00:53 +0000

Career and personal life cannot do without setting goals nowadays. It is all about planning, sticking to the plan, adjusting as one makes progress and adapting, acting constantly towards one greater goal and finally achieving it. But while planning, one may discover that there are things that he or she may want to achieve in a relatively short period of time while others are planned over a longer interval. This is what makes the difference between short term goals and long term ones.

Some people will say that short term goals should be defined according to the plan you make when you first set them. If the period of time stays within one month those are definitely short term goals, but if the time extends to half a year or more, you are already looking at long term ones. What they fail to see, is that you cannot speak about short term goals without having in mind long term ones.

We can only think and plan the former against the background of the latter. For example, you could measure short term aims for yourself in days while someone else will measure their own aims of this kind in months or even in years; that is why the relativity concept in defining short term goals as done in the previous paragraph has a very important role.

One essential aspect to take into consideration when setting short term goals is that you need to be very specific and also very realistic about the planning. If you imagine that teaching your students past tense next week is a well defined and smart goal, you will probably not be able to achieve it. You need to think these types of goals in even more specific terms.

Make clear the difference between regular and irregular verbs next Tuesday morning in class between 9 and 11: this would probably sound more realistic. In this last example, the planner has set upon something that is small indeed, achievable and realistic for a two hour period. That is probably one of the short term goals that a teacher would consider a step in his or her great plan or long term goal of enabling foreign students to understand and use correctly past tense forms of verbs after teaching, reinforcing, practicing and testing for at least several weeks of an English course.

Hoping that this has made clear the difference between short term goals and long term ones, the only thing left is to advise you to stick to the plans you have made and demonstrate perseverance in order to achieve success.

Goal Setting Forms

ncharj — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 06:01:13 +0000

Books have started appearing on the market with a great deal of information and theory that relates to the steps of setting and achieving a goal. More than that, these books also provide their buyers with goal setting forms, their authors having the intention to help readers as much as possible. But we should not forget that human beings learn best from personal mistakes. Regardless of how much theorists try to make the course of readers actions as easy and logical as possible, it is still practice that kills or makes dreams come true.

Goals setting forms are somewhat useful though because they help you get a clear picture of what you really want and how you may achieve that. They also help in that they prioritize certain aspects that you intend to portray for your future and may help you rid yourself of distractions. These goal setting forms become like a written plan that constantly reminds you of what you need to do in order to get to where you want to be in the future.

If you like it better this way, some already call these forms action plans. Surprisingly enough, recent surveys have brought into the spotlight the fact that less than ten percent of people nowadays live without having a life plan and feel that their passions and dreams fade out as time passes. When people taking part to social experiments have been presented with this theory of setting goals and designing goal setting forms to give themselves a direction in life, the missing element in the life puzzle became obvious.

Goal setting forms may look different depending on where you buy them or where you inspire yourself from. Some models may begin with some kind of pledge that you sign stating that you will do your best to pursue the goal under discussion. This pledge is meant to motivate even more than the simple plan you make and mentally declare yourself committed to. Then comes writing about what you mostly wish to achieve at the present moment and you should make sure that this goal you write down about is something specific, measurable and achievable or realistic.

Next follow the specifics such as the methods you are going to use in order to get there where you want to in the future. The next item on the goal setting forms should involve defining the steps you are going to take and then you should mention a reward you will obtain once you have achieved the goal. It is very important to write down the so-called reward, as that is very motivational and will always determine you to keep working towards the specific goal.

Goals And Objectives

ncharj — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:00:51 +0000

Despite the large number of informative materials available for goals and objectives, many people do not know the difference between the two concepts. According to the Oxford Dictionary, goals are those things we hope to achieve, and, here one perfect synonym for the word goal is aim. Objectives, by the same dictionary, are defined as things we are trying to achieve. At first glance, there seems to be no clear-cut difference between the two notions. However, the two definitions do not share the same meaning because one of them uses the verb hope whereas the other employs the verb try. The latter of the two verbs is a little more specific than the former and basically this is what renders the difference between goals and objectives.

Specific literature will set some kind of boundary between goals and objectives by specifying that the former are broader than the latter and that the same ones are viewed by specialists as general intentions rather than precise ones. If we were to analyze goals and objectives from the perspective of criteria related to the level of understanding and formulating them, goals are more abstract and seem less tangible than objectives. To illustrate these differences, we can think of goals and objectives from the point of view of teaching grammar material in schools. The goal of the lesson may be for the students to gain the ability to use correctly past tense simple (at least in the case of some verbs that you are to focus on during that class). The specific objectives would be several, perhaps, such as: the students identifying whether the verbs are regular or irregular, adding ed or using the second irregular form of the verb depending on the case, using the correct word order depending on whether they are formulating a statement or a question, adding the auxiliary did in questions, adding the auxiliary did in negative statements, and so on.

As it may become obvious from this example, we can differentiate between goals and objectives in that the former are more general while the latter refer to specific behaviors that help in the process of achieving the former. In other words, objectives can be viewed as the specific steps one needs to take in order to meet a goal. Furthermore, objectives are measurable while goals are much harder to measure. You can give a test and check whether your students make use of the specific behaviors you have required from them; but it would be a whole lot more difficult to verify whether the goal has been fulfilled without checking and measuring the achievement of objectives. That is why courses of foreign languages have periodical testing which measures the achievement of objectives. However, official examination at the end of courses will test proficiency, that will be measured in terms the broader goals.

Professional Goals

ncharj — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 06:01:18 +0000

Here comes a new year with new opportunities for everyone to assert themselves in any field of activity and in any area of life. 2009 apparently is a year that does not promise too much because of the world financial and economic crisis we are already experiencing. However, it would be quite a pity for us not to set at least some personal and professional goals since these are the most dominant of the areas in which all of us want improvement.

On the one hand, personal goals should not miss from anyones life even despite this coming year with its somber predictions. It is important that we all want to preserve our peace and happiness in the bosom of our own families. For this to come true, let us remember that we should remain the same caring persons full of love and understanding; if concern and care have not been our strongest points so far, then perhaps it is time now to become a little more considerate and supportive towards our family members especially if we notice that the professional goals of our beloved ones are in no way going to be achieved this year.

If career is disappointing, then family and friends should at least feel that they are successful within the family realm so that self-confidence remains at a decent level. Moreover, health is, as well, an aspect that should not be neglected. Good shape and wellness of each individual represent one goal that should be maintained no matter what, and action should be taken in that direction.

On the other hand, we may expect our professional goals not to be so well met this year. But even so, the career realm should not be devoid of goals. It is however best if our goals are a little more humble than they were last year before the financial strike we have received. If we do not aim very high there are more chances that we may achieve success and not register failures.

Examples of such goals could be to climb the hierarchical ladder within your company, to get a raise due to your exquisite performance and dedication, to get more responsibilities and opportunities to learn more and grow professionally, to change ones job for a better one, and so on. If these professional goals however are set too high and you expect too much before the recession is over, you might get exactly the opposite while avoiding precisely that which may be considered one of the smartest professional goals for 2009. All this being said, may you enjoy all the luck in the world!

Goal Setting Worksheets

ncharj — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 06:00:35 +0000

Meeting goals may turn out to be very difficult for most of us. But until we get to meeting these goals, we should start with defining and clarifying them in our minds. And what best way is there to clarify points, ideas and strategies if not by using visual cues? That is why goal setting worksheets have been created and presented to people.

The so-called goal setting worksheets are simple pieces of paper onto which we record work planned or done in order to achieve wishes. The most simple format used for such papers consists of a list of goals, the reasons why meeting those goals are important, the steps we are going to take in carrying out the plan and eventually the reward we will get at the end.

You should not imagine that creating one such piece of paper can be done in 5 minutes and be reliable. It usually takes a bit of time in order to come up with a good and well elaborated list of goals and step-by-step plans for each of them. Becoming realistic and time-oriented is not an easy task; that is why it is advisable not to hurry when working with goal setting worksheets.

Another smart suggestion is that you review the piece of paper that outlines your future intentions every now and then. There may be many upturns in your life that may make the list of goals you have previously settled on unrealistic or undesirable. As a result, reevaluation and reorganization or further prioritization should be taken into account.

Another smart way of making your goals visual and palpable besides the goal setting worksheets is using goal posters. It has been proven that visual cues that we come across as often as possible are very successful motivating agents. A poster with plans and time frames for achieving something that is stuck on your office or studio wall will work out just fine.

Goal setting worksheets are pretty common and ordinary compared to the more creative posters. The latter offer more space and more creativity that will surely imprint a better visualization of the plan and a better mood to yourself. Highlighting will also be more obvious as you have the chance to use more colors and organize the lay-out into a spacious format than a simple piece of paper would allow.

All in all, whether goal setting worksheets or goal posters, remember that it is important to use some kind of media that helps you get order in your thoughts and future plans.

Career Goals

ncharj — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:02:49 +0000

Before choosing a career each individual should take into consideration what field of activity is of interest to him or her. That is why career goals and their processing are very important for achieving success and professional satisfaction. The term career goals refers not only to the choice of a career you are to make at the beginning of your work life but also to what you plan to accomplish after a certain number years of having worked within a company or within a certain domain. Without a coherent plan and smart decisions regarding the path you are to follow towards meeting career goals, you will most likely end up feeling frustrated and lacking confidence in your abilities.

The first step that you ought to take in setting career goals is choosing the career or the job you intend to have for the future. On the one hand, there are those who consider that achieving seniority and highly satisfying remuneration represent the main arguments for the selection of the field of activity and branch to work in. On the other hand, there are others who believe flexibility, work environment and reflection of personal life passions in the job are more important than money and function. Whichever of these two approaches you want to take, remember that without career goals you have fewer chances of getting where you want to.

After having decided on the field of work you want to be active in, proceed with acquiring the expertise needed so as to advance towards meeting the career goals. Studying on your own can be very helpful yet very challenging; therefore, you might take into consideration getting a job that also offers periodical training to help you make progresses. Going to job interviews can also help you figure out what kind of qualifications and expectations are desired on your part. This will surely give you a real touch of the work environment and field of expertise required. It will also help you shape your career goals supposing that you will get the job you have been interviewed for.

Once you get the job, it is important that you become realistic and review your career goals as you advance or gain experience at your work place. As you get higher within the company hierarchy or as you get more responsibilities, your goals should undergo some sort of transformations so that they match your new job description card and situation. Therefore, keep your career goals up to date with whatever occurs along your career path.

Time Management

ncharj — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 06:01:04 +0000

There are people who come to a point in their life when they feel overwhelmed by the tasks they have to perform either at work or at home. It seems a very radical situation out of which no escape can be foreseen especially when these people are demoralized because of their more or less declared workload. But what they do not know is that they don’t all suffer from overworking. The only trouble could be poor time management, and that can be fixed with a little care and some smart tricks.

According to specialists, time management is a set of tools, skills and methods designed and used to meet certain previously stipulated or well-defined goals and tasks. The concept in itself is very complex and should make reference to numerous activities like planning, deciding on goals, analyzing the time invested in carrying out a task, organizing steps or stages of ones activity, monitoring and constantly scheduling work based on pointing out priorities.

In the United States there is one very popular saying that has encompassed the globe and has been met on the lips of many other nations lately: time is money. This has become one of the most important principles of successful business companies and individuals and has led to creating training on the concept of time management. Why has it become so important? you may ask yourself. Well, one reason is that money that is lost can be obtained back by the investor after redressing and correcting the scheme she/he has relied on until then. One unsuccessful business scheme especially if associated with faulty time management can cost a lot and can turn one into a pretty desperate person.

Sometimes, lack of good time management in all fields and ranges of activity can lead to panic and frustration. If your reaction is one that may be described by panic, the first thing you need to do is to calm down and assess the situation. Be as realistic as possible and based on your findings, draw another plan that is meant to get you out of the problem you find yourself in at the moment. If your feeling is one of frustration, the one very important thing you need to do is accept defeat and acknowledge the fact that it is normal to feel that way.

However, remember you are not to feel sorry for yourself for too long, but you should take action by reviewing and correcting the situation making use of the tools of planning, scheduling and prioritizing. And this time, make sure you focus a bit more on time management.

Smart Goals

ncharj — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:08:02 +0000

Most people are willing to start a new business project to gain more money or to start things over and independently if possible. But setting the project running is definitely not enough. What many investors are not aware of is that they have not set smart goals to make sure that their project turns out to be successful on a long term basis. According to dictionaries, goals are those states of affairs that a plan intends to achieve and that, when achieved, terminate the behavior intended to achieve them. This is a definition that may sound a little too pretentious for us to understand, but if we take a little bit of time to really figure out its meaning, we might be better next time when choosing or setting smart goals.

The expression smart goals has been used by very many project or program designers and business people. The word smart is nowadays used mainly as an acronym, each letter representing an adjective that should describe the goals. The letter s stands for specific, significant, or stretching. M represents words such as meaningful, measurable, motivational. A stands for those smart goals that are agreed on, attainable, acceptable and oriented towards certain actions. Letter r represents such adjectives as realistic, relevant and rewarding or result-oriented. Last but not least, t is the letter of trackable and time-based.

Whether you are interested in setting smart goals related to your business or personal life, it is always a good idea to learn what steps they actually involve. People have nowadays specialized in training others on how to set, define and pursue goals. The trouble is that the institutional education that our society is provided with does not seem to focus enough on defining and teaching aspects that would make people more pragmatic and success-oriented. Smart goals and their setting or identification are but a few of those aspects that we seem to miss in schools. It is only those who prepare for a career in economics and finance that get a grip of such aspects and that is quite a pity.

To conclude, life may reach unexpected peaks if we manage to track smart goals that match with our status and situation. There have been many cases in which people without lots of education have become very successful. Most likely those people have been of a rather pragmatic nature and have had an innate talent in setting their own goals. They have made a clear difference between what is achievable, significant, measurable, realistic and time oriented and the opposite of those. They have succeeded solely based on their intelligence and innate skill of setting smart goals.

How To Set Goals

ncharj — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 06:07:17 +0000

As our society progresses we come up with more and more theories concerning various aspects of our lives, each apparently smarter than the previous. The same goes for trying to achieve success in life, be it in the professional or private life areas. The popular and rather widespread impression about how to set goals is to make a plan or get an itinerary exactly as you do when going on a trip. Without a plan or itinerary it is very difficult to get where you want to regardless of whether the goals are short or long term.

As a result, the theory on how to set goals relies on a wide range of tips or pieces of advice. One such tip offers you the steps you are to use in order to make this task of how to set goals simpler for everyone. The most important of all is to make a decision about where you want to get to or what you would like to achieve. Without actually visualizing your success in the back of your mind and getting as many details as possible about it, it would be very tough to actually accomplish your established tasks. Therefore the question of how to set goals becomes complex and even problematic.

You need to analyze the situation you are in at the present moment, try to collect as much information about your purpose as possible, learn about the skills you need to have in order to achieve to goal, find out about the resources you can use on your way to getting there and establish whether the plan you are to make is realistic and achievable.

Next on how to set goals and stick to them, is taking small steps but keeping on track. It is highly recommendable that you do not expect to carry out huge steps or achieve great goals immediately because failure will be waiting for you around the corner. If this should happen, review your plan and see what amends you have to make in order for it to become a bit more realistic.

Another tip related to how to set goals is the use of language when you formulate them. Psychological studies today, encourage us to use as much positive language as possible regardless of why or to whom we want to send a message to. So why should we not apply that when talking to ourselves if we already do it when talking to others?

Instead of saying: I wont miss my Pilates session at the gym today we could say: I know I will miss the Pilates session today so I will take twenty minutes to practice at home by myself. See the difference? It is vital that no negative language is used when you set goals so that all channels of thought stay positive and are open when you review your plan for the day or for the week.

Sales Goal Setting

ncharj — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 06:08:28 +0000

Business owners need very smart sales goal setting and strategies to meet these desired successes, especially if the business is one categorized as small or medium. For the beginning it is important that you draw a line and separate actions that are taken without specific planning and those that have been or are being carried out according to a plan. The plan is one of the ways to make sure that you achieve something you have thought about. For those actions that do not correspond to any pre-established plan, make sure you draw a plan and integrate these actions into a bigger picture that culminates with or focus on some kind of goal. If sales goal setting is not performed, you are most likely on a drifting rug that takes you nowhere where revenues and profit are.

You need to start learning the difference between pro-action and reaction. The former refers to the fact that you initiate action according to a plan and that you have something very well-defined in mind regarding where you want to get with numbers and figures corresponding to sales and profit. This means that you have done your sales goal setting for at least a certain period in advance. The latter refers to that kind of action that you take in order to be able to survive on a highly competitive market while you are being faced only with crises out of which you struggle to get; as such, there is no profit to get you higher above the minimum survival line.

This being said, remember that sales goal setting is not enough; you also need to start taking action. According to a well designed plan, you should act making sure that you make adjustments as the situation in reality may require. Supposing that you would like to learn a foreign language, and you set the goal to know its basics in about three months time; if you do not buy a book and get down to actually working from it, in three months you will surely see no progress, not to mention anything about achieving your goal. The same thing goes for business, so sales goal setting has no value without actually applying what you plan.

All in all, we may conclude that sales goal setting and taking action to meet goals are complementary. It would be highly impractical for anyone to think otherwise and to expect success being achieved without any of those elements unless they have had their share of relentless strokes of luck and expect these instances of luck to repeat themselves in the future.