Do You Have A Plan For 2015?

Harvard Business School conducted an interesting study years ago using graduates from their MBA program on goal-setting and business success. Of the graduates that year, only 3% had written goals, 13% had goals but could not present them in writing and 84% had no goals they could articulate. Ten years later, they followed up the study to see what the graduates had accomplished. The 13% who had goals, but did not write them down, had earned twice the income as the 84% who did not have articulated goals. But get this, the 3% with written goals and plans earned ten times the amount of the other 97% who did not write any goals down!You may not be able to control some of the obstacles and challenges that life will throw your way this next year, but you can set goals and make plans. People who have written goals handle unforeseen challenges far better than those who do not. Setting goals and writing out an annual plan gives you direction and puts you in charge. As it has been said, “Some people make things happen, some people watch things happen, other people wonder what happened.” Writing out goals and plans puts you into the “makes things happen” category.So the new year is here…it’s time to do just that!Here’s what I do. First, I review the year before (see my last post on this). Besides the highs, lows and lessons from this review that I covered in my last post, I also take a look at the goals I had set and take note of which ones were reached and which ones were not. I do some analysis of what changes I would make if I could, and that leads me into the goals I set for the next year.About twenty years ago I set lifelong goals for myself. I only have four, but they influence all of my long-term (five-year) and annual goals, and in doing so, pretty much everything that I do. If you haven’t done this, I’d encourage you to start there. Ask the questions, when my life is finished, what will I have wanted to accomplish? What mark or legacy will I want to have left? With those four goals in mind, I set five-year goals (that’s long-term once you are in your fifties, I used to have ten-year goals :-). I review and sometimes change those five-year goals at this time of year, and set new benchmarks when the old ones are achieved or need to be adjusted.Based on those lifetime and five-year goals, and the results of last year's, I come up with a new set of goals for the upcoming year.I use the SMART acrostic for goal setting. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-focused, and Time-bound. I usually set 1-2 goals that flow from each of my four lifetime goals (marriage, kids, spiritual, ministry) and end up with 6-8 total. I then get my calendar out and break them down to a monthly plan that I put into my weekly schedule every Monday.It’s really a simple process and once you put it into practice it eventually becomes second nature. Today, I think in terms of goals and plans and everything in my schedule is part of that plan. This way, ministry (or business) does not eclipse marriage and family. Everything that is most important to me gets on the calendar first. I wind up needing to do less, and what I do is pointed and purposeful. And it takes the stress of responsibility off my mind and on to my iPad.Now is the time to take charge of your life. Set goals for 2015 and become a person who makes things happen!