Goal Setting Worksheet

Tips in Goal Setting for Women

Careers in recent years has become very important to women. When before, women are expected to tend to the house while their husbands earn a living; now, women are slowly but surely climbing the corporate ladder and are even filling top executives position.

This is because the business community is starting to acknowledge the contribution that women make when it comes to business. They provide creativity and innovation to the company. Women are also more adept in marketing and in advertising compared to their males counterparts.

Although many are already becoming legends in the business community, their climb to the top is anything but easy. In fact, they have to work twice more than the males, perform twice better to show that they are really capable. This is because the stereotype is still there despite the recent achievements that women have made in different fields of endeavors.

A successful business career, especially for women, does not come easy. In addition to the mind set and the single-mindedness that is often attributed to men, they also have to take care of their emotional and family lives. Balancing these two sectors in their lives is sometimes the hardest part in having a career. They must do their job well and at the same time make sure that they are not neglecting their familial duties.

To help women who have conflict between their career and their family duties, here are some ways to properly goal set.

Prioritize

One should always come first. Problems arise when women try to do both and wind up shortchanging both. One should be able to define what is more important to them. For women who are single, prioritizing is still something that they can be flexible with. This is because they live a single life and do not have a family, to whom they are committed to. Things change when they get married and have children. At this point, prioritizing is already a moot point. Husband and children should be the first priority.

Think hypothetically

There will be times when your career and your family schedules will clash. A work emergency crops up just when you are about to go on a vacation with your family; a crisis occurs that needs your immediate attention at the same time that you have to attend your eldest’ recital; you have to work overtime just when it’s time to fetch your youngest child at school; these things happens and they can’t be avoided. If you want to be prepared, think hypothetically and already think about what you will do in these kinds of situations.

Set limits

Goal setting is not only something that you do when you want to get ahead but also when you want to stop and limit yourself. Set limits to your goals. If for instance a promotion will cut your time with your family in half, then limit your goals to your job and not seek for promotion anymore. This may mean not getting ahead of your career but hey your family is more important.

Make negotiating your goal

There are some people who get away with spending less time at their job and still occupy a high position in the corporation. When you are good at your job, you can actually become a consultant, which are paid really high but are not required to come to work all that often. To do this, you have to set your goal towards being indispensable to the company and to learning as much as you can from your industry while you are still young and single.

There is a saying that goes something like this, “Before you know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve been.” Very wise words, and very truthful, but I’d like to add to that statement, “Before you know where you’re going, you better plan ahead.” The last time I took a vacation, I planned out the path, and I made alternate routes incase the main route was blocked. Goal setting is nothing different from planning a vacation, or planning anything really. It takes time, focus, vision, execution, and S.M.A.R.T.S.

Time is money, this is a true statement most if not all business owners and managers will agree upon. So if this is true, why waste it to being a quarter into a new fiscal year and still not having a plan put in place. Let my dispel some a myth, an operating budget is NOT a plan, nor are they goals. To properly formulate an operating budget you need to first set the goals you wan to attain. How can you properly allocate capital if you have direction? When you plan for a vacation you save and allot the money to be sure you have everything covered. Goal planning should begin in July/August, or 4-5 months prior to the beginning of a new fiscal year. This will reserve time for brainstorming, formulating, Board approval (if necessary), and implementation through the budget.

For goal setting to be effective you need to devote energy and focus on the task. Haphazard goal setting will lead to haphazard results. Do whatever it takes to gain focus. Many entrepreneurs fail to understand the concept of retreat. Even if you are a one-man shop, you need time away to gather your thoughts, recoup your body, and open the doors of your mind. That is where innovation and imagination are given free reign is in retreat. Try this exercise, get away for 5 days, and leave behind the work phone, laptop, and anything else tying you to your company. Find someplace that relaxes you. Take the first day to detoxify your mind, and then take the next 3 days to become a free thinker. Grab a pen and paper and write down every idea that comes into your mind. No matter how ridiculous. Be sure this is done on un-lined paper no rules, no guidelines, and no restrictions. On the last day, prepare yourself to come back fresh, meditate. When you get back to your company take a look at the paper and begin to eliminate the ideas, until you reach those that are S.M.A.R.T.S (later in the article).

Vision is important in goal setting. For without vision we’re lost. You have to be looking out into the horizon, beyond the sight of employees and competitors. To find your goals you have to look forward and not behind.

Finally we reach execution. Execution is a fairly simple process; many people make it too hard. With each goal there should be a set of action plans. These are simply steps needed to attain the goal. For example if your goal is to increase sales by 3% in a certain market, then the action steps would be to increase the effectiveness of sales reps in that area through training. Step two could be to increase marketing by adding another advertising channel, and attaining better brand recognition and exposure. Executions then leads to you walk out the steps necessary to attain the goal(s) you have set.

A brief word on S.M.A.R.T.S this is an acronym that many people recognize but, I have added another letter. The first S stands for Specific. Your goals need to be specific, general goals do not push you to achieve success. The M is Measurable, without a way to quantify your goal(s), you have no idea if you are making progress. The A is for Attainable, goals that can not be achieved are goals you don’t want to set. R is for Realistic, this means your goals should line up with your company and be within the realm of possibility. T is for Time Orientated, not putting a limited time frame (6 mo. 1 yr, 3 yrs, 5 yrs, 10 yrs) means you can reach that goal whenever and it leads to laziness. The final S is my own addition, it stands for Stretch. Goals should stretch your thinking and ability. Making goals that are too easy to achieve will lead you no where. Yet setting a goal that is just at the tips of your fingers while you’re standing on your toes will cause you to achieve greater then that you thought you could. It pushes you, your company, your employees, and it is the stretch that leads you into greatness.