I have a room in my house that has about ten framed quotes by Ronald Regan. As January is a great time to evaluate goals, I often reflect on Regan’s quotes about setting goals, one being: “My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose – somehow we win out.”

Goals are the essence of success characterized by a feeling of being in control of your own destiny. Think where you are and where you want to go. With clear goals, you will fly straight like an arrow toward your dreams. Yes, you’re busy. But are you “good” busy? How will you know what good busy is if you have not taken the time to figure out what your goals are for today, this week, this month, this year, and even over the next five or ten years? Having a clear idea of what you want to do with your time is what goal setting is really all about.

Examples abound of just how powerful goals can be in shaping behavior. Clear organizational goals can drive employee efforts throughout an organization. But if employees do not know what the organization’s goals are, those goals lose the ability they have to energize employees toward achievements. Communicating organizational goals to employees is essential for achieving desired outcomes. Bob Danzing, former Hearst newspapers executive who is now a motivational speaker and author, shared how goal setting helped him when he was a child in foster care on his journey to one day becoming a CEO: “The social worker simply told the 11 year-old child, ‘You are worthwhile’ every time she met with him. Those three words invited that child, for the first time in his life, to see possibilities for his life. Goals, as it were. I never forgot her words. They were with me as I took my first job as a teenage office boy at the Albany, New York, Times Union. Her goal-inviting words were with me as I became publisher of that newspaper and remained as an ongoing incentive when I became nationwide CEO of all Hearst newspapers for twenty years. Early goal seeds can sprout to become a lifelong garden.”

If you have not been goal-oriented recently, it’s not too late to start or rethink your career (or personal) aspirations. Goal setting goes hand-in-hand with another fundamental principle of optimum time management: planning. You need goals in order to plan better. Better plans usually lead to greater efficiency and improved results. Of course, I have to remind readers about “the best laid plans of mice and men” and Murphy’s Law, that anything that can go wrong, will. Goal setting and planning do not mean you can completely control the world or the outcome of your actions or the actions of those with whom you work. There is; however, a greater likelihood that you will achieve your goal if you have a direction and a strategy in mind.

By setting goals, you know where you’re going. Goals are necessary, at work or in your leisure time. Without goals you’re more likely to flounder and react erratically to opportunities and problems, with too little perspective on the effects they will have on your personal and professional life. You must have long-term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-term failures.

How many goals should you have? One? Six? Nineteen? How many can you handle at once? Working on three ambitions simultaneously and being very busy in its pursuit might be completely age and situation appropriate for some, while others can effectively take on more or less.

A crucial step in time management is to decide on your long-term and short-term goals. The next all important action is to write down those goals. By putting them down on paper (or doing so electronically) you are reinforcing those goals and your commitment to them. Date your list of long-term goals so you can review it from time to time; create a schedule to review your goals and proceed to ask yourself if you are moving toward achieving the goals or if you need to substitute different ones. Be as concrete as possible in formulating your goals. Avoid vague statements such as, “I want to be rich,” or “I want to be more creative.” The key is to establish specific measureable goals that you can work toward in clear-cut steps.

Molly Hallgren, Celebrity Staff Senior Account Manager

About the Author, Molly Hallgren
Molly Hallgren has worked with Celebrity Staff since August of 2009. As a senior account manager,  Molly searches for top talent by networking, sourcing, and through referrals. In previous positions, she has managed marketing activity for a national N.P.O. and directed corporate salon sales for a Nebraska distributor. She also writes movie reviews for a radio station in Chicago and enjoys sharing her critiques on air. Originally from Cleveland, OH, Molly graduated with a B.B.A in Marketing and Communication. Outside of work she enjoys basketball, bike riding, and road trips.