Know what you want to accomplish;

Time management step one: Know what it is you want to accomplish:

A goal is something that has a definite and objective outcome, and set time and a measurable character.

If you set the goal to become a “better person” you are hurling toward failure. Its not objective, measurable nor does it have a time frame for completion. Success has to begin with a proper understanding of what must be accomplished. To have that understanding you must understand who you are and what role you play. The manager of a group of people may be able to do their job better than they. If he does it, there is a certain amount of praise that comes to him coupled with a sense satisfaciton that it got done right. While he succeded at their role, he failed at his. His post was untended while he tended theirs. He became and overpaid worker (the manager makes more) and his post was abandoned. You have to know who you are and what your role is.

A manager’s role is different than a foreman’s role as is a pastor’s role different from that of a missionary. Being successful doing all sorts of things that are other people’s role is the same as failing. To know what you want to accomplish, you must understand who you are. You must understand that you cannot do every role for any length of time and that without a focus and a steely determination to serve one role with all you are, you will not succeed at one thing, but fail at many. Know your role then know what goals go with your role.

Ask yourself what the ideal person in your role does. Read all you can about the best in your specific field and their product and focus your goals around achieving the best. Take any goal that does not have a defined time, measurable character and objective outcome and either chunk it or break it down until it is in a bite sized piece that can be defined and measured. Here are the defininitions for the three terms i am using.

Measurable character means that it can be quantified. Profits, members, pounds lost or animal crackers. It can be measured.
Objective outcome means that anyone can look at it and define it like you would. They can look at your income statement and see the profit, count the members in your church or see the lost weight.
Specific time. I will get it accomplished by this time.

Knowing what you want to accomplish and defining it correctly are 95% of the battle when it comes to goals. Nebulous, ambiguous or just plain humongus goals should be pitched, re-defined or broken down into what i can get done on this in a week or a day’s time.

Here is a Ken Tracy tip on goals. Write them down each day. Then look at your “written plan” (no joke, write it down or you are doomed to wander) for the day. See how your plan for the day compares with your goals. Nine times out of ten our day plan does not achieve our goals, it only gets our hours. SCRAP THE PLAN for the day if it does not attain the goals for who you say you are and what your role is. If you continually execute a plan for a different role than you say you are, go ahead and admit that you are not what you say you are.

Here is a quick step process:
1. You should have next week’s written goals already handy.
2. Write them down each day and compare them to the written schedule for the day.
3. Ask yourself if the schedule matches the goals then have the courage to change the scheduel if they do not.
4. Re-cap the goals at the end of the week and measure the success or failure. Adjust accordingly.

Making it happen requires knowing what it is.