This blog post is about how to set goals for 2013. Research shows that the date when most New Year’s resolutions are broken is January 7. As life continues to accelerate, it appears that our attention span is shortening. Time to re-visit goals.
There is a big difference between a goal and a wish. A goal is a vision for a particular area of your life. As you might imagine, I’m rather keen on goals. Some time ago I learned a very useful process to follow to successfully set and achieve goals. Consider using the S.M.A.R.T. checklist when setting goals:
S Specific Your goals must identify exactly what you want to accomplish.
M Measurable If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.
A Actionable Every goal should start with a verb to make it actionable.
R Realistic Your goal should be a stretch, but still remain realistic
T Time-bound By when?
By using the S.M.A.R.T. checklist you will be actually setting goals as opposed to merely making a wish. There’s a huge distinction.
Let me encourage you to take some time soon to set 3 goals for your practice for 2013 using the S.M.A.R.T. checklist above. 3 is an ideal number of goals so that you can focus on each goal through to completion. If you accomplish these 3, set the next 3.
Once you have your goals, schedule a team meeting off-campus, away from the usual distractions and involve your Team Members in the goals. Consider establishing individual team members as ‘champions’ of particular areas to keep the momentum for each goal. For more on the concept of ‘champions’ listen to this Thriving Dentist Show Podcast http://www.takacslearningcenter.com/003/
Setting goals will be your pathway to making 2013 your best year yet. Keep Smiling
