It's all about setting the goals

It's time to consider setting some goals for the year ahead.  Not NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS, but actually things you would like to achieve throughout the coming year.  Before you begin looking at how to set SMART Goals there are a few things you need to consider.

The Triangle of Happiness 

The nation’s longest-running and most comprehensive survey on happiness, the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index, has just been released. And after fifteen years of detailed research, the author of the survey, Deakin University Emeritus Professor Robert Cummins, says he’d finally cracked the code to wellbeing, which he dubbed the ‘golden triangle of happiness’:
 
1. A sense of purpose.
 
2. Strong personal relationship/s.
 
3. Financial control.

 
A Sense Of Purpose
 
This often explains why we strive for outward symbols of success.  Large home, nice car, private school.  Years of research has proved that once you earn over $100,000 a year, money wont actually make you much happier.  It will buy you a lot of things but that's just a quick rush until you find the next thing that takes your fancy.  And believe me, that wont take long as compulsive buying of things is akin to an addiction. 

Is it time to rethink your sense of purpose?


Strong personal relationships
 
One of the building blocks for happiness is strong personal relationships…yet the number one cause of relationship break-ups is fights about money. It’s important to understand that Relationships Australia says this is universal, and not just confined to low income earning couples who encounter this problem.
 
Financial control
 
Money may not make you happy, but the research shows that not being in control of your finances will make you very unhappy: in fact Professor Cummins and his research team found that financial insecurity produces similar feelings to that of physical torture.

 
Achieving a sense of financial control is about your self worth.
 
You don’t have to wait until you’ve paid off all your credit cards.
 
You don’t need to wait until you have bought a home.
 
You don’t have to wait until you have paid your home off.
 
You don’t have to wait until you have saved enough for retirement.
 
You can achieve it the moment you make a decision to commit to putting in place a realistic plan. One that’s realistic and based on hard work, savings, paying down debt, and investing conservatively.  Create a plan and commit to sticking to it.

So what are SMART Goals?


Paul J. Meyer describes the characteristics of S.M.A.R.T. goals in Attitude is Everything.

SMART GOALS are SpecificThis means the goal is clear and unambiguous. To make goals specific, they must tell you exactly what's expected, why it's important, who’s involved, where it's going to happen and which attributes are important.


A specific goal will usually answer the five 'W' questions:

• What: What do I want to accomplish?
• Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.
• Who: Who is involved?
• Where: Identify a location.
• Which: Identify requirements and constraints.

SMART GOALS are MeasurableThe thought behind this is that if a goal is not measurable it is not possible to know whether you are making progress toward successful completion. Measuring progress is supposed to help you stay on track, reach your target dates and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs it on to continued effort required to reach the ultimate goal. 


A measurable goal will usually answer questions such as:

• How much?
• How many?
• How will I know when it is accomplished?
• Indicators should be quantifiable

SMART GOALS are AchievableThat is, the goals are neither out of reach nor below standard performance, since these may be considered meaningless. When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills and financial capacity to reach them. 


An achievable goal will usually answer the question How?

• How can the goal be accomplished?
• How realistic is the goal based on other constraints?

SMART GOALS are RelevantA bank manager's goal to "Make 50 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by 2pm" may be specific, measurable, attainable and time-bound but lacks relevance. Many times you will need support to accomplish a goal: resources, a champion voice, someone to knock down obstacles. 
Relevant goals (when met) drive you forward. A goal that supports or is in alignment with other goals would be considered a relevant goal.


A relevant goal can answer yes to these questions:

• Does this seem worthwhile?
• Is this the right time?
• Does this match our other efforts/needs?
• Are you the right person?
• Is it applicable in the current socio-economic environment?

SMART GOALS are Time-boundThe fifth criterion stresses the importance of grounding goals within a time-frame, giving them a target date.  This part of the SMART goal criteria is intended to prevent goals from being overtaken by the day-to-day crises that invariably arise. A time-bound goal is intended to establish a sense of urgency.


A time-bound goal will usually answer the question

• When?
• What can I do six months from now?
• What can I do six weeks from now?
• What can I do today?

Wishing you all the best on your Journey to making 2016 amazing!!

And don't forget, make sure you celebrate achieving your goals.  Sometimes that may be celebrating the milestones that you achieve on your way to achieving your bigger goals.  Find a friend, a supporter and celebrate, celebrate, celebrate!!!