Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
-Margaret Mead
This quote came to mind when we met with the board, administrators and staff of Griffin School earlier this year. This group of dedicated, passionate, and innovative individuals have created a truly unique organization committed to developing students who will make a positive difference in the world.
We had the privilege of helping them choose their priorities for the coming year and creating teams to accomplish those goals.
When it comes to setting goals, society encourages us to “dream big” and strive for success so that we can “have it ALL!”. While that advice may be inspiring, you’ll want to be a bit more strategic when setting goals. Whether for your business or your personal life, here are some things to keep in mind when deciding where you want to focus your time and energy.
Identify possibilities. When deciding what goals you want to focus on, write down all your ideas and don’t discount any possibilities. This clears the mind and helps you capture all your dreams and desires. You can then group the potential goals by their level of importance: A (most important), B (medium importance) or C (low importance).
Prioritize. If you’re feeling ambitious, prioritizing may be difficult because you want to do it all. The following questions can help you narrow it down.
How does this goal align with my values?
How would this goal help me to live the life I desire? What evidence is there to support this?
What would happen if this wasn’t a goal? What would be lost?
Given that there are limited resources, why this goal and not another one?
Be realistic. When feeling inspired, it can be easy to shoot for the moon and set some lofty goals. While there may be many important things that you want to achieve, consider narrowing it down to two or three. With a smaller number of goals you’re more likely to be successful because your efforts will be less scattered.
Once you’ve chosen your goals, set yourself up for success by creating specific action steps, identifying the milestones for measuring progress, and attaching these steps to timelines.
And then you’re ready to get moving on your goals!
Remember that changes won’t happen overnight. Stay the course. Keep your eye on the prize and visualize your success. Surround yourself with people who support you.
And most importantly, never doubt your power to make changes.
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