For many of us, days fly away in no time.  End of the year, we would realize we have been savaging like rats with the things around without accomplishing much.  This leads to frustration, disappointment and we consider ourselves useless.  We all have the skills, time, and resource to do the things we want to do, but at the end of the day we end up doing nothing.  This is because we don’t know what to do, we don’t have driving goals. 

Goal setting is an integral part of popular personalities we see around, and so should it be for you as well.  People with driving goals have proven to have accomplished much than those who just lets the days go by.  Setting the smart goals helps you to rethink your priorities, keeps you engaged, and gives you a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.  Driving smart goals change the way you live. 

 The first step towards setting your goals is to answer the purpose of your life.  Ask yourself “what I want to achieve with this life”.  “Purpose of life” varies from individual to individual and is driven mostly by your personality and interest.  For example it could be “I want to be a great business man”, “I want to live a happy life with caring people and family”, “I want to be a great teacher”, … for some it could also be “I want to reach god”. 

Define your purpose of life and continue reading … there is no point in reading without taking action.
… once you have defined your purpose of life, your next step is to set goals aligned with your purpose of life.  Make sure, your goals are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound). 

 There are several model/strategies which experts recommend.  Personally for me, the things which work the most are the once which are simple to understand and implement.  I have come up with a model which I call 3S model where I have divided the goals into 3.

 
3S Model

1)       Set yearly goals

2)       Set monthly goals

3)       Set daily goals

1. Set yearly goals
Set yourself yearly goals which are aligned with your purpose of life.  Yearly goal keeps you engaged throughout the year, and gives you a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. 

 
2. Set monthly goals
Set yourself monthly goals which are aligned with your yearly goals.  Achieving your goals of every month will automatically help you achieve your yearly goals.  For instance, say this year smart goal is to “increase your website profit by 20%” – your monthly goals could be bring 20% more visitors to your site through rigorous promotions, add more products to your product line, improve customer service, … 

 
3. Set daily goals
Ultimately, the things which are going to matter to you the most are your daily goals.  Yearly and monthly goals will be realized only if you achieve your daily goals.  Having everyday goal will help you move forward towards your monthly and yearly goals, will provide you sense of satisfaction everyday, will drive you more.  The intensity you work with towards your daily goals are going to determine your success – having clear goals, managing your time well, organizing your things, … will help you to realize this quite easily.  Have a “do it at any cost” mindset. 

 
When you are done with your goal setting, have them written down in a piece of paper – better yet would be to have a separate file for this.  Setting your smart goals and writing it down is just one part, achieve your goals is another.  All the time you spend analyzing your goals would be of no use if you don’t have the drive to achieve them.  Without question, you will meet adversity.  Do not despair; this is all part of the process.   Here are some suggestions to help you stay focused

 Be flexible:  if things are not working the way you planned then rethink your plan.  You need to have something which is realistic and the one you can achieve.

Practice self discipline:  don’t procrastinate and have a “do it at any cost” approach

Believe in yourself:  Millions of people reach there goals every day.  Why can’t  you

Goals are integral part of any successful business.  Set yourself SMART goals, inorder to be more resourceful and productive then ever before.  Do it right now, or else you may never comeback to do it again.  With SMART goal setting, see yourself going to the next level in your life. 

Useful links you could refer for goal setting

Set your goals smart:  http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html

Useful articles and tools on goals:  http://www.about-goal-setting.com/

Goal setting tools/templates: http://www.timethoughts.com/productivity-kit.htm