Work-Life Balance

06 Goals are always out of reach? Maybe it's not smart enough.

Hello, blessings from San Diego, California, in the United States, I’m in Elaine Kung. We continue with our Work-Life Balance series, number six. Today, we're gonna focus on setting goals. We have talked about these six ‘S’ last time, and that's important for our effective time management. And we started talking about setting goals with wisdom last time, so we're gonna dive deeper today.

So, why do we need to set our goals, why do we need to plan them? There are cases when we don't have goals, you will feel so confused, discouraged, not sure what you're making progress on, frustrated, feeling lost, not sure what direction to go. Because you're not beginning with the any mind, you don't know where you're gonna end up, you have no idea where you should go. You feel lacking progress, very stressed and feeling waste of time. So, these are some of the many good reasons for us to really have goals that we can set and plan them.

So, when we look at our goals, you could have short-, medium-, and long-term goals. Based on days, weeks, months, or years. It could definitely be your personal goals in terms of your health, your family, your finances. And then your serving goal, where you serve in the community or in the church. Then there's the career goals, of course. So, we're gonna cover these and find out how to set the right goals?

So, these are some examples for our personal goals, where we want to arrive on time at home for dinner, some frequency of exercising, eating, healthy and losing some pounds this year. And having 7 hours of sleep by going to bed before 11:00pm, improve my spiritual life, read and meditate more and be more sharp in my mind. Spend more family time, and maybe specify how many hours and how frequently, and also serve more actively in the church. These are examples of personal goals.

How about work goals? Could be finishing project on time and on budget, improve my work schedule, so I don't work that many long hours, and overtime. Improve team relationship where I can have more intimate discussion on projects with more trusted relationship, more team building time that would help build and improve my relationship. Perhaps once every so often, perhaps weekly that you do a coffee time or a cocktail hours so that you have more relaxed time to get to know each other. Better one on one with my boss, avoid missing milestones. Less time for finding things and looking for where they are, that means I need to be more organized. And then fewer business trips, so I can stay more focus on what I need to do at work and at home. And then perhaps even getting promoted by a certain year with certain responsibility. So, these are examples.

What are some principles to set goals? You probably heard about SMART goal. So, what I want to tell you that we want to set goals that are B-SMART. The goals need to B-SMART. B- on the Big picture, so that we have a big picture propelling us forward, that is driving us toward a longer big picture, longer term plan.

And then SMART are the specific, when you know exactly the specifics, you are more energized to implement them, because they're not big, exactly what you need to do. Measurable. So, it's quantified in what you're gonna accomplish, and you can also go through different steps to achieve certain metrics. Achievable. So, it has to be something I’m able to finish, it is not high in the sky, so I'm motivated to finish them, I can see the finish line within a certain time. And then ‘R’ is reach higher goal, so I can be more inspired towards some stretch goals, and even go beyond what may be achievable. And of course, these goals should be relevant to what matters to me, to my priority and to my interest, and to my strength. And then ‘T’ is time bound, so that we know exactly by certain date, by certain time I want to get it done. So that would give you a little bit of a healthy pressure, a healthy stress, not negative and excessive stress, but healthy stress, so that you more focused and driven and avoid procrastination. So, let's have some goals that need to be smart (B-SMART).

And now what are some benefits? Of course, if we set our goals, that help us to be proactive, working toward the goals and being positive, and you see progress and even being able to predict what may happen next. And we're so proactive, predictive, you can even be preventive to avoid certain problems. And then to have faith, having a belief system, and committed to what you believe you can do. And be focused when you have a goal, you're very focused and driven toward what you need to do. And you can deep dive into what you need to learn, the resources and knowledge you need, and then the wisdom that you need, so you're focused on them.

Then actionable, that you can act on them with the plan, and then how to execute with excellence. And you want the goals to be value add, right? Because when you have goals, you feel like I’m adding value. It's really adding meaning to what you're doing and helping you to feel satisfied. And finally, significance. When you have goals set up, you feel like you are making contribution, making progress. You are making impact on people's lives, on the environment, on the society, on the organization, on the business. So, its purpose driven success.

So, what are some top ten suggestions on how to set goals? When we set goals, we want first to know ourselves, so that I know what I’m interested in, and I feel enthusiastic with great expectation and a vision with the end in mind. And then set goals that are B-SMRT, that we just talked about, with proper prioritization, align to what's important to us. And then write down the goals as positive statements, we're gonna show you examples of that. Established specific plan to achieve the goal, so that you have a timeline, you have the action steps, and milestones, step by step. So that you can see, how day by day, you're gonna make progress. Then analyze your current situation and see where you are with your resources, with the people and support that you need. And then how is that matching to the plan that you just put together to achieve the goals?

Then number seven, define milestones and even baby steps to achieve them. So, it could be daily, could be weekly, monthly so that you are all working focused, one step at a time toward the end goals in this overall project plan. Number eight, identify obstacles. So be proactive, remember? We want to be proactive, so we can avoid any surprises, and that we can define some alternatives, plan a, plan b, plan c, to resolve them. So that we are ahead of the game, so that we are proactive, and then preventing problems that we cannot control. Number nine, challenge yourself toward stretch goals, right? So that we don't just get relevant, realistic goal, but we want it to be far, that we can stretch and even grow ourselves further. And finally, number ten, as you work through all these goals and different steps, we can build up toward mid-term long-term and even lifelong purpose. So that's how we would set goals.

So, how do we achieve them now that we have set them? We have planned, we are happy with the B-SMART goal. How do you achieve them? So, I came up with the acrostic: ACHIEVER-RR. So how do you do these ten steps to achieve your goals? ‘A’, act quickly, don't procrastinate. Once you've got the motivation and energy, we focus and get going. ‘C’, clear milestones that we talked about earlier. So SMART goals, very clear, specific, measurable, time bound. ‘H’, humble in keep learning and growing, so that you know you can go further and further.

‘I’, inspiring faith, and commitment. We want to make sure we believe in ourselves and believe in God guiding us every step and be driven with the commitment. ‘E’, engage in discussion, talk about them with your co-workers, with your boss, with your leadership, so that these goals are socialized. We engage each other in discussion to get support that you need and draw energy together to build this up. ‘V’, visualize your goal so that you can draw a picture of what it’s gonna look like. Wow, when we finish this step, we can see this process improvement by this percentage. We can see the cost reduction by this dollars of money. And then we can see revenue improvement an increase of this much dollars. So, all these are helping us to visualize our goals.

‘E’, encourage with rewards. When you make good progress, give yourself a pat on the shoulder, encourage yourself with some reward. It's good to celebrate. And then ‘R’ is reinforced daily. So, keep going through this positive, virtual cycle, and then reinforce yourself and the plan and achieving the goal. And then the last 2 ‘R’s are to rethink and refine. And then with regular progress that you can report for the team who need to know, and with your stakeholders. That way you're motivated, you're driven, and you're encouraging each other. That's how we achieve our goals.

Let's have some example, SMART goal example, starting with a family and a personal one. My goal is to have dinner with my family consistently. So, my plan is by December, I want to come home for dinner, at least 4 times a week, very specific, right? And with measurable metrics and frequency and time bound. So, to do this, I will end meeting by 5 o'clock, knowing how long is gonna take me to commute from work to home. And that way I’ll be sure to make this goal happen. So, you should have an action plan. And then be motivated with the payoff. What's the benefit? The payoff is, I will have more time with the family and then build better relationship with them that really will motivate me to try my best. So that's an example of a personal goal.

So, here's the positive statement template. Example of how you can create SMART goal statements that are positive and specific and B-SMART. I choose to do something (the goal) by certain dates. I will know that I have hit my goal when I can, so what is that outcome. To reach my goal I need to, what’s the action plan? After I achieved my goal, I will gain what type of benefits? And will celebrate with, who are the people and how are you gonna celebrate? That really get you motivated. That's a smart goal statement example and state them in a positive way. That's what we'll cover today. Setting good goals, SMART goals, with wisdom, to help with effective time management. See you next time.

Reflections:

1. Have you set long-term, medium-term and short-term goals for your life, work, and ministry?

2.What is your main goal right now?

3.Does this goal comply with SMART principles? If not, how do you plan to adjust?