2015 marks 150 years of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Written by maths scholar Charles Lutwidge Dodgson – aka Lewis Carroll – the book is a cocktail of nonsense and life’s many essential truths:
Like, the ever smiling Cheshire Cat’s observation that without a destination, or goal, we’re aimless.
In What They Don’t Teach You in the Harvard Business School, Mark McCormack outlines the importance of clear and recorded goal-setting.
When asked the question: ‘Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?’
– 84% of the 1979 Harvard MBA students had no goals at all.
– 13% had unwritten goals.
– ONLY 3% had written goals and plans!
10 years later:
– The 13 % were earning, on average, twice as much as the goal-less 84 %.
– The 3% with clear, written goals were earning about 10 TIMES that of the 97%!
Clear, written goals work – and numbers, as Lewis Carroll no doubt knew, say more than a 1000 words!
ONE way to create clear goals? The SMART approach – goal-planning in 5 words.
SMART stands for:
● Specific – What exactly do I want to achieve?
● Measurable – How will I know when I’ve achieved it?
● Achievable – How can my goal be attained? What skills or support do I need?
● Realistic – What can be realistically be achieved, given available resources?
● Time Bound – When do I plan to start and finish this goal?
So, go on, embrace that back to school, new term vibe and get goal-setting today!
What Next?:
We’d love to hear your ideas around career goal-setting. Got any questions? Need help? Let us know!
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