It’s time to start thinking about them again, and what you want to do in the next year. I know there are a fair number of people that don’t believe in setting them, or believe they fail so why bother?

So here’s a couple things to consider:

Every business that does well sets annual goals. Why? Because goals work, but you have to do them right. If a business said “double sales this year” and that was it, they probably wouldn’t do well.

Goals need to be broken down, and a plan for reaching them set out. Their will be annual goals, quarterly goals, monthly goals and often weekly goals. As well as a plan that to get their, and regular check ins to change course if needed.

Personal goals are no different, if you want to lose 25lbs this year and that’s all you set as your goal… well come December 2017 you may realize you need to lose 30 more to reach your goal…

Instead break it down, that’s 2 lbs a month (far more manageable) or 1 lbs every 2 weeks (even more manageable). And mark that in your calendar. Start with your current weight, and then every 2 weeks for the next 3 months fill in your goal.

If you miss a 2-week mark, concentrate efforts and hit the next marker. If it is measured and monitored it will get done.

Next you need a plan, it’s great to want to reach a goal, but without a plan it’s not going to happen. Think of a plan like a map. Look at where you are, then where you want to go and then you can map out a path on how to get there. Every now and then pull out the map, make sure you are still on course, if not figure out where you are and plot a new course.

So set the goals, break them down, write out the plan and then track them. When they don’t work it’s most often because we didn’t do those things.