Overview
If you’re familiar at all with even some basic form of project management you’ve probably heard the term milestones. Objectives are the same thing. They are simply a key point along the path of accomplishing a goal.
If we continue to use the driving directions analogy you can think of Objectives as stopping points along the way.
For short trips the goal itself might be the only Objective. For longer road trips, you’re going to make stops along the way. Gas, food, sleep, etc.
If your goal is to drive from Minneapolis to Miami you COULD just drive straight through only stop when you need to.
But this lack of plan approach has some potential risk.
What if you fail to notice the sing that says 200 miles to the next gas station?
What if you need to sleep and you’re an hour away from the nearest motel? Or worse… The motel you found has dozens of reviews saying ‘avoid at all costs!’
With a little planning, we can avoid a few common problems while working towards some of our larger goals; Tunnel vision, resource availability, and burnout are a few of the big ones.
Look for ‘rest stops’ along the way so you can make the journey as comfortable as possible.
Break it down
Step 1: resource constraints
One way to start is by looking at our Action Steps and identify any that may require significant resources; Money and external help are two easy ones to identify.
Write down those Action Steps as potential objectives and we’ll address them in a bit more detail in the next steps.
Road Trip
In our road trip example we can estimate how many miles we can safely drive before we need to stop for gas, food, and lodging.
Step 2: identify Measurable targets
In order for us to know when we’ve reached the objective we need to know what to measure.
How will we know we’ve reached the objective?
Road Trip
If our car can safely drive 300 miles on a single tank of gas, we might look for a gas station in the 180-240 mile range.
This gives us a safety buffer and also allows us to get out and stretch our legs after 3-4 hours of driving.
Step 3: step through the plan
Now that you’ve broken down your goal into the individual Action Steps and set some objectives, it’s a good idea to visualize the whole thing from start to finish.
If at all possible, I find it really helpful to talk over larger goals with someone I trust.
I have a Happiness Plan partner. No, I don’t call them that. We meet once a month and do our Monthly reviews together. We also help each other review our goal plans. We might think of things the other did not.
Step 3: Give yourself a huge pat on the back!
Believe it or not, we’re almost done!
Since you’ve made it this far, I’d like to hear about it.
Post a message in the Facebook group or send me an email with the subject line “My objectives are set!”
* I can’t stress to you enough how beneficial it is to have a Happiness Plan Partner!
If you’d like help finding one, contact me and I’ll connect you with someone.