Here is a great rule for success: Think on paper. Only about 3 percent of adults have clear, written goals. These people accomplish five and ten times as much as people of equal or better education and ability but who, for whatever reason, have never taken the time to write out exactly what it is they want.
-Brian Tracy, Eat that Frog
Clearly, writing down goals is a great place to start. But how do we write truly effective goals? To do so, let’s consider the acronym SMART:
To write SMART goals, begin by writing down a general goal. Then, go through the acronym and modify your goal until it meets all the criteria. The process of creating exceptional goals is something that requires practice, but the effort is well worth it. Many of us have struggled to accomplish our goals or resolutions in the past, but that is often because those goals were not SMART, so we did not set ourselves up for success.
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