The power of having goals is a rather universal concept.  The satisfaction accompanying the accomplishment of a stretch goal is uniquely fulfilling.  And a continual striving towards new heights can fill our lives with passion and purpose.

I am a firm believer in establishing goals across several fronts.  I find this approach similar to the business practice of using a balanced scorecard to gauge operational performance, thereby ensuring activities often at odds, cost containment and superior customer service for example, are each evaluated within an appropriate context.  I name my approach after a 1998 Tom Wolfe novel, a Man in Full – simply because I like the imagery evoked by the title.

I establish goals unique to 8 facets of my life – Spiritual, Financial, Career, Personal Development, Physical, Family, Social, and Household.

By defining and managing to such a diverse cross section of goals I force myself to make deposits of success in each area that defines my being.  I may not scale the Everest within each category every day or even every year, but I do hold myself accountable to at least establish and advance base camps within each category.

Secondly I overlay time horizons across each category.  I then document and dissect my categorized goals along 5 unique timelines – “Completion”, 5 years, 1 year, 1 month, 1 day. 

Allow me to define each timeframe.  It is not as difficult as it sounds.

Man in Full – This category is for characterizing total success – living the dream – in a given area.  For example, “large paid for home with $2mil invested and throwing off more than enough annual revenue to cover all living and travel expenses” might reflect ‘arrival’ in my mind’s eye circa 2009.

5 Year Goals – In this timeframe I define a stretch target aligned with the dream scenario.  For example, “mortgage under $50k and $250k in retirement savings”.

1 Year Goals – In this timeframe I define the step towards the larger goal that I plan to achieve over the next 12 months.  For example, “free of all non-mortgage debt in this 12 month period”.

1 Month Goals – In this breakout, I define the interim steps carrying me towards the in-Year Goal that I plan to take during each month throughout the year.  For example, “payoff Visa in March, payoff Car in August, payoff Student Loan in December”.  By completing each of these steps, I will have accomplished my larger goal for the year.  This step also forces me to rationalize my 1 Year Goals.  Paying off only $2000 is much too small an undertaking whereas wiping out $50,000 may not be feasible even under the best of circumstances.

Today – I call this my “what can I do today” category.  Here I list activities that I can undertake today that allow me to take steps towards the larger goals.  For example, “today I can take my lunch to work rather than eat out or I can resist an impulse purchase at the market”.

 I will elaborate on this schedule for each category by way of specific examples in the subsequent articles in this series.  However the idea is to establish a pattern of behavior that propels us towards our defined vision of success.  And is not well rounded success personified the perfect analogy for a Man in Full?

Photo By: Khan

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