How to Write Goals by Turning Your Vision into Goal Statements

How do you actually write goals once you’ve got a detail-rich vision of the future in hand?

The progress from vision to goal statements occurs in five stages:

• Start with a vision.
• Collect the details in your vision into a list.
• Express these details as single sentences -- in other words, write goals in draft form.
• Check to be sure each sentence is measurable and contains a target time frame to each one. Revise if necessary.
• End with you goal statement.

Starting Vision:

Marion is an pediatrician in California. She has avoided practicing medicine while her children were too young for elementary school but is now thinking that she might want to work again. She is sure she does not want to begin in a new medical practice. She does see herself being part of an educational organization that works with parents. While she is not sure precisely which organization she wants she knows she wants to work as part of a team with several other people. She sees herself giving talks and lectures, interacting with other doctors, and perhaps doing some writing. She also knows that being relatively close to home is important to her so she wants to be sure her job is located in her hometown or one nearby.

Marion now follows steps 2 through 4, above, to write goals from this vision.

Details from the vision:

Marion first writes down the following pieces of information from her vision.

• Not practicing medicine.
• Working as an educator with parents.
• Part of a commercial or non-profit company
• With several others on the team
• Between San Jose and San Bruno California.

To turn this list into goal statements Marion writes her list of details as sentences that are draft goals.

Details stated as sentences:

I want to work part time or full time but not as a doctor. Instead I will be working as a parent educator as part of a team employed by a commercial or not-for-profit. The company will be located between San Jose and San Bruno.

Check to be sure draft goals are measurable and time limited

Now it is time for Marion to perform the check on the draft goals she has just created.

If these statements are her goals are they measurable?

They are because they contain the amount of work (full or part time), type of work, type of company and location.

But they do not contain a time frame for completion.

To complete her goal statements Marion needs to add in a time frame for performance. She would like to have this position by the end of the year, 9 months away.

Adding this information into her draft Marion now has a final goal statement.

Final Goal Statement:

By January 1 of next year I will be working part time or full time as a parent educator as part of a team employed by a commercial or not-for-profit at a company between San Jose and San Bruno.

Having taken the time to write goals from her vision Marion can now turn to forming an action plan to make it happen.

Starting Vision:

Joseph has just landed a new job in the information technology department at a major investment bank. His vision of the future is clear. Looking ahead about a year he sees himself as a respected member of the department who is well connected to both his colleagues and supervisors. Although not necessarily social, his relationships within the firm are reasonably well established. As review season approaches he has made substantial progress on a major project which will leave a foundation for a good review, bonus and raise.

Details from the vision:

Joseph extracts the following details from this future vision:

• Strong connections to co-workers and supervisors.
• Participate in a major project in an impactful way.
• Well positioned for a good review, bonus and raise.

Details stated as sentences:

Next he turns this list into sentences.

• I will meet and get to know my colleagues.
• I will make a significant contribution to a prominent project so I am well positioned for a good review, bonus and raise.

Check to be sure draft goals are measurable and time limited:

Joseph sees that his goals are not necessarily measurable. How will he know when he has met and gotten to know his colleagues? What is a significant contribution? The goal statements also lack a time reference.

Joseph changes his draft goal statements to address these issues and winds up with a final goal statement.

Final Goal Statement:

By the end of my first three months at the firm I will have met everyone in my department and started a friendly dialogue with them, as appropriate.
After these meetings and by the end of my fourth month of work I will have found an important departmental project to join.I will put my best effort into that project for the balance of my first year with the company.

Joseph also followed each of the steps necessary to write goals. Like Marion, he now has goal statements that are measurable to use a starting point and can move into the action phase.

Do you have a clear vision of the future you want?

Follow these examples to create goal statements that express your vision and then get ready to start making the future you want a realtiy.

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