subject: The difference between Goals & Objectives [print this page] The difference between Goals & Objectives
What is the secret to success?
It's Goals and Objectives.
In order to have success at anything in life, and I mean anything you must have goals and objectives. Some examples would be going to the store to get groceries, going out to dinner, going to work each day, making a million dollars, being the next American Idol etc. etc......
I am a certified public school teacher and have been a mentor to many first year special education teachers and it's funny how difficult it is to get them to understand the difference between a goal and an objective.
A goal is what you want to achieve after a specified amount of time, say 1 year. You may have heard the phrase goals are dreams with a deadline. For example by (date) I will run a mile in 7 minutes. This is your goal. You may have long range goals or short range goals. If you are now running the mile in 15 minutes then the goal to run it in 7 minutes would be a long range goal, so the date may be 1 year or 6 months later. It depends on the goal. You may also have a short range goal. So if you are running the mile in 15 minutes, then you may have a short range goal of: in 4 weeks I will run a mile in 12 minutes.
Goals must be concrete and specific. I will run a mile in 7 minutes in 1 year is concrete, I will run fast in 1 year is not.
These goals and objectives must be written down somewhere.
If you don't write down goals and objectives then they are just floating in that infinite space called your mind where everything changes every second.
A goal that was 7 minutes becomes 8, then you watch something inspirational and now it's 5. Write down your goal that way it stays put. Not writing goals down can also get your objectives all out of whack. They also need to be put somewhere so you can see them everyday.
An objective is simply what you are going to DO (big word do) it's a verb, it means action, to reach your goal. These also need to be written down. This would be your daily activities. You are going to go to the track on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and run 1.5 miles. This is an example of a specific objective.
This part is very important!!! Objectives MUST BE ATTAINABLE. If you have never ran 3 miles you wouldn't write that you would run 3 miles on MWF. You would probably quit before you ever made it to Friday. They need to be something you can already do. Then as you improve, add to it.
Can you do other things that are not written down as an objective, absolutely. Maybe you are having a good day and you decide you are going to run 2 miles and lift a few weights, great do it. Just make sure you are at least accomplishing your main objective.
Goals are what you want to achieve (your dream) and objectives are what you are going to DO to reach your goals.
Write them down make them attainable and don't quit and you can not fail.
