We have goals in every aspect of our lives, whether we recognize it or not. But not everybody effectively plans to make those dreams a reality.
Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying, "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!" This is certainly true today.
Several of my friends have been talking about retiring, and they're taking deliberate steps to do so successfully. Their goal is to be financially stable, and they are meeting with financial planners to ensure they maintain a comfortable lifestyle.
That's a good idea for more than potential retirees.
After all, families have a range of goals; sometimes, those may be as simple as sleeping through the night after a new baby's birth. Other times, goals and budgets go hand in hand.
For instance, sending children to college, paying off home loans, replacing vehicles, taking vacations and planning for retirement all require some investment, and you won't achieve those milestones overnight.
Our church, First United Methodist, has a timeline posted on the wall so the congregation can track their goals. A great idea!
Similarly, businesses and governments need to set short- and long-term goals. Cities, towns, counties and states need to state their goals to residents and then implement them.
Here are a few considerations:
●How large do we want to grow our community?
●How will we maintain our infrastructure?
●How will we fund our emergency services?
●Where do we want to be in three, five and 10 years?
●What services will we need to add as the municipality grows?
●How will we fund needed services, roads and traffic lights?
●What about traffic flow?
●How will we, as a city, county or country, attract new businesses to our area, which will increase the tax revenue base and bring jobs?
All these questions must be asked.
The Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Bound, or SMART, goal-setting standard, can help, whether in households, businesses or government.
We all need to be intelligent about setting goals and following through on them.
We don't want to be in crisis mode because we failed to plan. So let's get to work — set goals and implement them.
Janice Lynn Crose lives in Crestview with her husband, Jim; her two rescue collies, Shane and Jasmine; and two cats, Kathryn and Prince Valiant.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: CROSE: Goals apply to households, businesses and government