Goals and Objectives

Step 1: Consider your mission and values. Where do you want to go? Who do you want to be?

Step 2: Consider your high-level goals (what will it take to get you there?)

Step 3: Create an Opportunities chart:

                                                                                 Things that must be done 

Doing Now

COULD be doing

CAN do in the future

 Step 4: wherever there’s an intersection between things you’re already doing and things that must be done, colour it green.

Step 5: wherever there’s an intersection between things you COULD be doing now (ie you have the resources: time, money, transportation, permission, etc.) and things that must be done, colour it yellow.

Step 6: wherever there’s an intersection between things you CAN do in the future (ie you don’t have the resources: time, money, transportation, permission, etc.) and things that must be done, leave it blank.

Step 7: The GREEN squares are your Bright Spots. The YELLOW squares are your low-hanging fruit: the easiest-to-achieve opportunities. They’re also your FUTURE Bright Spots: when you can colour them green, you’ll know you’re making progress. The WHITE (uncoloured) squares are your long-term opportunities and goals. When resources become available, colour them yellow.

Step 8: Draw a calendar of 12 months.

NOW	JAN	FEB	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	SUMMER	SEPT	OCT	NOV

 Step 9: Record your Bright Spots in the ‘NOW’ column. Then timeline your YELLOW opportunities in the next three months, and your WHITE opportunities later in the year. These timelines may shift as the year goes on and new opportunities present themselves, but it’s important to get them on paper to see how they all fit together.

EXAMPLE: A teenager wants to become well-respected; help others; and become financially advanced. Her high-level goal (her route for accomplishing that Mission) is to become a Doctor. She’s a Senior in High School with good grades.

                                                                                 Things that must be done

                                Graduate HS      Undergrad               Med School                   Internship           Open Practice

Go to High School	Complete a B.Sc.	Finish all Med School Classes; complete PhD	Secure Internship	Find Space
Carry a 4.0 GPA	Take college courses	Apply to med schools	Apply to different Hospitals	Find Clients
Excel at sciences	Finish with a high GPA	Accept / be accepted	Consider possible specialties	Find Staff
Get extra Tutoring	Write Entry Exams	Find ways to pay for med school	Practice medicine	Learn Billing Procedure
Summer School to get ahead	Secure recommendations from teachers	Seek Internship opportunities	Complete internship requirements	Learn Accounting

Doing Now

COULD be doing

CAN do in the future

 

There are things she can be doing now. Let’s colour them, as appropriate:

Things that must be done

Go to High School	Complete a B.Sc.	Finish all Med School Classes; complete PhD	Secure Internship	Find Space
Carry a 4.0 GPA	Take college – level courses	Apply to med schools	Apply to different Hospitals	Find Clients
Excel at sciences	Finish with a high GPA	Accept / be accepted	Consider possible specialties	Find Staff
Get extra Tutoring	Write Entry Exams	Find ways to pay for med school	Practice medicine	Learn Billing Procedure
Summer School to get ahead	Secure recommendations from teachers	Seek Internship opportunities	Complete internship requirements	Learn Accounting

 

Doing Now

COULD be doing

CAN do in the future

 

 

 

Currently, she’s going to high school, and her science marks are great. Unfortunately, her maths and reading scores aren’t at the 4.0 level yet. Now she can identify opportunities to get her closer to the desired outcome. These opportunities are her short-term goals, and she can put them on a timeline:

NOW	JAN	FEB	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	SUMMER	SEPT	OCT	NOV
4.0 GPA
	TUTORING					SUMMER SCHOOL
	COLLEGE COURSES		CHOOSE COLLEGE				START COLLEGE

 

It’s clear that she has a few Low-Hanging Fruit: opportunities of which she can take advantage immediately (extra Tutoring, and maybe some college-level courses.) She can also enrol to take extra classes in summer school, but she has to choose a college by March, and that means she must start considering the options now.

For the point of illustration, most charts won’t progress chronologically (for instance, she can start taking Accounting classes anytime to learn how to manage her future practice.) A chart is a way to visualize the hurdles to be surmounted; the opportunities for doing so; and the relative amount of time necessary to achieve those goals. It also provides a good way to identify Bright Spots, which are important for encouragement. The things you’re doing well NOW arejust as important as the things you’ll need to do well LATER.