Goals give us the inspiration to go above and beyond—to transcend former accomplishments and to feel the satisfaction of constant success and improvement, whether it be personal or professional. For a goal to be effective and sensible, though, it should be more than just a wish or a hopeful intention. This article will help you to develop goals that meet four criteria.

• The first key to an effective goal is that it should be specific and measurable. That means that it must answer the following important questions:
  1. What exactly will be improved?
  2. By what amount?
  3. By what day and/or time?

For instance, let's say you create a goal to "get my work in on time." The objective is clear, but how will you know if you've achieved your goal? And what exactly is meant by "on time"? A more useful way to phrase this goal would be to make it specific and measurable:I'll turn in all remaining paperwork by this Thursday. From that point forward, I'll turn in my reports and department time cards by the specified deadline.

• The second key criterion for goals is that they should be positive. Note the difference between the following goals:Goal #1: I won't keep procrastinating on the monitoring form rewrite.Goal #2: I will complete the final draft of the monitoring form by October 4.The second goal is more powerful because it states what will happen rather than what will not. The first example makes you think about the lack of success from not finishing things on time. The second example is more inspiring because it allows a person to imagine a positive outcome.

• The third criterion is to set goals that are oriented toward results. Note the difference between the following two goals:Goal #1: All call center agents will try to sell the warranty to all callers.Goal #2: Our company will raise the amount of warranties sold by ten percent.In the first example, there's a chance of obtaining a false sense of success; If you try to sell the warranty to all customers but nobody buys it, will you really feel like you've succeeded with the intention behind the goal? The second goal, however, is aimed at a specific result—an increase in warranties bought by customers.

• Finally, goals should have a likely possibility of being met. To be sure of this, begin with little changes. Notice how much more reasonable the second of the following two goals is: Goal #1: I'll lower the turnover rate for my team by 80 percent this quarter. Goal #2: I'll lower the turnover rate for my team by 15 percent over the next six months.In order to keep up your motivation to continually reach goals, it's important to keep them within reach. If they're too lofty or unrealistic, you may eventually become discouraged or disinterested. Remember, you can always set new goals once you've reached your old ones.

This article was composed and edited by team members of Impact Learning Systems, a customer service training and consulting company.