Happy New Year

Annually on December 31 people all over the world celebrate the arrival of the new year. Many people use this time as an opportunity to reflect on the happenings of the past year – think about things they did well, things they could have done better. At many companies this time of year is used to evaluate the performance of employees over the previous year.

Many people also use this as a time of goal setting for the coming year – looking forward to new opportunities. This is my favorite part of the new year’s arrival. While I think it’s important to measure past performance, you can’t get very far ahead by looking backward.

So, here are some of my business and personal goals for 2012:

1. Increase total company revenues by 10% through new customer acquisition.
2. Create efficiencies in company systems to reduce total employee time worked by 10%.
3. Develop program to identify qualified candidates for employment. Reduce time to acquire new employees by two weeks.
4. Work out a minimum of three times weekly.
5. Eat dinner with my family every night I am in town.

Did you notice anything about my goals? They are all SMART – Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Timely. It’s important to make all your goals SMART – it will help you make sure they are appropriate and will allow you to know when you’ve accomplished them.

What are some of your business and personal goals for 2012?