{"id":21629,"date":"2020-12-21T09:34:50","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T13:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=21629"},"modified":"2020-12-27T18:37:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T22:37:50","slug":"characteristics-of-effective-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/characteristics-of-effective-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Characteristics of Effective Goals You Can Achieve"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Do you want to know how set goals to maximize your chances of achieving them? What are the characteristics of effective goals?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Stephen Covey, goals can be counterproductive and even work against you if you don&#8217;t set or execute them properly. In his book <em>First Things First<\/em>, he describes five characteristics of effective goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more to learn about characteristics of effective goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Are the Characteristics of Effective Goals?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Stephen Covey, there are five characteristics of effective goals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1. They\u2019re conscience-driven.<\/strong> An effective goal isn\u2019t inspired by urgency, it\u2019s not a reaction to another person or an external force, and it doesn\u2019t reflect the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/social-mirror-7-habits\/\">social mirror<\/a>; an effective goal is in line with your mission and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/true-north-principles\/\">true north principles<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2. They\u2019re important. <\/strong>Effective goals are typically <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/quadrant-2-7-habits\/\">Quadrant II<\/a> goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Quadrant II organizing process focuses on important goals &#8212; connecting every \u201cwhat\u201d with its \u201cwhy\u201d &#8212; so many of your goals will be important rather than urgent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3. They\u2019re based on our needs and capacities. <\/strong>Most of us <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-focus-on-your-goals-and-avoid-distractions\/\">focus on goals<\/a> that meet our physical needs but ignore our spiritual, social, and mental needs. We need to address all our needs and capacities and see their interconnectedness to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-live-a-meaningful-life\/\">live a meaningful life<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4. They\u2019re in your Center of Focus. <\/strong>The Center of Focus is the place where your time and energy are best spent.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All the things you think and worry about fall into your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/circle-of-concern-and-circle-of-influence\/\">Circle of Concern<\/a>; this includes everything from your health to politics to climate change. Many things in your Circle of Concern are out of your control, and thus are ultimately not worth your energy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Within the Circle of Concern is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/circle-of-influence-covey-7-habits\/\">Circle of Influence<\/a>, which encompasses all the things that you <em>do<\/em> have control over. The Circle of Influence can be an effective place to focus your energy but doesn\u2019t necessarily help you move closer to your mission.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Within the Circle of Influence is the Center of Focus. This is reserved for things that you\u2019re concerned about, that you have the power to influence, that align with your mission, and that are timely. This is the most effective way to spend your time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5.<\/strong> <strong>They\u2019re determinations or concentrations. <\/strong>A determination is something you\u2019re set and determined to do, no matter what obstacles you face. A concentration is something you choose to focus on and dedicate effort to.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A determination puts your integrity at stake; it\u2019s essentially a commitment you\u2019ve made to yourself. You must make a priority of following through on your determinations in order to keep your integrity high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A concentration is a milder commitment that doesn\u2019t risk your integrity. This is something you\u2019ve decided to move toward and find opportunities to pursue, but if you don\u2019t reach it you\u2019re not making a withdrawal from your Personal Integrity Account.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you want to know how set goals to maximize your chances of achieving them? What are the characteristics of effective goals? According to Stephen Covey, goals can be counterproductive and even work against you if you don&#8217;t set or execute them properly. In his book First Things First, he describes five characteristics of effective goals. Read more to learn about characteristics of effective goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,43],"tags":[176],"class_list":["post-21629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-self-improvement","tag-first-things-first","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 Characteristics of Effective Goals You Can Achieve - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How do you set goals to maximize your chances of achieving them? 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Here are 5 characteristics of effective goals, according to Stephen Covey.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/characteristics-of-effective-goals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-21T13:34:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-27T22:37:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/david-and-goliath-full-court-press.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"782\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"509\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/characteristics-of-effective-goals\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/characteristics-of-effective-goals\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"5 Characteristics of Effective Goals You Can Achieve\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-21T13:34:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-27T22:37:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/characteristics-of-effective-goals\/\"},\"wordCount\":497,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/characteristics-of-effective-goals\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/david-and-goliath-full-court-press.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"First Things First\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Psychology\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/characteristics-of-effective-goals\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/characteristics-of-effective-goals\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/characteristics-of-effective-goals\/\",\"name\":\"5 Characteristics of Effective Goals You Can Achieve - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/characteristics-of-effective-goals\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/characteristics-of-effective-goals\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/david-and-goliath-full-court-press.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-21T13:34:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-27T22:37:50+00:00\",\"description\":\"How do you set goals to maximize your chances of achieving them? 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