Specific And Measurable Goals

Remember, to be useful, a goal has to be specific and measurable so that you:

• Know what to work toward

  Goals help to give us direction. There are many things we can be doing at any point in time, but goals help us to choose among all of these possibilities. Goals tell us what is really important to us and help us to keep a positive attitude about reaching them.

• Can tell when you have finished and have achieved your goal

  If you don't know where you are going, it is difficult to know if you get there. Goals need to be specific and measurable so we can judge when we have completed or reached the goal. If there were no clear way to tell if we reached a goal, we would not know when to stop.