Nebulous goals bring nebulous results. Defining your goal in solid terms has several advantages:
- Better Visualization: It’s much easier to visualize a dark green Mercedes SL230 convertable with a tan interior than it is to visualize “a better mode of transportation”.
- Having an End Point: If your goal is “lose weight in 2009,” how do you know when to declare victory? Strictly speaking, when you get a haircut, you’ve lost weight, but I’m sure that’s not what you were going for!
- Ability to Measure and Monitor progress: If you pose an exact number for your weight loss, you can check your progress as a percentage of the goal. This is why professional project managers always assign a number to the LOE (level of effort) in a project plan, e.g. 48 hours, as well as an end-point (due-date) as mentioned in the bullet above.
