Gals, you, too, can make it happen!

Have you ever asked yourself, "If I keep on the way I'm going, will I get where I want to be?" Yeah for you if the answer is yes. For many, the answer is probably not. The number one reason for many women is that they haven't set their own goals and priorities. The wants and needs of others drive them.

Here are some additional reasons why women hesitate to set goals:

• They are not convinced of the value of goals
• They are so busy coping there is no time to think about goals
• Goals imply commitment to action
• Women are busy helping others reach their goals
• They fear they'll fail to reach goals
• They fear they'll succeed
• They don't know how to set goals

Which of the above apply to you? Are you willing to work on overcoming your obstacles? To get where you want to go, you must set your own goals and priorities. Then plan your day with these priorities in mind. Learn to say "no" to requests that are incompatible with these objectives.

When setting goals, you must make them specific, motivating, measurable, attainable, realistic, and have a specific timeframe. What would a goal look like with these attributes? Say you want to loose weight for your high school reunion. Your goal statement might look like this: "My goal is to loose 15 pounds. I will look great and feel good when reuniting with my old friends. I will be a size smaller, so will need to buy new clothes. This goal is within reach because I know how to cut back on my food intake and can fit in 20 minutes a day of exercise. Fifteen pounds is a reasonable weight loss because I have six months before the event."

Goals are necessary both at work and in your personal life. Top priorities are those activities or projects that move you toward your goals. A good question to ask is, "If only one thing could be done today, which activity would be the most important?" Set this as your top priority. Then, if only one additional thing can be done, what is next in importance? Prioritize according to importance, not ease of completion.

You may be waiting until requests from others come in before organizing your day. Then, you schedule your important activities in to the time you have left. A better way to organize is to block out time on your calendar for vital projects and protect those times. Then schedule appointments for the remainder of the time. It is important to occasionally take a timeout to see if you're going where you want to.