Building a Bright Future with SMART goals

Assalamualaikum wbth,

My beloved friends,

There are so many things to do in life isn't ? There are too many ways to go, too many options to choose, too little time we have...

CAREER is a means for you to groom yourself and achieve your goals with satisfaction. It is a waste if we separate our career with others as we waste 8 prime hour a day, 5 days a week for 30 years! If you 'divorce' the career with others, it will mean that you only get back your prime 8 hours at age of 55. SO? Love your Career and align it to your goals along with all the other things you want to achieve.

How to start realigning the career to meets our goals?
Remember SMART, not RM2 'terowong' SMART.

How to create an action plan and monitor your progress towards achieving SMART goals?

This step-by-step approach creates the discipline and structure required to see results:

To achieve a professional goal, start by creating a goal statement using the SMART goal setting technique. Once you have a strong goal statement, it is now time to create an action plan to map out how you will achieve the goal.

The process is as follows:

1. I ask them to write their goal statement on a large sticky note.
2. I then give them smaller sticky notes and ask them, “What will it take to attain your goal?” They start to list off all of the tasks that they will need to do and each task is written on a sticky note. After they have a few of the top-of-mind tasks listed (in no particular order), I keep asking the questions “And what needs to be done to complete this task?” My objective input helps to make sure everything has been considered so partner with someone that can help you see the forest for the trees.
3. Once we have a complete list of all the tasks that need to be done, I ask them to set a deadline to achieve their goal.
4. I then ask them to commit to a goal achievement schedule for the next two months e.g. 2 hours on Monday evening, 2 hours on Thursday morning and 4 hours on Saturday.
5. We then use another colour of ink to mark the time it will take (in hours) to complete each task on a small sticky note.
6. The sticky notes are arranged in sequential order and are added to a spreadsheet. The column headings are: Task Type (broad category like meeting or phone call), Description, Time Estimate, Actual Time, Scheduled (date in the goal achievement schedule), Completed and Progress.
7. We then work through the plan together. I help them to get over any hurdles and learn from any time management mistakes i.e. over or under budgeting the time it takes to complete a task.
8. At the end of the process, I encourage my clients to celebrate achieving their goal. I believe this is a very important step in the process.

My experience has been that clients who work with me through this process see how they can use the same techniques for goals in other areas of their lives.

But remember, berdoa agar Allah tetapkan pendirian kita dengan goal yang kita plan, jangan jadi macam pepatah melayu, sekali air bah, sekali pantai berubah.

:: Alhamdulillah ::

I am really sorry to not have been able to update on a daily basis as things should be. Would try harder for my phD, insyaAllah;)

Well, back to my masters, alhamdulillah..I owe Allah to all His blessings for all that He has granted to me. For the publications that i've done, Thank you Allah.

Btw, a new lecturer from MMU have came to join the Photonics Lab - another bonus supervisor for me. He is very interested in my Masters project & will be a great mentor a.k.a co-supervisor to help guide me towards excellence!. Welcome to the club Dr. Mansoori, I look forward to be working with u;)

Alhamdulillah......things always do turn out to be way beyond my expectation, to be full of miracles & it's indeed a bless. Thank you Allah.

I'm nearing my graduation date & the schedule is tight!. Let's meet at the Success Line - if there would be any..huhu;p

S.M.A.R.T Goals

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely

Specific - A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. To set a specific goal you must answer the six "W" questions:

*Who: Who is involved?
*What: What do I want to accomplish?
*Where: Identify a location.
*When: Establish a time frame.
*Which: Identify requirements and constraints.
*Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

EXAMPLE: A general goal would be, "Get in shape." But a specific goal would say, "Join a health club and workout 3 days a week."

Measurable - Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.

To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as......How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?

Attainable - When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.

You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your goals you build your self-image. You see yourself as worthy of these goals, and develop the traits and personality that allow you to possess them.

Realistic - To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress. A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because a low goal exerts low motivational force. Some of the hardest jobs you ever accomplished actually seem easy simply because they were a labor of love.

Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.

Timely - A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there's no sense of urgency. If you want to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? "Someday" won't work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, "by May 1st", then you've set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal.

T can also stand for Tangible - A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing. When your goal is tangible you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable.

(^_^)

I'm Back....

with loooaddss of papers coming, ameen;)

Tips as shared in Taufiq's blog:

For every simulation and result achieved in our research, document them nicely on an A4 paper & give some explanation to it. After that if we want to publish for some conference, we can simply choose which result needs to be included for respective conference. That way, we can publish 2 or 3 conferences in the same time.

Yeay~ ;)