Next week, I am sitting on my first ever panel!! I was so flattered to be approached with the opportunity and was ecstatic when I learned that the topic of the panel was on goal-setting.
As a retired D1 college athlete, goal setting was something I was encouraged to do early on. Splitting time between practices, classes all while taking in the college experience, you needed to have goals in place to keep your focus. In those days, goals looked as follows; this week in practice I am going to learn a new dive, practice that dive for two weeks and then compete it in our next diving competition. Other goals were focused around hitting new weights during strength training or striving for a 4.0 at the end of the semester. I would set the goal in my mind, and then take the necessary action to achieve my goals.
After college, I accepted my first full-time position with Huber Financial. I started off with the firm as a Client Service Associate but had aspirations of one day becoming a Financial Advisor. As part of our employee reviews, we were introduced to the SMART method of goal setting which has forever changed the way I approach goal-setting. SMART goals force you to take your goal and break it down into the SMART components.
- What is the Specific goal?
- How can I Measure if this goal has been achieved?
- Is this an Attainable goal?
- Is it Relevant to my career and/or situation?
- Is it Time bound?
Taking the time to go through each questions as part of the SMART goal building process and write down a response has allowed me to really quantify my goal. Understanding what I am setting out to achieve and what it will take to accomplish the goal has really allowed me to grow in my career. Since being with Huber Financial, I have been promoted from Client Service Associate (CSA) to CSA Department head to Financial Planner and I am currently knocking on the for my next promotion.
I am a huge advocate of the SMART goal approach and have applied it to my personal life. I also work with clients on creating SMART goals that are financially focused. Goal planning is at the heart of Huber Financials’ approach to financial planning. We help clients create financial goals then create a savings and investment strategy to accomplish the client’s end goal.
If you are available this upcoming Wednesday, March 13th, and are in the Chicago area, I invite you to attend this event. We have an wonderful panel that will be sharing their success stories and the goals they’ve set and achieved along the way. We will wrap up the evening with a mini goal setting workshop where we will take attendees through the SMART goal process. You can purchase tickets to the event here.
It would be great to see you there!
15 thoughts on “Be a Goal Digger”