Resolutions, goals and objectives are meaningless until you can measure progress throughout the year. It's all too easy to set yourself up for failure and create an internal conflict between the desire to achieve the goal and the perceived inability to accomplish it. This inertia can manifest itself in stress, poor performance and low morale. Ick. Life's too short.

We have a few tips that might help you help yourself. Beginning with this edition, and wrapping in December 2000, Ivy Sea Online will post a monthly planning tip to keep you on track with your goal — whatever it might be. That’s the beauty of good communication — it’s not a discipline reserved for (or only useful to) those with titles denoting "communication professional."

The Talk-to-Action Planning Tip series will include real-world tips and techniques for maintaining enthusiasm, adjusting course as needed, and the like; inspirational quotes; progress charts and check lists; the opportunity to ask us questions and provide input; communication approaches that can aid any endeavor; and a variety of other tidbits that you can easily apply that very same day.

And no, these approaches aren’t pulled from a management book professing to offer all of the right answers. Every suggestion is "life tested" by us at Ivy Sea, and based on disciplines we immerse ourselves in every day, including (but not limited to) communication, personality studies, psychology, spirituality, sports, business leadership and ownership, humor, and science.

Let’s get started.

Between now and January 3, 2000, articulate at least one goal you truly want to accomplish by December 31, 2000. If you'd like to do these exercises with your group, you can identify individual and group or business goals.

Please include the following information in the write-up of your goal:

• Vision — What does the ideal outcome look, sound and feel like?
• Reasoning — Why do you want to achieve this goal?
• Measurements — How will you know you reached your goal? (These can be qualitative or quantitative.)
• Potential barriers — What’s hindered you (or could) from reaching this goal?
• Potential work-arounds — What strategies can help you jump the hurdles you've outlined in answer to the above question?

Useful tools

For some people, articulating the goal is the hardest part of the process. Here are some tools we’ve found very helpful in clearing away the mental cobwebs and the "expected" social norms to dig down and discover a true meaningful goal for ourselves:

• Mind mapping — a free-form visual technique to unearth and record associated thoughts.

• Deep listening or brainstorm sessions — each person takes turns talking about something he or she would like to do, be better at, etc., and other group members ask probing and clarifying questions.

• Discussing possibilities with a mentor — a way to learn about options and ideas you might not be considering.

• Personal market research — getting feedback and input from people you trust and respect on how you operate in the world, and how that affects other people, your job, etc.

• Examining your personality type to determine what elements you want to enhance and voids you want to fill — ancient cultures and modern psychology tackle this topic through methods such as the Enneagram, Myers-Briggs, Communicating Styles Technology, Neuro-Linguistic Programming and other approaches (See the off-site links in Leader Exchange for a start).

• Comparing business goals with your own, in order to bridge the two.

Ready to move on to the next step? Visit Tip #2 in our series,

Collaborative support for achieving performance goals.

Remember, this information is food-for-thought. The most effective interpersonal and organizational communication program is one that's been tailored to meet the unique needs of your group. If you have questions, connect with an expert or e-mail us at info@ivysea.com.

Gaining an edge with contingency mastery

Setting goals you'll actually want to accomplish