Bill Canady says real goals require three things: a specific date outside this year, alignment with strategy, and a trade-off. If you can hit a goal without sacrificing something else, it's just a wish, not a real goal.
3, does it name a date, an actual month, not this year, not over the plan horizon, a date you can be behind? Does it actually line up with where you're going? And here's an informal 4th one I'd apply before I sign my name to it. Does achieving this goal require you to say no to something? If the goal can be reached without stopping anything, without walking away from any revenue, without disappointing anyone, It's probably not a real goal. It's a forecast. You're trying to make too many people happy here. Goal's to win. Real goals cost something on the day you set them. Remember that.
