SMART Goals and Simplifying Record Keeping for 2024

With a new year comes new records and a lot of planning and preparation! Ensure you have obtainable goals that will take you to a new level. Whether personal or professional goals, it is important to set yourself up for success!

Record keeping throughout the year can be a daunting task. Finding the perfect record book that fits your needs can be overwhelming. However, record keeping is an essential aspect of a well-established business. Record keeping lets you know exactly how much, when, and where things are! Farm Credit of the Virginias offers a hard copy record book and an Excel document you can find here! The Excel version is a great resource, especially if multiple people need to input information. It also can do the math for you!

Every New Year, you hear people discuss what they will do as their New Year’s resolutions. It is stereotypically known that most of these resolutions do not make it throughout the entirety of the New Year. Why is that? Most of these resolutions are statements and not thought-out SMART goals. Setting a SMART goal can allow you to stay on track for a longer period of time.

What is a SMART Goal?

Specific

• What are you trying to achieve? Who will be involved? Why do you want to set this goal?

Measurable

• How will you know you have met your goal? What are the signs of success?

Achievable

• How realistic is your goal to be achievable in your time frame? What skills do you have to contribute to achieving this goal?

Relevant

• Why is this goal important? What area of my business does this goal relate to?

Time-Bound

• What is your deadline date? Should you have progress check in dates?

Much like New Year’s resolutions, record keeping can be intimidating. It can be something that starts off very strong and organized, then it can begin to taper off. This year, try making record keeping a SMART goal.

Your goal could be: I will update the Farm Credit of the Virginias Recordkeeping Excel sheet every Friday at 4:00 p.m. to keep track of my 2024 income and expenses.

This goal is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound!

Don’t let record keeping be a failed resolution this year. Write out your goals and expectations and make this year SMART!