In the next few On-Track Tuesday's, we will share some of the deficiencies that we have been helping dental hygienists with this last month for their re-submission of their QA Records.

Today we will focus on the Goals.

Make sure your Goals are SMART.

Specific ~ do not be general. Do not make your goal too large or too broad. Zone in and focus on a specific topic. (ie Oral Cancer is too broad. What about Oral Cancer? Do you mean Oral Cancer Screenings? Oral Cancer Risk Factors? Abnormal Lesions?)

Measurable ~ how are you able to measure if you achieved your goal? In your goal statement use measurable outcomes. (ie and make changes to my practice as required. Or...help my clients in need. Or...implement into my practice). Goals should be measured by your outcomes not activities.

Attainable/Achievable ~ do you have the resources available to accomplish your goal? The nice thing about rdhu is we are very focused on the portfolio and aim to give you a topic that has lots of extra resources available. We have created bundles as well that will help you complete a goal, and our live courses typically end up being approximately 10 hours of CQI Activities.

Relevant to your practice ~ must be relevant to your practice (ie if you are a clinical RDH then the goals should focus on your clinical practice. If you are an educator, then it should relate to their area of teaching.

Time-bound ~ must be complete within the year.

A goal statement should be very clear and concise. It shouldn't be a mystery. Anyone who reads your statement should know what it is about and how you will measure if you achieved your goal.

It should be one statement and not a paragraph.

Whether you are doing the Learning Portfolio or the QA Test, it is a good idea to get in the habit of writing goal statements.

I like looking back at my journals and seeing my personal goals being achieved.

Do you write personal goal statements? It keeps you on-track in all aspects and helps you be more engaged with your every day life. Your goal could be on health, finances, relationships, spirituality, avocational, and more.

Do you know how powerful writing your goals down really is? A Harvard Business study revealed amazing statistics relating to goal setting and success.

• 83% of the population does not have goals
• 14% have a plan in mind, but are unwritten goals
• 3% have goals written down

The study went on to find that the 14% who have goals are 10 times more successful than those without goals. The 3% with written goals are 3 times more successful than the 14% with unwritten goals. I was very surprised when first read these statistics. However, the more you think about it, it makes complete sense. Most people are not getting what they want in their life because they are not writing down what it is they actually want.

I stumbled across a journal from 5 years ago. It said I will live in my dream home in 5 years. We recently moved up north to cottage country, and guess where? My dream home.

It's pretty powerful stuff.

Give it a try.

Make change happen in your practice. Improve and enhance client care.

Make change happen in your life. Design your life.

Have a great week ahead. Please take a look below for what is coming up!

Thank you for reading and your continued support.

Kindest regards,

Kathleen