Imagine that you are on an airplane that has just taken off from Honolulu, Hawaii for a non-stop flight to the mainland. What would you think if the following announcement came over the intercom:

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING. WE ARE NOW TRAVELING EAST ACROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN, AND SHOULD SOON BE ABLE TO SEE LAND BELOW US. IF WE HUNT FOR A CITY THAT HAS AN AIRPORT WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIND ONE. WHEN WE FIND ONE THAT LOOKS GOOD, WE WILL LAND AND THEN DETERMINE WHERE WE ARE. NEXT, WE WILL DECIDE WHERE WE WANT TO GO ON THE NEXT LEG OF OUR FLIGHT. THE JET STREAM IS BEHIND US TODAY, AND WE WILL SOON BE TRAVELING MORE THAN 550-MILES PER HOUR. SIT BACK, RELAX, AND ENJOY THE FLIGHT.

What image comes to your mind? Would you want to ride on that airliner? How confident would you be of a safe and timely arrival? Would you wonder why it is advantageous to travel at 550 miles per hour when the destination is unknown? A good pilot needs to know where the flight is going, the route it is to travel, and the estimated time of the arrival of the flight. For effective management of a home, a farm, and/or a ranch, we need to be like that pilot that you would be willing to fly with. We need to know WHERE we are going, HOW we are going to get there, and WHEN we will arrive; all information that comes directly from our goals that we have set into place. If time has not allowed for identification of these goals, then you are not alone. But this is a job that needs to be done. This is one of those gray areas that becomes very difficult for people to talk about much less actually do. Generally most people HOPE for a better future, but few set goals to attain the future they desire. Fewer still, manage for that goal attainment. This series of tasks will help provide information will help provide a method of identifying personal goals, set some personal guidelines, do a spot check on our partners perspective; as well as, help in the development of a goal directed management plan for the farm and/or ranch operation.