We hear a lot of talk about setting goals. We have goals to meet for work. We have financial goals to meet as we save for a new house or car, for investments, or for our future. We may also have personal goals, like losing those extra pounds, expanding our horizons by reading X number of books this year, growing our best garden yet, or crocheting a blanket for each of our grandchildren. By setting a specific objective, it is clear to see what we need to do to accomplish these goals.
Goals are also an important part of family history research.
On the other hand, if we take the time to analyze our findings and set specific goals to focus on, we are much more apt to get positive results and make progress with our research. Also, if you ever decide that you need to hire a professional researcher, these goals will help you communicate to them exactly what you want from them. Let's talk today about some ways to set realistic goals to further our search. I refer to this list when I am planning research excursions, both online and off. The first step is to go through what we have found so far and look at the sources we have for each fact.