My goals for the Business Times remain pretty much the same for every issue. Tell engaging stories. Illustrate those stories with compelling photographs. Edit copy and design pages in a way that makes the paper easy to read. The overarching goal also remains unchanged: provide information that adds value to the lives of readers and, in turn, an attractive venue for advertisers to reach those readers. The combination should result in a profitable enterprise. That sort of win-win-win proposition isn’t especially unusual for a business journal — at least it shouldn’t be.

I’ll leave it to readers, advertisers and my boss to decide whether or not I achieve those goals and to what extent. My self-assessment notwithstanding, their judgment matters most.

In the meantime, I’ll also let you in on a trade secret. The smaller goals that add up to the big goals can devolve over the course of a production cycle — generally from audacious and even grandiose at the beginning to modest and even meager near the end. I initially envision what would happen if the staffs of the Economist and National Geographic conspired to cover business in the Grand Valley. As deadline nears, though, I only hope to put something together more significant than shampoo instructions.

At some point, the most pressing goal becomes one of completion. Just drive a stake through it’s heart and kill the beast already. I used to share an inside joke with a photographer with whom I worked at a daily newspaper that some days we slayed the dragon, and some days the dragon slayed us. And some days we were toasted to a crisp in the process. But I digress.

I’ve been thinking about goals in the context of a debate with myself over what’s more important: setting appropriate goals or developing good habits.

I posed this question to my personal trainer, who’s both an accomplished athlete and congenial mentor. Who better to ask, I figured, than someone who makes it his business to help clients realize their goals and develop good habits? My trainer looked at me with incredulity, then answered: It’s a chicken and egg dilemma. You can’t have one without the other. After all, what is the aspiration to develop good habits if not a goal? Good point, Jim.

Of course, the importance of setting goals and developing habits extends well beyond editing business journals or getting fit. If the information I’ve gleaned over 20 years spent interviewing entrepreneurs is any indication — and, spoiler alert, I know for a fact it is — then running a successful business also depends in good measure on goals and habits.

As my trainer pointed out, setting goals is a natural and logical first step to just about any endeavor. You’ve got to decide what you want to accomplish.

And not only specifically what, but also exactly when. Vague goals to someday lose weight, become a millionaire or increase market share can lead to frustration and prove counterproductive. George Doran, a consultant and former director of corporate planning, developed what he called SMART goals — an acronym for objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-related.

I believe the other side of the proverbial goal-setting coin is to determine what you’re willing to sacrifice. You can’t lose weight and eat whatever you want. You aren’t likely to become a millionaire without work and lots of it.

My beloved late wife set a goal when she started law school to finish in the top 10 percent of her class academically. Three years later, she graduated not only in the top 10 percent, but also ranked among the top 10 graduates — second, in fact. The sacrifice she was willing to make? Attend class and study 18 hours a day seven days a week.

But here’s where goals and habits go together. My wife achieved her goal because she made it a habit to study every day.

In some respects, habits are more important than goals. Goals rely on willpower and discipline that tire just like muscles. Conversely, habits become easier over time — to the point it’s easier to perpetuate than deviate from the behavior.

Habits can be developed incrementally — starting out small and gradually increasing in intensity or complexity. In that respect, habits can exceed goals. Moreover, developing one good habit can lead to other good habits. For example: Those who start an exercise regimen are more likely to also stick to a better diet.

Yet another argument in favor of habits is their role in the kind of people we become. The Roman poet Ovid said habits change into character. My wife kept a saying posted on a wall above her desk with a similar admonition that read in part: “Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.” That saying now hangs on the wall over my desk at home.

Even after 20 years, I’ve yet to edit an issue of the Business Times that exceeded all my goals. No publication is perfect. Certainly no editor is perfect.

Perhaps what’s important is the effort to achieve goals — the persistent pursuit of perfection. In the meantime, I’ll keep working on developing good habits. Like maybe completing more at the beginning of a production cycle so I don’t have to settle for less at the end.

There are still dragons to slay.