The goal setting
process really starts with a self-evaluation of sorts. Sitting down and asking
questions like, “What do I really want out of life?” “What do I want to
accomplish, become, have be or do?” Open your mind and your heart.
Sit down and fill
out a desire journal. Fill it with all the dreams, aspirations and desires that
lie in the recesses of whom you are and who you want to become. Don’t hold
back, write everything down! Dream like a child the evening before his/her
birthday or the evening before New Year. Dreams like anything and everything is
possible. Because unless it is legal, immoral, or unethical, I would highly
encourage you to believe that it is possible.
Decide what it is
you want in each area of your life: Personal, Family, Professional, Financial,
Physical and Mental. Don’t be vague either, if what you want is money
(financial) then define how much you want and by when. Specifics are necessary
for you to have a plan.
Being clear in
what it is you want will cause about 80% of your success. You cannot plan for
the goal “I want more money.” You can, however, plan for the goal “I want to
earn KR250,000.00 annually by the end of 2014.
The more specific
your goals are the easier they are to build a plan for. If as your reading this
you are thinking “I do not know what I want to be, do or have.” Then set a goal
to find out.
Write down your
goals. Don’t type them (not at first anyway) sit down and print them out,
clearly, specifically and in measurable terms. This moves them from a desire,
wish or intangible dream to an item on paper. Something you can see, touch, and
relate to.
Okay now you know
what you want – next you will need to identify what skills and knowledge you
will require in order to accomplish your goal. Ask yourself what knowledge you
need to gain in order to speed-up the successful accomplishment of you goal.
Ask yourself what
skill(s) you need to make the greatest positive impact on getting to your goal.
There is always at least one skill or key piece of knowledge that is holding
you back – otherwise you would already have accomplished the goal.
Identify what it
is and go out there and get it! If you are not able to figure it out for
yourself then ask your spouse, your friends, your boss, a mentor, or any other
person that you believe would know.
There are some
things that you can do alone, however to achieve significant goals in your life
you will need help. List all the people, groups and organizations that you will
need to interact with to reach your goal. Write them all down then prioritize
them. So knowing in advance what you can do to assist them will payoff in
faster results on getting their assistance in your goal achievement.
Obstacles – we have all encountered them, and we will continue
to encounter them during our attempt to reach any goal of worth. If there were
no obstacles along the way everyone would have already accomplished all of
their goals – you included. List all the obstacles, barriers and impediments to
your goal. Why are you not at your goal already? Write down each and every
answer to that question. This will allow you to find the bottleneck to your
success.
Once you are aware
of what is holding you back, apply all your resources (which you listed out
already) towards the removing or overcoming of this blockage. More often than
not, the removal of a single primary blockage will uproot and resolve many
other smaller barriers to your goal. This can help you make quantum leaps
towards reaching that goal.
Now that you have
this valuable collection of information you need to map out a plan to utilize
it and accomplish your goal. Successful business men do not set out on a course
of action without a plan, you wouldn’t go on vacation without some planning and
most do not even get married with out hours and hours (one hundred or more at
times) of planning.
These days far too
many spend one hundred hours, or more, planning the wedding. Yet, they spend no
time at all planning their marriage or their life. You can change that in your
life. Lay out the key points you have put together thus far and develop a plan
of attack.
This plan can
start with the steps to gain the knowledge and skills you need to gain. Steps
to get you in contact with the people and organizations you need to help you
along your road to success. Lay out all the steps you know you need to take to
reach your goal.
Organize then by
priority, and then sequence them. As you go through this process you will be
motivated to take actions against the first step on your plan. Completing the
first step will further motivate you to take action on the next step and so on.
Now that you have
a plan you need to set a deadline. A goal is a dream with an achieve-by date.
Setting a deadline develops and intensifies your desire to attain your goals.
Don’t scare yourself with large goals or underestimate how long it will take to
accomplish them. Instead break down large goals into small milestones with
deadlines. These milestones will act like a forcing system for you unconscious
mind. They will motivate and drive you towards your goal.
Having deadlines
for your goals will keep them on your mind. Making you more conscious to the
situations and people in your life that can aid you on your road to success.
Set your deadlines as realistically as possible. Do not over or under estimate
them be honest with you. You could always reset deadlines. The key point I want
to drive home here is that you MUST have a deadline to shoot for.
You have the plan
– now what? As I mentioned early in this article most people agree on the
positive impacts that goal setting have. Most of them have even gone so far as
listing out their major goals, however that is where they stopped. Here is
where you are going to act differently and succeed in your goal achievement.
The key word here
is ACT. Take action on your plan! Do not procrastinate! The clock is ticking
and your deadline is inching closer with each passing second. Do something each
and every day towards the accomplishment of your goals. Work with all your
gusto on the first step of your plan until it is either completed or until you
can make no further progress on it.
Then move to the
next step, coming back to those incomplete previous steps as soon as you can
move them forward to their completion. Keep moving, keep working and keep
taking your action steps every day, do not stop. Anyone that has ever had to
push a car will tell you the hardest part is getting it moving.
Once you’re moving
it will still take effort, but it takes far less effort than if you stop
pushing and have to start moving all over again. Taking consistent daily action
will not only move you quickly towards your goal but it will reinforce in your
subconscious mind that you can and will attain your goal. Giving you a positive
attitude towards it.
Two additional
things you can do you that will steel your resolve to accomplish your goals are
to visualize your goal and resolve to never give up. Visualize your goal
continually or as often as possible during every waking moment.
Your subconscious
mind does not differentiate between your visualization and reality. So
visualize your goal as already attained. View it in your mind’s eye with every
detail possible. Feel the pride, joy and fulfillment that will come with
reaching a significant goal.
Visualization will
also make you aware of those situations and resources in your life that you
will need to reach your goal. Finally resolve to never give up in your quest to
reach your goal. Attack it with a dogged determination. Let the words of the
Capcom commander in Apollo 13 ring in your ears; “Failure is not an option!”
When you encounter
barriers and obstacles do not ask yourself what will happen if or when I fail.
Instead think positive, and then develop a plan action. Ask yourself “How can I
get over, around or though this barrier and reach my goal!”
Everyone has
goals, I have them you have them even a child has goals. These goals can be
keeping your job, getting a promotion, and the child has a goal of passing a
test, getting that much desired toy they saw on television or showing mommy and
daddy how much they are loved.
The difference
between these goals and the goals of the top achievers is focus. Peak achievers
go through processes similar to the one I have laid out here to focus their
actions on what they want to be, have or do.
They design their
goals with a mission and this mission is success. Follow this process and you
too can rise to the levels of those you have watched in awe.