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by Tracy Brinkmann
If you have read more than one of my articles, I’m sure you may
have come away with the notion
that I am big on goal setting. You
would be correct in this assumption. I have done a number of
presentations on this subject. During these presentations I have
noticed that there are two overriding views on goal setting. The
first, is of those that are either new to goal setting, or yet
haven’t tried it. I have their full attention in the presentation
when I get to setting and achieving your goals. The second
overriding view is of those that tell themselves “Goal setting
hah! I’ve tried that and it didn’t work for me…” In
discussions with these folks I have found that the majority of them
agree on the positive impacts that goal setting has. Most of them
have even gone so far as list out their major goals, however that is
where they stopped.
To be a goal setter, and more importantly a goal achiever, you
not only have to have a written set of goals for you life (business
and/or personal), but, you also have to have a written plan of
action towards their achievement. In a recent Success Atlas article
I noted that I have an article on goal setting. The many requests I
received for that article has prompted this more in-depth look at
goal setting and achievement. In other words, you asked for it you
got it, Goal setting 101.
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 who 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 Christmas.
Dream 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 can not plan for the goal “I want more money.”
You can, however, plan for the goal “I want to earn $250,000.00
annually by the end of 2003. 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. As you
are going through this process consider the ways you can be of
assistance to them. Everyone’s favorite radio station is WIIFM –
What’s in it for me? So knowing in advance what you can do to
assist them will payoff in faster results on getting their
assistance in your goal achievement. Think through some win-win
negotiations. Remember the more you give the more you get. As Zig
Ziglar reminds us “You can have everything you want if you just
help enough others get what they want.” As well as those that can
help you, I would also suggest listing out those that could hinder
your progress as well. Forewarned is forearmed.
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, 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 yourself. 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 everyday
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 your 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 you 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, 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.
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