I'm sure that you're aware of the many surveys that reveal annually that less than 5% of the population sets goals and an even smaller number write them down. But even more profound are studies dating back to the 1940's that have proven that those that the small number of people that do have written goals out-achieve all the rest combined by a considerable margin.
Whether you like to set goals or not, know how or not, believe in them or not - it is inarguable that you must have goals if you want to reach a significant level of success in business or life. And a great time to start or review your goal setting process is in the beginning of a new year.
Goal achievement starts with a vision - a long term view of what you want that is personal and vivid - a vision that contains every single, vivid detail of an experience that will be marked as a success in life. A vision is not just to-do items - it is a multi-dimensional mental picture in full Technicolor of something that is personally relevant, purposeful and passionate. With that firmly in your mind, you can write achievable goals.
In writing goals, I like to encourage people to use the acronym POWER.
The P stands for Personal. Your goals have to be your own and those that you believe you can achieve.
The O in POWER is for Observable. There must be a way to measure whether or not you have actually accomplished the goal.
W is obviously for Written. Get out a piece of paper and a pencil and write you goals in your own hand writing and put your goals everywhere you can.
The E in POWER stands for Enticing. Your goals must not only be your own but they must create goose bumps.
Finally, the R in POWER stands for "Real Time". Your goals should address the situations and opportunities you have before you today.
The next piece to goal achievement is defining the action plan. This is huge. Many people fail by defining what they want to achieve - but then never really putting their feet on the ground to achieve it. If this happens to you it is not that you are lazy, it is just that we are so exhilarated by the vision and the goal that it is actually much more comfortable to stay there... than really get started.
So the real key to taking action on goals is to define a plan that addresses four key elements:
Obstacles
Resources
Priorities
TimeAsk yourself the question, "What are the first few things I must do tomorrow or in the coming week in order to make progress toward this goal?" Immediately, what will come into your mind are elements or questions that you must answer in order to get your goal progress started. You have reflexively identified "obstacles" that must be addressed in order to make goal progress.
Next, address resources by asking this question: "Who or what can help me in attaining my goal?"
Then you will want to prioritize the tasks you identified that will overcome obstacles and the tasks that will leverage your resources by putting them in a logical sequence and according to what is most urgent to the achievement of the goal.
Finally, address the time by answering "when" are you going to schedule the action items you have outlined?
So now you are ready to go. You have a vision is vividly governing your focus, your goals are clearly defined and you have an action plan firmly in place and scheduled considering obstacles, resources, priorities and time. You are on your way to goal achievement! Right?
Well there is actually one other key component to powerful goal achievement, critical and often ignored...and that is the concept of setting Rewards.
Many people operate on the miscalculation that, "when I achieve the goal, that will be my reward" but that's not really true. You have to consciously decide on the outset that, "when I summit that mountain, I am going to reward myself by buying...doing...celebrating... something". Your subconscious mind needs to know that there is personal gratification involved in the plan; otherwise you will find yourself getting closer to the goal but slowing down your velocity toward it.
So that's the total picture. Goal Achievement is about vision, clarity and action... and reward. It's about those things that are most important to you, personally. Good luck and have fun!
Our culture has trained us well to look forward to a new year as a new beginning. And that's good news! The bad news is that few of us have a structure to help us plan effectively and an accountability resource to keep us on track. Result: by the time the calendar flips to February it's "business as usual" and our new goals are only a "wish". What would 2011 become for you if you had: 1) A proven template for setting and achieving winning goals, 2) No stone unturned in addressing every factor that could prevent goal achievement, 3) Instant access to a veteran Business Coach that will kick you in the keester to keep you on track, 4) A group of like-minded business people holding you accountable for your intentions throughout the year, 5) Opportunities to collaborate, ask questions, celebrate and vent, 6) A place to promote your own services or products to like-minded business people. If you had all those things - you would WIN!
