Goal Setting
It’s special to set goals because whatever you learn about yourself or techniques you can apply to your life or business, it will manifest as RESULTS.
You should be able to identify MORE of the things you want and LESS of what you don’t want.
What do I mean? Here are some examples:
MORE RELAXED, LESS STRESS
or
MORE HEALTH, LESS WEIGHT or QUIT SMOKING
or
MORE HAPPINESS by creating new relationships
Of course, you’ll be setting your own GOALS and developing a plan that when you take consistent, committed actions, will produce measurable results.
Does that sound exciting?
Hopefully, it does because it is your life that we are talking about.
Believe it or not, many people fail to improve their lives, because they fail in setting goals.
How? Here are some key examples of goal setting that leads to failure:
- HOPE and WISH – We don’t get specific and most of all, don’t pay the prices or make the sacrifices needed to succeed. “I wish I could win the Pick 6….But I don’t even buy tickets.”
- TOO VAGUE – If your goals are vague, there is nothing to excite and cause action. “I’d like things to be a little better at work.” Something to think about regarding your goals – “If they excite, they are probably RIGHT.”
- SHOULDS – These are goals that you talk about because OTHERS want you to do something – but you don’t really want to.
A friend of mine used to often talk about quitting smoking but never did. Why not? He didn’t want to – others wanted him to quit.
I am going to show you a model that may help with goal setting, but first ask yourself some questions –
- What is your reason or purpose for each goal you are considering? WHY do you want things to change?
- Are you willing to make some sacrifices and work hard to succeed?
Take a few minutes to STOP and Think.
Remember:
“Get Goals clear and RESULTS will appear”
First, take a moment to think about some categories that matter to you. Perhaps these examples will help.
GOALS
Here’s a model to help – SMART
SPECIFIC
Goals are not vague. They are exact. An example might be- “I want to lose________pounds.
MEASURABLE
We must be able to quantify the goal – to answer the questions, “how do we know we have achieved our goal?” Ex: I will weigh myself twice each week.
ASSIGNABLE
Specify who will do it. Ex: “I am responsible for exercising and eating better”
REALISTIC
Can you really achieve it? Have you allowed sufficient time to succeed. Ex: “I will lose 5 pounds per week for four weeks.”
TIMEBOUND
When will we achieve our goal. Ex: “By losing 5 pounds per week, I will succeed in 3 weeks, if not, I will do so by the 4th week.”
Be S M A R T and committed in your actions and you will succeed most of the time (many thanks to George T. Doran for the SMART Model).
Implementation
To implement SMART goals sit down with some paper or an Ipad or computer.
Making sure that you really care about succeeding, write very SPECIFIC, IMPORTANT, SMART goals for 3 categories.
Just make sure you don’t procrastinate – do this assignment as soon as possible.
Before you read my next blog about Achieving Goals, share your goals with someone else that can support and challenge you through this process.
Take the time, set your goals, then achieve them!
Jack