Ask anyone that you know that produces great results and you will find a
common thread in the fabric of their success — the ability to set and meet
goals. As I’ve seen in my life with amazing frequency, goals are miracles simply
waiting to happen. Here are key elements to use in your goal-setting strategy.
Define your purpose. Start by considering what your purpose on earth
is. Once you know why you’re here, write goals that support that. Success
is the casualty caused by professional or personal goals that don’t line up. For
example, a father may believe that his purpose is to be a parent who actively
participates in his children’s school activities. Both personal and
professional goals must support that purpose. If his professional
goals include advancing into a position that requires extensive travel, he’ll
find it difficult to achieve all his goals.
Understand your values and personal mission. Make a list of those
things are important to you and the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle. Write a
mission statement that describes what you feel called to do with the precious
time you’ve been given on earth. Goal-setters can get caught up in their
long-term goals but fail to take advantage of today. Every single day is a gift
and we must focus on those things that line up with our personal values and
mission.
Ray Pelletier, the late certified speaking professional and master consultant,
recommends writing a mission statement for every task you take on right down to
individual business calls. Simply put, he wrote down his goal for each task so
that he met his objective.
Write goals for both personal and professional areas of your life.
Professional goals may include job promotion or change, training, or
productivity. If you own a business, you’ll want to look at marketing,
productivity, growth, or product development goals. Personal goals may include
fitness, family, education, and financial goals. Many people fail in life
because they don’t set goals that relate to their family life. Who you are in
your personal life is vitally important because it creates the foundation for
who you are as a professional. One of the most important legacies we leave is
how we live our personal lives.
While you want to focus the destination (or “begin with the end in mind” as
Stephen Covey suggests in Seven Habits of Highly Effective People), goals are
really more about attaining the right tools and preparing for the journey. It’s
more difficult to make a trip to somewhere you’ve never been without a map or
transportation.
Use the right words. Use action verbs — lots of them.
Include components that ensure success. Use the SMART model for
structuring your goals. Make them Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic,
and Time-bound to a deadline. Tony Robbins, motivational speaker and business
coach, says we need to have an RPM Plan: Know the RESULT you want, know your
PURPOSE, and compose a MASSIVE ACTION plan.
Find an accountability partner. You probably have a long list of
people who would gladly stand in line to hold you accountable. Sharing your
goals with other people means that they can ask you about your progress
occasionally so they can encourage you. You also feel like you let them down if
you haven’t made progress when they check in with you.
Write a variety of goals. Write some long-term goals (three to five
years), mid-range goals (one to three years), and short-term goals (one year or
less). Break this year’s goals down by quarters. Often, your short-term goals
are steps to achieving your long-term goals.
Keep the number of goals realistic. Try to limit yourself to three to
five goals in each category. Having too many goals dilutes your focus.
Push beyond what you believe is achievable. Be willing to fail. You
don’t meet goals that you don’t set. If you set a goal at 200% of what you
believe is achievable, are you a failure if you only make 120% of the achievable
goal? Of course not — you’re extraordinary! Beside, achievable goals are for
sissies and you are definitely not a sissy.
Keep your goals out in front of you. Put them on your closet door or
in other location that you visit at least once a day. If you are responsible for
a company or organization, make sure you keep those goals in front of the whole
organization. One of the most common reason goals are not achieved is that they
are put in a nice notebook and filed away on a shelf and seldom reviewed.
