Time and time again you’ve seen some motivational speaker in a suit that’s just a little too big and a tie that’s just a little too colorful standing on some dusty stage somewhere telling you to set goals. Set goals if you want to be successful. Set goals if you want to be happy with your life. Set goals if you want to be a better salesman/husband/golfer/negotiator. Set goals if you’re already a successful, happy salesman-husband-golfer — for goodness sake, just set goals.
Tie and suit aside, you know that motivational speaker is probably right. After admitting you want to see objective success and admitting that in order to reach that success you need to have some idea of where you want to go and how to get there, DON’T pick up a pen. Don’t. Not yet! First consider our 12-step system for setting achievable goals:
1. Develop an intense, burning desire. If you only sorta want to accomplish something, then you’re not ready to turn this into a goal. Yet. Think about what this goal will really mean to you — in the short run and in the long run. Think about the other doors it will open up for you. Think about how it will feel to finally accomplish this goal. Found your burning desire? Good. It’s time to move on to step 2.
2. Believe you can accomplish it. If you’re setting a goal that you believe is too far out of reach, then chances are you’re going to give up before you reach it. Don’t sell yourself short. Always push yourself, but don’t be unrealistic. Let’s face it, no one is able to lose 50 pounds in 2 weeks. You probably can’t quadruple your sales by the weekend. Make sure the goal is something you know you can really, truly achieve, and then believe that you can achieve it. If you think a goal is going to be too difficult for you then set a goal that is halfway to the “big” goal. After you achieve that first half you will have the confidence you need to continue on to accomplish the big one.
3. Write it down. Make yourself accountable and make this goal tangible by writing it down. You can wish and think about your goal as hard and long as you want, but whim-whams and whimsies are easier to forgo than a goal you actually write down where you can see it. Yes, this makes it real. Yes, that’s a good thing.
4. Make a list. Remember that burning desire you found in step 1? Write it down. If along the path of achieving your goal things get tough and you start to wonder if the steps to achieving your goal are worth it, you will need to remember your intense, burning desire. So make a list of all the ways that you will benefit from achieving your goal and review that list often.
5. Know where you stand. Analyze your starting point. If you don’t know where you are then you won’t know what it will take to get where you are going. Remember that being honest with yourself with where you need to begin will make your goal more achievable.
6. Set a deadline. If your goal is only an “eventually, sometime, maybe” goal then you are inadvertently classifying it as an unimportant. Why would you put time and devotion into something that isn’t important enough for you to have a hard deadline for accomplishing it? Set it, mean it and meet it.
7. Know what you’ll face. It’s time to get honest again. Make a list of the obstacles that stand between you and your goal. Write how you will overcome each one as it arises. Anticipate and plan for them now so when you face them you know what to do to conquer them.
8. Missing something? Identify any additional information or tools you will need to accomplish your goal. Write down what it will take to acquire that information or those tools.
9. Know who you know. Make a list of all the people whose help and cooperation you will require in order to achieve your goal.
10. Make a plan. Now, from the notes and lists you’ve written in the previous steps, write down a plan detailing exactly what it will take to accomplish your goal, what progression of steps you will have to take, what tools you will need along the way, and whose assistance or cooperation you will need when. Write down details of what you want, when you want it, why you want it, and where you are starting from. The more detailed and focused you can be during this step, the easier it will be to take each progressive step along the way to accomplishing your goal.
11. Eyes on the prize. Visualization is a strong tool. Visualize yourself accomplishing each of the steps to achieving your goal and visualize what it will look like and feel like when you are in that final stretch and crossing the finish line. If you have a hard time with visualization (or think it’s silly new-age hullabaloo), then set aside time every morning read your plan from step 10. Remember what you want, what it will take to get there, and how it will feel to get it.
12. Never give up. Make a decision in advance (and write it down) that you will never, never give up. You can and will achieve your goal!
What do you think is the most important step in setting and achieving a goal? What sorts of goals do you think merit this kind of concentration? Let us know by leaving a comment below!