Goal Setting Part 1

Planning for 2011

“For me, goals are my roadmap to the life I want.  They helped me accomplish things I once though were impossible.” – Catherine Pulsifer

When we think of setting goals, we often think about starting them at the first of the year.  If we are planning for 2011, we need to enter 2011 first, right?  Actually that is not right.  January of 2011 is going to be too late to plan the year.  You need to start now.

Now is the time you start setting goals and creating action plans in order to start the New Year in full swing.  You will know what you need to do in January to achieve your goals and therefore will be ready to act.  Too often those who wait until January to set goals never get beyond a list of what they want.  That makes it a wish list, not a set of goals.  Wishes are made of smoke and blow away with the first breeze.  You must take action and write them down.  As Ernest Hemingway said, “Never confuse movement with action.” 

So, what do we need to do to get our goals set and action plans ready for the New Year?  I want to show you some simple steps that can put you on the road to success.  These are all things you can do if you will take action.  No matter how good a plan is, without taking action it is just a suggestion and has no power.  By taking action and doing what you need to do in setting goals, you will be well on your way to success before you finish writing them down.  Author and speaker, Tony Robbins said, “Lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know.  Knowing is not enough!  You must take action.”

“All successful people have a goal.  No one can get anywhere unless he knows where he wants to go and what he wants to be and do.” – Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

Let’s start with the goals.  In a notebook, mark a tab or a page Goals.  You will be setting goals in six different areas:

1. Personal Goals.  These are goals that you want to accomplish for you.  Things like education, learning a language, reading list, planting a garden, working on the house, hobbies and any other areas that interest you.

2. Career Goals.  These concern your work and career.  What you plan to do with your working life, job changes, promotions, writing a book, pursuing a new business or career opportunity, volunteer services—anything that will mean your time and energy.

3. Financial Goals.  These will deal with your finances.  Your income, pay raises, paying off debt, extra income, anything that will involve your money.

4. Spiritual Goals.  These goals have to do with your relationship with God.  Your service, prayer time, devotional time, church attendance, reading, your calling in life.

5. Family Goals.  This is your time with your family, relationships, family projects, teaching opportunities, romance and other areas of family life.

6. Fun Goals.  These are just for fun.  Trips you wish to take, vacations, new stuff you want just for fun.

Some of these may cross over in areas.  That is okay.  Some will come easy some will not.  That is okay too.  The idea here is to get a list of goals that you can work with.  As Geoffry F. Abert said, “The most important thing about goals is having one.”  Goals must be desired, understood and what are called SMART:

Specific:  What exactly is it you want?  Example:  “I want to lose weight.”  Better to say, “I want to lose 50 pounds by August.”  The more exact you can be, the better the chance you will see the goal accomplished.

Measurable:  Know what you need to do each month or week to achieve the goal.  If the goal is to lose 50 pounds by August and you are starting in January, you will need to lose around six pounds per month.  This gives you a way to keep track of your progress.

Attainable:  Be sure you can achieve the goal in the time frame you have set.  Do not set yourself up for failure.  This does not mean it is easy.  A goal should always push us, but it must be possible to do.  Do not set a goal to get a PhD in a year when you have not received any degree yet. 

Realistic:  Again, do not set yourself up for failure.  Goals need to be big and difficult.  If a goal is too easy there is no challenge.  However, if the goal is unrealistic you will become discouraged.  Example:  Do not set a goal to make $5 million a year (unless you already made $4 million).  Rather, figure out what you are capable of making if you work hard, increase that by 50% and go for it.

Timely:  Every goal should be in a time frame.  Set a due date to achieve the goal.  A due date enables you to gauge progress and gives you a finishing point for the goal.

“One of the amazing things we have been given as humans is the unquenchable desire to have dreams of a better life, and the ability to establish goals to live out those dreams.” – Jim Rohn

Before we start brainstorming our goals I have an assignment for you.  It is to answer a simple yet very difficult question.  What do you want?  You would be amazed, or maybe not, by how many people answer that with, “I don’t know.”  Success trainer Brian Tracy said, “Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.”  It is necessary to know what you want and where you are going to get that control.  Not knowing what you want is like Alice in Wonderland coming to the cross roads and asked the Cheshire Cat which way she should go.  The Cat asked Alice where she was going and Alice answered, “I don’t know.”  To that the Cat said, “If you don’t know where you are going it doesn’t matter which road you take.”

For most of us, we do know what we want; we are just not sure if we can have it.  For now, I want you to put the questions aside and write down what you want.  Out of the one main goal, all other goals will follow.  Here is your assignment:

Write down in as much detail as you can, what it is you want in life.  Do not state what you think you should want, what you think you are qualified for, what others say you should have, or what you think you can get.  If you can have and be anything, guaranteed, what would it be?  Write it in full detail.  What would it or you look like, how does it smell, how does it feel, what color is it, where is it, how big, how small, every detail.

“Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire.” – Dale Carnegie

Next, write down why you want it.  Understand that the ‘why’ is more important than the ‘how.’  If you have a strong enough why you want something, you will find the how to get it easy.  Think about it.  If it is a new career, why do you need it? Why the change? Why will it make a difference? Why is that important?

Lastly, combine the two and come up with a statement that will be your main goal.  All other goals will connect to it (you will later see how).  The statement will sound something like this:

“By the end of 2011 I will be running my own catering business full time.  I will service customers looking for the best in simple but elegant dining for their events.  My staff of 10 will all be the very best at what we do.  This business will generate an income of $250.000.00 a year.”

With your detailed statement, you have already identified how this will work and what you will need to succeed.  The statement should excite you and motivate you to get going.  W. Clement Stone said, “No matter how carefully you plan your goals they will never be more than pipe dreams unless you pursue them with gusto.”  Use this clear vision of your goal to ignite a fire in your soul that will burn till the goal is accomplished.  This statement will be the key to the rest of the goal setting.  Be sure to think it through, make it real and make it yours.

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – Zig Ziglar

© 2010 Jack Hickey