Step 1: Set Goals with the Greatest Positive Impact
We are often pulled in many directions, which makes it hard to accomplish even one small goal. To prioritize your goals, look at all areas of your life such as family, health, career, finances, and leisure activities. Then decide what goal(s) in each area truly motivate you and will most positively impact your life.
Goal expert Brian Tracy, in his book Flight Plan, talks about his guaranteed success formula for achieving goals. He says to write down ten goals and identify one goal on the list that would have the greatest positive impact on life, a goal that is “your major definite purpose, your primary goal, and your most important destination for the next leg of your life’s journey.” Next, Tracy recommends transferring that goal to a clean sheet of paper, and making a list of potential obstacles with solutions as well as additional information, skills and people needed in order to achieve that goal. Finally, he says, organize this information into a plan and start taking action.
Step 2: Make SMART Goals for Best Results
To make goals that are focused and achievable, they need to be S.M.A.R.T., an acronym that typically means:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-limited
For example, instead of saying, “I want to start my own business,” a SMART goal would be: “I will start my own life coaching business that helps people with major life transitions by May 1, 2015.” The latter goal is specific in that there is no question as to what is trying to be accomplished. Also, anyone can determine whether or not it has been completed, which makes it measurable, and the time-limitation helps create the motivation.
Also part of the SMART criteria is to make sure that the goal is achievable and realistic. When we set ourselves up for potential failure, it can be disempowering and motivation can be lost. We do need to stretch ourselves when goal setting to maximize our potential, but the goal should not be so far out of reach that, more than likely, it is impossible to achieve.
Step 3: Writing Goals Down Is Essential
In Henriette Anne Klauser’s book, Write it Down, Make it Happen: Knowing What You Want – And Getting It, she says that writing down your goals is the first step towards achieving them. She talks about Scott Adams, creator of the comic strip Dilbert, once a “lowly technology worker in Corporate America,” who spent 15 minutes a day writing down: “I will become a syndicated cartoonist.” After many rejections and through perseverance, she says, Scott became a syndicated cartoonist in over 2,000 newspapers worldwide and is now known all over the world.
Writing goals in a daily planner, a journal or even on sticky notes, helps focus our attention on them and makes them more real.
Step 4: Think of Potential Obstacles and Real Solutions
Winston Churchill said, “Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.” Successful people fail more than unsuccessful people simply because they keep trying no matter what obstacles they come across.
Obstacles to achieving goals can include fear of failure, fear of success and lack of self-confidence. An obstacle can be less threatening if there are potential solutions. So think about some real solutions to help overcome roadblocks in the path to your success. Often the best solution is to simply re-connect with your driving force or compelling vision for achieving the goal.
Step 5: Focus on Goals Everyday
Focusing daily on our goals helps us succeed in reaching them because it’s a constant reminder of what we desire in life. Two ways to keep goals present in the mind are:
Think from the end – Dr. Wayne Dyer, internationally renowned author and speaker in the field of self-development, in his book The Power of Intention, says that to manifest what we desire, “continuously contemplate yourself as being surrounded by the conditions you wish to produce.” Imagine what life will look like once the goal is realized and the joy and satisfaction you will feel.
Visualize – Create a vision board with pictures, symbols and words relating to goals, or even a simple daily visualization practice where you imagine yourself having achieved the goal as mentioned above.
