GOAL-SETTING

You can ask fifty different people what is Success. You will probably receive fifty different answers. But ask the same fifty how they define failure and you will receive an answer that is almost the same: Failure is a person's inability to achieve whatever goals they have.

Get a pen and paper right now and work through this document.
You will be glad that you did.

The Ultimate Success Formula

Anthony Robbins in his excellent book, Unlimited Power, describes a simple three step formula for success. He calls
these steps the "Ultimate Success Formula." The steps as he describes them are:

1.Know your outcome.
2.Take action.
3.Develop the sensory acuity to recognize the results you're getting from your actions and to note as quickly as possible if they are taking you closer to your goals or farther away.

This is an excellent formula, and I think the whole secret to this formula is that it isn't static, it is dynamic. Step 3 takes you back to step 2, until step 1 is achieved. For example if you set a goal, any goal, your progress through the above steps might be: step 1, step 2, step 3, adjust, step 2, step 3, adjust, step 2, step 3 and finally goal is achieved.

A marksman uses the Ultimate Success Formula when sighting in a gun. The steps would be: take aim, fire, look at target and adjust sights, aim and fire, adjust sight, etc.

I like to put Tony Robbins formula into what I call the W.I.N. steps to success:

(W)hat do you want (set the goal)
(I)nitiate Action.
(N)ote progress, adjust and re-initiate action.

Goal Step 1 - What Do You Want?

Here is the first step to goal setting. Get a pen and paper and be able to devote at least 20 minutes to this step. You may even want to spend several hours (or several days) on this step. The step is:

** Write down everything you want to achieve in your life **

Write Everything! Don't edit the list. Don't even worry if something seems far out. In this session you are getting everything in your head out on paper. If something seems too fantastic, still write it down, we'll edit it later. The point is if you write it down, you don't get blocked on that one item. The process of writing it down releases it from your brain so you are free to think of something else. Keep your pen or pencil going for at least 15 minutes. If it takes you 30 minutes, then take 30 minutes. You might even want to spread this step over a day or two.

Goal Step 2 - Editing Your List

Okay, now we'll edit the list that you created in the first step. Go through the items and cross out everything that seems to fantastic. Don't limit yourself when doing this. We are just trying to be realistic. If the an item is possible for someone to do, leave it on. Items like "One Million Dollars in the Bank" are okay because it is possible for someone to accomplish this. On the other hand, if you have "Be able to transport myself across the world in a blink of an eye," that is a little outrageous.

Goal Step 3 - Picking Your Top Ten

Okay, now go through your list and pick your top ten items that are most important to you right now. This can be a soul-searching step. Number the items from #1 to #10, with #1 being the most important to you. The only way to really do this is scan the list to find what is most important to you and put a #1 by it. Then go through every other item and compare each item with your #1. Ask yourself "If I could achieve only one of these items, which would it be?" This may change your #1 choice and if it does, start at the top of the list again and compare each item with your new #1. Continue this process until you have your top ten items. Write these items in order of importance on a fresh sheet of paper.

Goal Step 4 - Evaluating Your Top Ten

This step may cause you to want to go back to the first step and start all over again. With this step you are checking two things:

1. Do your top ten goals work together?

You must compare each item on your top ten list with each of the other items to see if anything is mutually exclusive. Start by comparing #1 with #2, do the items work against each other. If they are okay, then compare #1 with #3, then #1 with #4 and so on. After you make it to the comparison of #1 with #10, then start comparing #2 with #3, then #2 with #4, etc. This'll take a few minutes, but you want to make sure you aren't going to be working against yourself. An example of two goals working against each other are:

a. Earning $10,000 per month in a period of 1 year.
b. Lounge on the beach, relaxing as much as possible.

You could not achieve Goal A, if there is a very strong emphasis on Goal B.

It is okay if you eliminate a couple items from your top ten list in this step, but if you end up with a "Top Three" list, perhaps it would be better to go back to Goal Step #1 to determine what you really want.

2. Do you have short term and long term goals?

Go over your top ten list and place a date you expect to achieve each goal. Look over your list. Can all your goals be achieved in the next month? If so you need more six month, 2 years, and 10 year goals. Or perhaps everything on your list can only be achieved far in the future when you reach a point of "total happiness and fulfillment." If so, you need monthly goals and three month goals. If needed go back to Goal Step #1 to brainstorm some additional goals.

Goal Step 5 - Creating Goal Statement Cards

For this step you will need several 3 X 5 index cards. You will be taking your top 3 to 5 goals from your top ten list and writing them on the index cards. But this time you should write the goal differently by using the following rules:

1. Only select goals from your top ten list that can be achieved within the next year.

2. Use the personal pronouns I, mine, me, when writing your goal. Such as "I enjoy the security that $500,000 in the bank provides me and my family."

3. Make the goal positive instead of negative. In other words, write what you want to move towards, not what you are trying to move away from. Instead of writing "I have lost that unsightly extra 20 pounds" you could say "I weight a trim, athletic 165 (male or 115 female) pounds."

4. State the goal in the present tense, as if it has already happened. Use present tense words such as "am enjoying" or "am earning".

5. Use emotion words (happily, enthusiastically, eagerly, etc.) and action words (regularly, steadily, easily, etc.)

6. Keep your goal statements short and concise, no more than six seconds when read out loud.

Goal Step 6 - Internalizing the Goal

Each of these goal setting steps is important, but this is perhaps the most overlooked step. A goal will become a reality only after it is internalized. A goal is internalized only after you believe in it 100% and you know in your heart that you will achieve it.
Internalizing your goals is an ongoing step you must perform every day until the goal changes or is achieved.

How do you internalize a goal? By visualizing it and affirming it.
Here are some ideas to help internalize your goals:

Carry your goal cards with you everywhere you go. Make extra copies and place your goal cards on your bathroom mirror and on the refrigerator.
Review your goal cards at least three times a day:
morning, noon, and evening. Pick at least one of your goals to think about as you are going to sleep each night. Imagine the full completion of the goal. How does it feel? What does it look like? Use all of your senses to make the achievement real. Create as much detail as possible.
Say your goals out loud, so you can hear them in your own voice at least once a day.
Create short "mental commercials" to think about during odd moments of the day. These commercials should involve the senses and have as much detail as possible.

This ends the topic of goal-setting. I hope it was helpful. Just one idea, technique, or concept can make a BIG difference in your life.

The topic for next month will be ACTION!!


Thought determines what you want.
Action determines what you GET!

David Croston


Tag GOAL SETTING David Croston