GETTING GOALS RIGHT
Maybe you make New Year’s Resolutions. Maybe you don’t!
Maybe you are one of the few who actually keep them ... and maybe you’re not!
If you’re often missing goals, let’s talk a little about setting goals you will actually keep.
Believe it or not, there is science behind keeping goals. It starts with writing down the goal. Planning for it. Then taking steps (baby or otherwise) towards achieving the goal.
Our dreams remain dreams until ... we set them into goals; write a plan of action; and execute it daily.
My philosophy on life is that you should spend the most amount of time doing the things that matter the most to you. Doing this heightens fulfillment and reduces regret.
When planning your goals, consider what is most important to YOU in the various realms: health, spirituality, finances, family, business/career, personal, social, etc. Write them down in as much detail as possible. This is your vision. Write down how you feel when you think about or see images of the vision.
Create a vision board by cutting out pictures or words that relate to what you’ve written, and that will remind you and motivate you to take action towards achieving them. Place this somewhere where you will get a reminder every day.
Next, we distil the vision into a goal and daily actions. Having a dream doesn’t make you feel great! Making progress and ultimately achieving the dream is what gives you joy … a sense of accomplishment.
Goal achievement guru, Michael Hyatt, offers two suggestions to help you achieve your goals and feel great. The first is setting S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goals and the second is maximizing the number of goals you try to achieve each year.
SMARTER Goals
The acronym S.M.A.R.T.E.R. is a tool we use to ensure that we are setting goals that are measurable, that inspire us into action, and that contribute to our growth.
S – Specific: Narrows focus and harnesses your energy to one location versus vague and widespread goals which scatter your attention.
M – Measurable: Able to track your progress so you can know if you are on target or need to adjust.
A – Actionable: something you can do
R – Risky: Moving out of your comfort zone and improving in an area of your life
T – Time-oriented: Has a time reference such as a deadline or start date or frequency. Achievement goals have deadlines. Habit goals have start dates and frequency.
E – Exciting: something that invokes your passion and inspires/motivates you; that stretches you to grow
R – Relevant: works with your life i.e. not unrealistic given your circumstances and values. Aligns with your dream, what you want from life, your resources, your time available, and who you are.
Number of Goals
Set a maximum of 12 goals per year. You want to ensure you have the time, focus, and resources to accomplish all the goals set. Having too many goals pulls you in multiple directions and eventually, to preserve yourself, you slow down or just stop working altogether. Limit yourself to a maximum of three goals per quarter.
Exercise: (FREE SMARTER Goal-setting template)
- Write your SMARTER goal.
- Write three reasons why this goal is important to you.
- List the first seven actions you need to take to achieve the goal
- How will you celebrate once you achieve the goal.
Once you have written your SMARTER goals, select the three which you will focus on for the next three months. Your next step is to develop habits or rituals for success. What are the actions you need to take daily that will inspire you and bring you a step closer to your goal? We will address this question on the next blog.
To Your Unlimited Possibilities!