GOAL SETTING

*This post may contain affiliate links. See the disclosure policy for more information.

It’s Sunday 3rd January 2010 and my wife Vee and I are frantically packing our house as we prepare for our move from Victoria to Queensland.  As I take some time out from the boredom of packing boxes it’s probably appropriate that I pen this article on goal setting.

Just prior to the end of last year, I sat down with Vee and we reflected over 2009, our goals that we’d set, what we’d achieved and what we did not.  It is interesting that as I read one of my goals from my goal book (Goal Book, what is a Goal Book?  I’ll talk about this shortly) I quickly discovered that one of failures had to do with the size of our bank balance.  Last year at this time, I’d set a goal of having $100,000 in the bank by 1/1/2010.  We’d missed out on reaching the desired result by only $35,000 so on one hand I was bitterly disappointed with the result, but on the other hand I had $65,000 in my savings account.  Who out there would be disappointed to have $65,000 in the bank?

Some time ago I attended a business management course and was taught the acronym for goal setting “SMART” which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time frame bound.  I’d used this acronym religiously, but with very limited success.  Then in 2007, I read a book called, “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill and everything became so much more crystal clear, so today I want to share with you some of the tricks that I’ve learned over the last few years that have helped me to successfully goal set in a way that actually works.

1. Get yourself a goal book.

A Goal Book is somewhere, where you record your goals.  Not just a pad, but a formalized bounded book of some description.  The more expensive you spend on purchasing the book the better.  My book was bought for me by Vee as a gift.  It is a leather bound book the size of an A4 page.  She’s personally inscribed on the inside cover and it holds a very special place in my heart.  I carry it everywhere I go.  Why, because I read it twice a day.  I’ll talk more on this in a moment.

2. Follow the SMARTIE formula for writing goals

The SMART acronym in my opinion, doesn’t quite go far enough and that was where I failed when goal setting.  I’ve taken the acronym a couple of stages further by making it SMARTIE. Still be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time frame bound, but I’ve added Inspirational and Emotional to the SMART word to give it some clout.  Oh, and make sure to date and time your goal entry.

3. Write your goals in present tense

I used to make the mistake of writing a goal as something that I wanted to achieve AT SOME FUTURE POINT IN TIME.  For example, I remember a goal I once wrote was “To referee at the 2007 Rugby World Cup.”  At the time I wrote that particular goal, I had just been selected to the Australian Rugby Union’s Level 3 Referee Program and the goal was not such a pipe dream. The problem with writing a goal in future speak is that it never comes, because no matter what you do to achieve it, when ever you go over your goal or re-read it, it’s always written as if it has never been reached.  Oh, I never did achieve that goal by the way.

So instead of writing them in future speak, write your goals in present tense.  Write them as though you are in the midst of actually experiencing them.  Make sure you use emotional and inspirational feelings in your goal like you can reach out and touch them.  This is crucial, because as will become clear shortly, having that inspirational and emotional attachment is the “WHY” and as Robert Kyosaki writes in Rich Dad Poor Dad, the “WHY must be bigger than the “WHAT”.

4. Read your goal book twice a day, last thing at night and first thing in the morning OUT LOUD!!

This step is crucial in maintaining focus.  Have you ever embarked on a plan of some description, only to have your confidence shattered by close family and friends?  Why is it that we often listen to the opinion of our close family and friends who have no expertise or interest in OUR goals?  The ONLY person you really need to listen to and believe is yourself, so this is why it is critical to read your goals OUT LOUD to yourself, twice a day, last thing at night and first thing in the morning.  The more you hear something, the more you tend to believe it and the more likely it is to come true.  You also move your goals from the conscious mind to the sub-conscious mind, which is where you want them to be.  Once firmly planted in your sub-conscious mind, your goals will be easily recalled so that when ever you lose focus, you’ll know where to come back to.  It is also with focus that whenever we get hit with the “Self Doubt Punch” we can come back to where we feel comfortable.

5. Include how achieving your goal makes you feel “in your goal”.

The WHY in anything is much bigger than the WHAT and it has to be.  People I work with often want to lose weight, but when I ask them why, they often have no reply, and this is the main reason why so many people fail to achieve their weight loss goal.  They have no idea why they are doing it and so when the going gets rough (as it always does in anything); they have no driving force behind them.  So, when writing down your goal, make sure you include how you will feel to have achieved it.  Here you be as specific as you want, there is no point in holding back here.

6. Stick colored pictures that help emotionalize your goals.

For those of you more visually orientated, you may want to stick colored pictures in your goal book to help you visualize them.  This will assist you to build a physical picture of what your goal will feel like when you achieve it.

7. Make audio recordings of your goals

For those of you who are audible (and there’s only 7% of the population and I’m one of them) make recordings of you reading your goals OUT LOUD.  Instead of reading them, you can listen to them.  There’s a simple to use and free software program called Audacity that lets you make audio recordings on your computer with just a microphone.  You can edit recordings (remove all your umms and arrs) and then convert it to an MP3 file, save it to a playlist and listen to it on your IPod.

8. Have definitive plans to achieve your goals

Like anything, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.  Writing down a plan to achieve anything in life is crucial.  I once built a deck.  That may not sound like much to you, but before I built it, I attended deck building classes at Bunning’s, took a technical drawing course at Tafe and then drew scaled plans using a free CAD software program.  Once I’d drawn the deck, (it took me 4 attempts to get it right) I took the plans back to Bunning’s sourced all my materials.  I then took a week off work, treated my days like a tradie, worked 7.00am – 4.30pm building this deck.  (Oh and I drank a six-pack every day after work.)

9. Take MASSIVE ACTION immediately

Do not wait until your plans are fully completed before taking massive action.  DO IT NOW!!!  This is where all great plans fall down.  People don’t actually take any action.  I used to work with a Sales Person (I’ll leave her name out as she’s on my mailing list) who I would say “was ALL talk.  You know the kind of person I’m referring to. They say lots but do nothing.  Don’t let that be you.  Take massive action.  Your plans can change over time to reflect changes and that’s ok, but don’t wait for the perfect plan before starting otherwise, guess what… you’ll never ACTUALLY start

10. Review your goals on a regular basis

Regardless of whether you achieve them or not, make sure you periodically review them.  Financial goals can be reviewed at the end of the financial year, with monthly or 3 monthly check ups to track your progress.  Annual goals can be reviewed at Christmas which is a great time as you spend lots of time with family and it’s a good time for reflection.  Spiritual goals can be reviewed at religious occasions.  Health and fitness goals can be reviewed at various sporting accomplishments.  Whatever your goal is, ensure you have factored in regular reviews to track your progress.

11. Score Yourself Out Of 10

As you get yourself into the habit of reviewing your performance on a regular basis, get into the habit of assessing how you performed in striving towards your goal.  For example if weight loss is your objective, how well did you stick to your eating plan?    Did you eat what you were meant to or did you sneak off to the servo and buy a king sized bar of chocolate? And if you have one, get your coach to provide you feedback so you can get an outside opinion on how well you’re tracking.

So there you have it, my 5 cents worth to goal setting.  I hope you enjoyed this, my first article for 2010.  Now, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to formalize your goal setting process so, off you go, get yourself a goal book, set your goals and have a massive 2010, because I certainly plan to.