Goal-Setting For Real Success
It’s been great seeing all the real desire to make a positive change that participants in my 30 Days 2 Change 1 Thing program have. That’s such an important part of changing your life, the sheer want to do it.
But that’s certainly not the whole story. Setting properly defined goals will multiply your chance of success. This is an essential part of Step 2 in my 7 Steps to the Life of Your Dreams – Pick Your Spot on the Horizon.
Here’s how to do just that:
A goal should be short and punchy. One sentence is all you need. That sentence should be S.M.A.R.T. It’s proven that people who abide by this protocol when setting goals achieve more than those who don’t.
Specific – If a stranger read this, would it be crystal clear?
Woolly goals don’t work: Detail, detail, detail and a huge helping of clarity.
Measurable - How will I know when I’ve achieved this?
This is where SO many people fall down. Your goal must be measureable.
Let me give you some examples:
Bad goal: I want to lose weight. Good goal: I want to lose 7lbs by March 31st
Bad goal: I want to do more things I love. Good goal: I will spend 20 minutes every evening singing, dancing or reading my book.
Bad goal: I want to eat more healthily. Good goal: For 4 weeks I will swap my usual Friday night take-away for a beautiful, organic, home-cooked meal.
Bad goal: I want to do more exercise. Good goal: I will do 20 minutes of yoga every morning for one month.
You get the idea – specificity and detail. The more you have it the more you lay strong foundations for those goals to become your reality. I cannot over-state the importance of specificity. If you’re not sure whether your goal is specific enough, paste it below this post and I’ll give you my opinion.
Achievable - Can you actually achieve this?
Don’t set your goal so high that you’ve not got a hope in hell of getting there. Neither do you want it too low. Reading it should make you feel motivated.
Relevant - Is this something you want to do? Is it going to move you forward? Is it the right thing to do now?
You will only put your energy and enthusiasm into something that the time is right for. My best advice here is to take a moment of quiet, go inside yourself and ask yourself whether this goal feels right for you to work on now. You should feel strength, resolve and a sense of right time/right place. If so, then you’re ready.
Time-bound - When am I going to have achieved this by?
Open ended goals do not work – there’s no end point for you to work with when making a plan for how you are going to get there and there’s no momentum. You must set a time frame…if it’s a big goal then a year might work, if it’s something smaller then 30 days or 6 weeks is more appropriate.
SMART goal setting is a proven method of making goals more achievable. Run your existing goals through this and keep it by your side when setting new ones and you’ll multiply your chances of success with very little actual effort on your part.
Nice one!
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I’m sure many will recognize this, but this is the same methodology corportaions (and marriage counselors) use in setting goals for employees (and warrign couples). And it works.
Dave