Goal Setting as Simple as 1-2-3

I’ve been setting goals for as long as I can remember. When I was a little boy playing in the dirt, most of my friends wanted to be a policeman or a fireman. I wanted to be an astronaut. I guess it was the thrill of shooting for the stars… the first seeds of my entrepreneurial spirit. And there’s nothing like taking on new responsibilities to get you focused on goal setting…

 

Do you remember the first job you had after college? I can sure remember mine! One month after I graduated from college, my father unexpectedly died and left me in charge of the family business.

So there I was, 20 years old and responsible for a company with five employees and $70,000 in debt – welcome to the real world!

Because there was so much coming at me all at once, I was forced for the first time to write down goals on what I needed to accomplish.

I’ve achieved so much through goal setting that I created a workbook to distribute to others to help them set goals. You can download my Goal Setting Workbook (it’s FREE) by <clicking here>. This workbook gives you an easy way to set your goals for the coming year.

Every person can set significant goals this year by following these three simple steps:

1. Reflect

2. Plan

3. Write

Reflect

The first thing that I do when I set goals is reflect on the past year. I go back through my calendar and “re-live” the year in my mind.

I think about what happened, both positive and negative. I ask myself, “What worked?” and also “What didn’t work?”.

I evaluate myself in seven key areas and score myself in each area. <click here to get the rate sheet that I use> (This is a link to download my Goal Setting Workbook)

We have all heard that “experience is the best teacher”. However, experience is NOT the best teacher…Evaluated experience is!

Plan

Once I have reflected on the past year, I start planning my new goals. This step requires some thinking and dreaming about the future. I use three questions to help me identify and clarify my goals:

1. What do I want to happen? (Accomplishments)
2. How will I know it happened? (Measurement, for example “to lose five pounds”)
3. When do I want this to happen? (Starting date, completion date)

Fact: People who take the time to explicitly set goals and resolutions are ten times more likely to attain them than those who don’t make the effort. [1]

Write

There is an important last step: take time to record your goals in writing. You might be tempted to skip this step – to tell yourself that you’ll remember your newly identified goals.

But I’ve learned that when I write down my goals…

I can remember them,

I can review them,

and I can rejoice when I accomplish them!

I write a goal for each of the following areas:

• Spiritual

• Health/Physical Well-Being

• Family/Spouse

• Work/Career

• Personal Growth

• Social/Friends/Community

• Financial

Did you know? – You are 42% more likely to achieve your goals, simply by writing them down![2]

Yes, goal setting can be as easy as 1-2-3! Effective goal setting can help make this year your best year ever!

So let’s get started – I’ve developed a simple way to help you identify and record your own goals. It’s all found in my FREE Goal Setting Workbook. You can get yours today by <clicking here> to go to my download page.

Could you share how you set goals – or how my Goal Setting Workbook has impacted your goal setting? Click <here> to share your thoughts in my comment section.

For more on goal setting, see the following posts:

1. The Secret of Learning from the Past
2. 10 ways to Change Your Thinking and Set Better Goals
3. The Silver Bullet for Effective Goal Setting

 

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Footnotes:

1. University of Scranton: Journal of Clinical Psychology : 1/1/2014 : via Statistic Brain
2. Dominican University of California: Goal Study : Dr. Gail Matthews PH.D