Goal setting is a waste of time if you don’t include a critical step. When you follow this step you’ll know which are the right goals for you. In this article we share with you what that is, along with 3 other key steps for success in achieving your goals.
Whatever your Time Management Style, if you want to live this year on purpose and with less stress, starting with clear goals is paramount.
When you know your Time Style, sticking to those goals can be so much easier – and you’ll save time. Part of your plan for 2012 should incorporate how you use your Time Style strengths to keep you on track:
- Diana, make sure you keep up with goals in all areas of your life not just the one you are most passionate about!
- Julie and Lucy, discipline your use of your calendar so you use those wonderful talents of yours.
- Helen, don’t forget to put your needs in first when you draw up your plan.
- Fiona, don’t get caught up honing one aspect so much that you run out of time for other things!
When goal setting, here are the basic steps to follow:
1. On a blank page (either electronic or paper) write the goals you’d like to achieve in all areas of your life (health, career, financial, relationships, community) at the top of page. Don’t qualify them at this stage. Simply write them down as quickly as possible without editing.
When you’ve completed your list, read them to make sure you haven’t missed anything. If you have, add those extra goals.
2. It’s all about the words you use when it comes to writing goals. Make sure the goal results are what you want to have, not things you want to get rid of. Otherwise your sub-conscious will be focused on the negatives, such as the debt or weight, regardless of whether you want to get rid of it or not.
3. What is the key ingredient to your success with reaching your goals??
Run a Heart-set review. Look at your goals not just from a rational point of view, but also from your heart. Are they really what you want to achieve, or what you think you ought to achieve?
Also think about the pain for you of not achieving each of the goals. What will it mean for you, your family or business? You need to have an emotional investment in wanting to reach them.
Those goals you don’t have an emotional attachment to will demand a lot more time and motivation to keep you focused when you hit some obstacles.
Make sure the goals you’ve listed are those that you feel in your gut or heart are what you want for yourself and you’re committed to taking action on. If you’ve discarded some look at them to see if they can be reworked. Otherwise save yourself time and energy and cross them out.
To help you with this Heart-set review we recommend getting clear about what your vision is for your life. When you know this with absolute clarity, it will be that much easier to see which goals are the right ones for you. We have an exercise for this that we’ll share with you in our next ezine.
4. Review your goals to ensure they are SMART goals:
a) Identify a Specific outcome, e.g. to improve fitness and go down a clothing size in two months by exercising three times a week for at least 30minutes at a challenging pace each time. Your goal needs to include why, what, how and when. A goal of losing weight, getting fit or going to the gym is not enough.
b) Your goal needs to be Measureable, because otherwise you have no way of knowing when you reach it. To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as: How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?
c) Goals need to be Attainable or Achievable. It is important to aim high and stretch yourself so you’re motivated to put the effort in. But it is a waste of time to write a goal that you have no way of reaching because you’ll struggle to have any real commitment to trying. Using the example above, your fitness and clothing size goal may be attainable in two months, whereas a shorter time frame of two weeks is likely to be unattainable.
d) Your goal also needs to be Realistic. If you’re currently doing little or no exercise, three times a week will take effort but is realistic, whereas exercising six days a week may be too difficult.
e) Set a Time for when you want to achieve your goal – whether it is next week, two months or next year. When you have an end point you have a clear target to work towards and create a sense of urgency to keep you motivated.
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When you write your goals down you increase the potential to achieve them many times over. When you share them with others, you further increase your likelihood of reaching your goals.
So we encourage you to share some of your goals with us… put them in the comments below or email us directly.
Here are a couple of our goals for 2012:
To present internationally on Pink Shoe Power internationally in 2012
To return to the US in 2012 and spend time with family and friends there (Val)
To take my Mum on a cruise of Alaska in 2012 and a side-trip to Disneyland with my daughter on the way home (Jayne)
To release our second book on Time Management Styles in April 2012
