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Goal setting secrets to boost your chances of success
I hope by now you are fired up about your success, dreams, money and the life you want to live. If not, read the post on creating your burning desire.
Gain focus and direction
Imagine that you’ve just arrived at Brisbane Airport for a driving tour of Queensland for the next week. You’ve never been to Queensland.
You’re excited. You’ve had a burning desire to do this for years. You’re finally here.
You pick up the keys to the rental car.
You’re so excited you didn’t bother to research what to see and how to get, well, anywhere.
You are going to leave the airport carpark and just drive. No maps, no GPS, no destination. Just drive.
What are the odds that you go back home disappointed because you didn’t get get the experience you had hoped for?
Very high.
What an idiot! Why didn’t you plan the journey?
We shouldn’t be too harsh on you.
Chances are that you are living your life as described above. Sorry, but it’s true.
Are you focused on achieving one goal after the next or are you drifting aimlessly through life?
As discussed in my last post, the statistics suggest that you are not setting goals and knocking them down one by one. You are hoping that “things” will just miraculously change for the better.
Even if you have things you want to achieve, have you planned the journey?
We all have a limited time in this world and so many of us, myself included, waste precious time by not, firstly, thinking about what we want in life and secondly, how to achieve these things.
Life will give you what you want, it may not be precisely 100% what you initially dreamt of, but if you become the person capable of getting it, anything is possible.
Goal setting is, therefore, an essential part of lifetime success.
The smart way.
My way!
I’m only just figuring out what Point B looks like after 30 years of trying to define it.
I wish I had travelled the straight line. I may have done some interesting things along the way, but I have wasted a lot of time and money.
And after all this time, I feel I have not achieved anything of any real significance.
Long-term success requires a collection of shorter-term achievements focused upon your big picture goals.
Meaning, to have a successful career, for example, requires attaining the right education and experiences as you make your way towards your desired goal. You tick off courses completed, skills attained, achievements and promotions gained. Forever moving towards the person you need to become in order to reach your goal.
To be financially free requires gaining the right habits early to accumulate wealth, improve your income, control your expenses and disciplined persistence. You tick off your investment targets as you pass them by – $100,000, $200,000, $300,000 and so on. Having a little celebration after hitting each target.
By setting goals, you will know what you need to do to get where you want to go.
SMART(ER) Success
There are many goal setting techniques and I recommend that you seek out a few to see what works for you. However, the SMART technique has been around since the 1980’s.
- S – Specific
- M – Measurable
- A – Attainable (realistic)
- R – Relevant
- T – Time-bound
This has been developed further by Michael Hyatt in “Your best year ever”.
He evolved SMART into SMARTER (well his version of SMARTER, there are others).
- S – Specific
- M – Measurable
- A – Actionable
- R – Risky
- T – Time-keyed
- E – Exciting
- R – Relevant
Specific
We started the development of your specific goals in the last post about your burning desire. We established that formulating and setting goals was extremely important, that you needed to clearly articulate what that goal looks like and understand why it is very important to you.
Remember, a goal is something of significance to you and requires effort to achieve it. As opposed to a task on your to-do list.
For example, if you want to run a marathon for the first time, you want to identify which marathon. It’s important to provide detail and not be vague.
- You want to run a marathon – Too vague.
- You want to run the Melbourne marathon in October 2022 – Much better.
The intensity of your desire and clarity of your goal creates focus.
Other examples:
- You want to do the Certificate 4 in Finance and Mortgage Broking through Kaplan Professional (note – this is not a recommendation for the course). Then gain employment at a bank for a couple of years before starting a business.
- You want to travel to every single country on the planet.
- You want a red Lamborghini Aventador SVJ (2021 model).
- You want to start your own online education business that focuses on success techniques and financial literacy. You will start blogging, then move into coaching so you can positively impact the lives of as many people as you can.
Add detail. Assume you have already reached your goal – what does it exactly look like, how do you feel, what does your life look like now. The detail adds the emotion to your goals, it gets you excited and motivated. Your goals become embedded into your brain and this allows for focus.
If it’s applicable, you will also want to decide who will help you with your goal. If your goal is a big one with many components, such as starting a business, you may need specialised assistance or a business partner.
Remember, all successful people had assistance in achieving their goals.
No one does it alone. So don’t even try. It won’t work.
Measurable
How do you know you have achieved your goal? Are you progressing towards your goal?
There must be some criteria that lets you know that you are progressing towards your goal and when you have reached your goal.
If you have been specific with your goals, setting the success criteria becomes easier.
- You completed the marathon.
- You finished the course.
- You bought the car.
- You received a promotion.
- You increased your business revenue by 50% this year.
- You are 50% of the way in achieving $100,000 in passive income.
When you reach a goal, make a bit of a deal about it. Have a celebration, enjoy your achievement. This is the fun part.
Actionable
Clear definable action is required.
- Exercise more.
- Gain more job skills.
- Invest regularly.
Is it clear on how you can action that? No. More detail is required.
- You will save $100 per week.
- You will write an article a week for your website.
- You will complete 4 subjects per semester and 2 summer subjects to finish the course in 2.5 years instead of 4 years.
- You will exercise 4 times a week at 7am for 45 minutes alternating strength and cardio training.
Again, specifics are important.
Risky
This doesn’t mean careless. We are talking stretch goals. Carefully calculated risk.
Setting the bar high forces you to rise to the challenge. How else will your goals inspire you to achieve something of significance to you.
Are you inspired to increase your income by 5% in the next year? No. What if the next promotion brought a 50% increase in pay? What if you started your own business and aimed to double or triple your current employment income?
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
Norman Vincent Peale
If you aim high and miss your goal, you would have achieved so much more than if you had set your sights low.
Low risk, low return.
This holds true for any aspect in life.
Hold your money in cash and at the moment you get about 0.4% per annum.
It’s easier to sit and watch TV each night instead of working on what you need to get your next promotion.
Do you become the best version of you to attract the partner of your dreams?
Usually, this means stepping out of your comfort zone.
“Be willing to be uncomfortable. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. It may get tough, but it’s a small price to pay for living a dream.”
Peter McWilliams
With pushing your boundaries comes discomfort, but also personal growth.
Michael Hyatt (Your best ever year) talks about 3 zones.
- Comfort zone
- Discomfort zone
- Delusional zone.
The comfort zone is a safe place where nothing ever happens. Low risk, low reward.
The discomfort zone pushes your limits to create new limits. It makes goals worth achieving.
The delusional zone is where your goal is not reasonable. This may be due to time constraints or an unrealistic goal may create reckless behaviour. Examples could be running a marathon this weekend when you haven’t trained for it or you want a million dollars by the end of the month with criminal activity required to achieve that goal, or risking everything at the casino.
Michael suggests the sweet spot is just short of delusional!
Time-keyed
It’s important to have a time frame for your goals. Without a time frame, your goals will lack urgency and may never be achieved.
Goal: To get 10 new clients.
If you don’t articulate by when, then it’s an open-ended goal which is allowed to drift on.
Goal: To get 10 new clients in the next two months.
Now you have a target and a deadline. You will be motivated to focus on this goal until it’s attainment. That is, you are moved to take action.
The key to time-keying your goal is to bring a sense of urgency to it. Therefore, short-term time frames help to create that urgency as opposed to long dated goals.
For example, Goal: Become a manager of my division within 5 years.
Being such a long-term goal, you can lose sight of it and motivation can wane. If you break this goal down into smaller targets it can help retain the urgency and motivation.
Say there are 4 promotions required to get to your ideal management position. You can then breakdown your goal into each promotion. One promotion per year. Each promotion can be broken down into skills and experiences required each with their own short-term goal.
This will keep you focused on the smaller steps towards your overall goal. Appropriately time-keyed goals initiate action.
Exciting
This again links back to your burning desire. If your goals don’t get you excited, you are not going to have sufficient motivation to reach them.
Goals that are exciting, are personal to you. When your manager sets you goals for the year, chances are that they don’t get you going but it’s something you are told to aim for.
Goals set by others for you are rarely going to excite you.
You need to design your own goals.
And to generate sufficient excitement, the goals must be meaningful to you.
A goal that is not meaningful becomes a task to accomplish.
If your goals don’t excite you, go back to the post on burning desire and complete the exercises.
Relevant
Well if you want a particular goal, then surely it must be relevant!
Being relevant means that the goals are in alignment with who you are. Your values, your stage of life and what’s important to you.
If there is a disconnect between your values and your goals, this can create internal friction that can slow your progress. For example, you are a salesman selling a product that you don’t believe in. You may set a goal to increase your sales by 30% this year, but if deep down it doesn’t feel right you won’t get the results you want.
Or if you really value your family, but your job requires long hours and lots of travel. You value a good career and income however, your current job doesn’t mesh well with your family values. This will create friction that will result in an unhappy family and an unhappy work life.
Additionally, what was relevant at age 25 may not be relevant at 40. An upgrade of your goals may be needed to move with a change in values, family situation or interests.
Your grand success plan
You’ve clearly thought out the:
- What (burning desire and specific goal)
- Why (burning desire)
- When (Time-keyed)
- Where (specific), and
- Who (specific)
That leaves us with the:
- How
The HOW is your plan. You can create your own, or find templates online regarding how to create a plan.
This is the most important part.
Why?
Because it’s all in the execution (read “The Execution Factor” by Kim Perell).
You have created a range of goals across a wide range of aspects in your life: career, health, family, relationships and financial amongst others. And it’s now time to ensure that your goals are executed at the right time and in the right way.
For each goal you need a step-by-step guide of what is needed to be done, where, when and by whom.
The level of detail required is dictated by the complexity of your goals. You need to have a clear roadmap to your goals. Each step should logically follow the preceding one until you reach the desired outcome.
Start with the end goal and work backwards or work from the start. Whatever is best or easiest for you.
The key is to have a series of steps that leads you to your goal. All you need to do is focus on the next step.
Don’t worry about how far you have to go. If it’s a big goal, then worrying about the goal may be demotivational. We don’t want that.
If you have planned well, focusing on the next step WILL take you to your goal.
The smaller steps will aid motivation and make it easier to start. Each step will be easier to achieve when compared to your bigger goal.
Remain focused on what you have to do NOW and cross that step off when completed. Then move to the next step.
You also need to be aware of any goals that may clash or place unnecessary stress on you.
You may have social goals that could clash with your career or family goals. These need to be resolved in the planning stage.
The important thing to note is that this is a plan. It is not set in stone.
If you don’t feel like you are progressing towards your goal, double check your goal. Did you nudge into the delusional zone? If not, examine what is not working and figure out what changes need to be made. Do you have the right what, why, when, where or who? Have you thought through all the steps?
You may need more than one rewrite of the plan. How many rewrites are necessary?
Until you find a plan that works.
Persistence.
Do not underestimate how important this stage is.
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”
Benjamin Franklin
The wrap
This concludes the three-part series on Goal Setting.
We started off looking at your current situation via the After-Action Review. We generated a burning desire for the things most important to you and then we created SMARTER goals.
If you don’t set goals, you will drift through life. Trust me, I know all about this!
You can design the life you want.
Nobody told me this. In hindsight it’s obvious but when no one gets you to sit down and do it, you don’t even think of doing it or you just don’t do it.
You need to sit down, go through the processes outlined in these posts and become the person you need to become to achieve all that you want to achieve.
The life you want, and can have, resides at the end of your plan.
The only thing stopping you is between your ears!
Up next …
A Guest post: Are your goals big enough? Try this instead when setting your goals
Take action in your life.
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