Plain Talk Series
Ten Rules
To Proper Goal Setting
Goal setting is the
physical act of seeing ones ideas through to it's completion. When
goal setting, you accomplish more and experience a higher level of
satisfaction when you take time to establish a list of either
professional or personal goals. By sitting down with and walking
through the goal setting process, you will achieve higher levels
of success than you ever imagined.
Rule #1
The goal must be plausible. You must able to embrace it and
believe in it. Steady, continual passion and work poured
into the project will help to solidify the goal you are trying to
reach.
Rule #2
The goal must be specific. By specific, I mean that it must be
measurable and definitive. It's often difficult to determine when
a goal that is too general and vague has been achieved. Usually
the overall big picture of a goal is the most common form of
vagueness in that it obscures the minor details which make up the
actually steps to achieving your desired goal. For example: "I
want to be rich monetarily." is a very broad and too general of a
goal as compared to "I need to sit down and write a business plan,
which will help me to secure capital for this business venture. I
will do this by first utilizing..."
Rule #3
Write your goals down and the steps it is going to take to reach
those goals. Putting the goal in writing will help make the goal
easier to achieve . It's easy to forget goals that pass through
your mind, but when they are in writing, you can look at them
every day and ask yourself, "What have I done today to bring me
closer to my goals?"
Rule #4
Ask yourself this question: "Is this goal realistic?"
When people decide that a goal is unrealistic and cannot possibly
be reached, they often become intimidated and stop trying.
In any success story, perseverance and steady investment in the
goals you set are key factors to it's successful completion or
outcome.
Rule #5
What are some of the obstacles that stand between you and
achieving each of your goals? Be specific and write each of them
down. "It is virtually impossible to accomplish any goal, if you
have so many distractions going on in your life that are pulling
you away from it."
Rule #6
Setting a realistic
deadline to complete the goal cannot be understated. Don't
establish unrealistic goals, such as "I will build a four
bedroom house overnight." but attach a specific, realistic
date for each goal you set.
Rule #7
Ask yourself this
question: "Am I committed to achieving this goal?" Commitment is a
strong word. It means that you will achieve this goal in spite of
the often uncontrollable road blocks that are bound to crop up
from time to time over the course of the year. A steady drop of
water over a long period of time will even wear down the largest
of boulders. Procrastination is not a part of successful goal
setting and accomplishment.
Rule #8
What's your action
plan? What are you going to do differently this year from what you
did last year? If you want different results, you must do
different things. The definition of insanity is to do the same
thing over repeatedly and expect different results.
Rule #9
If necessary, you
may want share some of your goals with others. Be willing to adapt
and change. Some of the most successful businesses today are that
way because they listen to the needs of the people around them,
and make necessary adjustments and adapt to the change quickly. A
house can get painted quicker with 4 people working on it, than
just you by yourself.
Rule #10
Rework your goals.
As you start getting closer to your each goals, you may want to
consider reworking any goals that may become a problem down the
road. Ask yourself, "Could I have done anything different that
would have helped me get closer to my goals quicker?" If one
of your obstacles is a pricing issue, a part of your action plan
could perhaps be attending a business-to-business negotiating
seminar or listening to a set of good negotiating audio-cassette
tapes. You might even go out to the prospect's jobsite and
carefully compare the materials your competitor is delivering to
the material you're quoting. Maybe your prospect is not comparing
apples to apples.
Go ahead! Give the goal-setting process a try this year. Follow
the rules and watch your productivity soar. If you are having
problems setting and completing goals, call Lorraine at
713.963.8031
