Setting Goals

As you start the New Year of 2019, you probably are thinking about making some New Year's Resolutions. Go ahead and make a few resolutions! Then form them into goals, and create your action plan. The most important part of keeping your resolutions is COMMITMENT. Therefore, make sure your resolutions are things you are ready to commit to.

Goals are born from vision. Denis Waitley, author of The New Dynamics of Goal Setting, believes so strongly that people cannot succeed without goals that he makes the bold statement, "Every successful person defines their goals in writing." Research shows that less than 10% of the population actually put their goals in writing, but of those who do, 85% achieve them.

Developing goals is predominantly a matter of structure and organization. A poster on the wall of a gym states, "A goal is a dream with a deadline." You might alternately say "A goal without a timeline is just a dream."

It may be helpful to use "the three V's" in planning your goals:

V alues - determine your core values, then determine your goals

V ision - give your goals a vision

V oice - give your goals a voice

The difference between goals and a vision is that goals are activities you want to accomplish and a vision is what motivates you to set those goals. That is why determining your mission statements, as we did in the previous chapter, was a vital step in the goal- setting process.

Richard Suinn, Ph.D., is a sports psychologist and was the first to serve on a U.S. Olympic sports medicine team. He states:

" Instead of just getting athletes 'psyched up,' we prefer to help them become more definite about why they're doing what they're doing now, even though their eventual goal - say winning a gold medal - may be a few years down the road. Goal setting helps to bring the future a little closer by breaking it down into steps to take this week, next week, and next month. That way, athletes can chart their progress, keeping in mind where they're eventually going to end up. It enables those who are feeling that they want to give up to stay with the program."

In setting goals, it is helpful to construct meaning around the goal. Oprah Winfrey says, "As much as my work in television has been a big dream, the truth is that I never set out to create this huge life….the path to success was never about attaining incredible wealth or celebrity. It was about the process of continually seeking to be better, to challenge myself to pursue excellence on every level (May, 2002)." So, ask yourself, "What is my path to success about? How will the attainment of this goal change my life? How will it make my life better?"

Goals need to have three elements. They need a noun, a verb, and a deadline. The simplest goal statement I can think of is "Do it now."

---When you want something you've never had, you've got to do something you've never done.

---Unknown

10 Ways to Make Action Equal Results

1. Start with the end in mind.

2. Develop a clear and easy picture of what you want to accomplish. President Kennedy's goal "to send a man to the moon and bring him safely back home within this decade," was simple, but definite.

3. Write it down - COMMIT!

4. Break the job into measurable steps with completion dates.

5. Enlist the support of others - go public with your goals.

6. Get a coach. Even friends and/or family can serve as advisors to report progress to.

7. Enlist a team to help each other reach goals. An example of this would be a book writing group. You may each be working on a different book, but the others can assist you on format, etc… and vice versa.

8. Keep allies on your side and enemies at bay.

9. Celebrate progress - reward yourself.

10. Thank those who have helped you along the way.

---I look beyond where others have been to see where I would go.

---Paul Conrad