5 Steps on How to Set and Achieve Your Goals
Which one is a goal?
I will lose 15 pounds
I want to run a marathon
Quit smoking
All of the above
None of the above
The correct answer is (5) - none of the above. The first three are wishes, not goals. However, you are not alone if you answered incorrectly because research has shown that less than 1% of the population actually understands how to effectively set a goal. This is why so many New Year's resolutions get broken and why so many people try keep failing at the very same goal. The desire to better ourselves is genuine, but the process we go about while seeking this desire is faulty.
Here are five steps to follow when setting an effective goal:
1) Your Goal MUST be meaningful to YOU
This means that you have to be the person to create it - not your spouse or employer. Make sure that the things you are investing your time and energy into are things you are passionate about. When you achieve it, you will be fired up about it.
2) Make your goals specific (quantifiable) and measurable (end date)
I will lose 15 pounds by October 31st, 2004 is a goal because you will know at the end of the time period if you did it or did not achieve it. Many people do not give themselves an end date because they are afraid of failure. In addition, not having an end date allows you to procrastinate.
3) Make your goals the right size
Goals should cause you to stretch and grow, but not be unrealistic. For instance, earning one million dollars your first year out of college has been done, but for most it is unrealistic. On the flip side, if your goal is to run a mile in 6:59 versus 7 minutes, you have not pushed yourself enough. Also, focus on a few achievable tasks at one time and move on as you reach them.
4) An Effective Goal is always written down
This is extremely helpful and essential because there will be times when you goals will make you uncomfortable and you may lose site of them. When this happens, you need to have them written down to keep yourself on track and accountable. Posting your goals on the refrigerator, bulletin board, or in your planner ensures that you will be reminded of them on a daily basis.
5) Review them on a weekly basis
You must review your goal in order to stay on track. Reviewing them causes you to commit to their achievement.
The positive results of achieving any goal are unforgettable. An individual's failure to achieve is seldom because they are incompetent. Rather, it is because they simply do not know the process of success. Follow these guidelines, be patient, and celebrate your success to come.
Eric Plantenberg, President of Freedom Speakers and Trainers, currently trains professionals across the country in memory, goal setting, attitude, time management, and effective communications. His newest program, P.A.C.T., is an intensive one-on-one twelve week personal coaching program designed for those who are serious about their success. Please click here for more information on Eric http://www.deliverfreedom.com/speakers_eric.html or Freedom Speakers and Trainers
http://www.deliverfreedom.com
Call 888-233-0407 x112 email eric@deliverfreedom.com
Related News
Leadership experiment has makings of a mess - Austin American-Statesman
Leadership experiment has makings of a messAustin American-Statesman, TX -4 hours agoBy Mike Leggett A parrot and a monkey walk into a bar. The monkey, who's wearing a tuxedo, says to the bartender, "A priest, a rabbi and a deputy director ... |
Johnson’s leadership already proven - Suffolk News-Herald
MASON: AIDS Reform leadership needed - Washington Times
Police official meets with Akko’s Arab leadership - Ynetnews
Obama fails to show leadership when needed - Hilton Head Island Packet
Obama offers leadership on financial woes - InTheNews.co.uk
Without real leadership, we face disaster - guardian.co.uk
Without real leadership, we face disasterguardian.co.uk, UK -6 hours agoWithout collaboration and leadership, we face disaster. On Friday, there were terrifying signs that the contagion was spreading to the foreign exchange ... |
Gay support group criticizes Mormon leadership - San Francisco Chronicle
Gay support group criticizes Mormon leadershipSan Francisco Chronicle, USA -5 hours agoLeaders of a support group for gay and lesbian Mormons on Saturday criticized their church for its efforts to ban gay marriage in California. ... |
Guam's Andersen Air Force Base Team Members Attend Leadership Seminar - Pacific News Center
Nebraska Youth Beef Leadership Symposium convenes in mid-November - KTIV
|
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Getting Things Done, Without the Sweat!
How do you get your people on your side? And once their on your side, how can you get them to do anything you want? It's a skill that we all want. Nothing's better than leaving the hard work for someone else! But how?
Benefits of Leadership Skill Training
DESCRIPTION
CMOE's Leadership Skill Training addresses a wide range of leadership development topics, based on the needs of the audience and scope of delivery. Leadership Skill Training for new leaders might be targeted to help them make the transition from individual contributor to effective leader. For more experienced or advanced audiences, Leadership Skills can address the situational decisions leaders face to either involve their team members in decisions, or to rely more on their own experience, expertise, and responsibility.
The Synergy Effect
Have you ever considered that everything you want in life comes from someone else? The greatest minds in any field are keenly aware of the value of working with and involving others in life plans, business, work and personal commitments.
Abraham Lincoln Is Still Alive
Abraham Lincoln Is Still Alive
Premature Articulation
Ask anyone about what makes a good leader and they are sure to put the ability to communicate high on the list of necessary skills. Yet all to often communication is simply seen as the ability to speak.
Leader is Not a Title
There is a steady flow of information in the form of books, articles, white papers and training all in the context of [ "what is leadership" or "how to develop a
leader"]?. In this issue, I will avoid those two questions and write about two others that I believe might be on the minds of a lot you readers and they
are:
Are You a Good Manager or a Great Leader?
Your word is your truth - Know that when you speak, you will fulfill your promise to others and others will know they can depend on you.
Think before you speak.
Under promise and over deliver.
Always keep your promise.
Leadership Activity: How Leadership Agenda, Strategy, and Behaviors Shape Your Success!
"Forward, as occasion offers. Never look round to see whether any shall note it... Be satisfied with success in even the smallest matter, and think that even such a result is no trifle." - Marcus Aurelius
Character -- Why It Matters In Leaders
"Character is much easier kept than recovered." -Thomas Paine
The Leadership Strategy: An Unmined Comstock Lode of Results
During the Second World War, Winston Churchill had a framed inscription on his desk that said, "It's not enough to say we are doing our best. We must succeed in doing what is necessary."
How to Become a Great Leader & Improve Your Leadership Skills
A great leader is able to inspire his/her workers to work harder. Instead of firing workers, great leaders know how to fire his/her worker up to do their best.
Managing Monsters in Meetings - Part 1, General Strategies for Unproductive Behavior
It happens easily. You're conducting a meeting and suddenly a small side meeting
starts. Then someone introduces an unrelated issue. Someone else ridicules the new
issue. Everyone laughs, except the person who mentioned the idea. Then someone
insults the person who told the joke. Two people stand up and walk out. Others
complain that the meeting is a waste of time.
Pure Discipline
General George S. Patton was born on November 11, 1885 on his fathers ranch and vineyard in Los Angeles County over what is today the city of Pasadena and much of the UCLA campus. Early in life he was small and weak, but raw determination and drive built up body day-by-day, piece-by-piece.
Effective Leaders are (#2) Technical
SET CLEAR AND REASONABLE OBJECTIVES FOR THEMSELVES AND OTHERS: Plan? Plan? Plan? Managers need to do their homework. Effective managers know that setting objectives, outlining the steps required to achieve them, and delegating tasks appropriately to each staff person are all necessary components of bringing a project to fruition. The development of a system that maintains these objectives (like a wall calendar) is a good sign of an effective leader and time manager. Any major projects should be time-lined backwards from completion date to incipience to verify how long they will take, and to create intermediate goals to keep the staff and management motivated.
Wanted: A Dictionary-Perfect Leader
Answers are often before our very eyes or in front of our noses - particularly if we read the American Heritage Dictionary!
Get What You Want - Negotiating Skills for the Timid!
OK, I know this title sounds self-serving and hard nosed, but the article isn't! Whether it's buying a car, asking for a pay rise, saying 'no' to a friend or renting an apartment - at some stage in our lives we all are going to need to know how to negotiate. Yet, so few of us know the basic skills before embarking on life changing purchases or decisions!
Dream Bigger!
A number of years ago we created a graphic logo based on the phrase Dream Bigger! We produced buttons and t-shirts. I've signed letters and emails with this phrase. It is more than a short inspirational phrase. It embodies a truth for all of us as individuals and carries extra importance for us as a leader.
Get Angry And Then Get Results
Leadership is not about winning a popularity contest, it's about getting great results. To do so, leaders must challenge people not to do what they want to do but what they don't want to do.
Leadership Styles and What We Need For the Future:
By definition a leaders leads a team to take action in favor of the vision.
Leadership Skills - 10 Ways to Beef Up
10 Ways to Beef Up Your Leadership Skills
|
