The Power of Goal Setting
 In Mark McCormack’s book, “What they Don’t Teach
You at Harvard Business School” he discusses a study conducted
of Harvard MBA grads between 1979 and 1989. Graduates were asked
if they had set clear, written goals for their future. 84% had
not, 13% said they did have goals but surprisingly only 3% had
actually written them down. Ten years later in 1989 they went back
to these grads and found that the 13% with non-written goals were
earning on average twice as much as those who had no goals at all.
The amazing part is that the 3% that had true written goals were
earning on average 10 times as much as the average from the entire
remaining 97%! Obviously Harvard does not graduate dummies so it’s
pretty clear that goal setting made the difference, not intelligence.
Here is a system and some tips for writing, tracking and achieving
your goals: Write down your goals! This is
critical - and when I say "write" I don't mean take mental notes
nor do I mean typing in on your computer or smart phone. I mean
the good old fashioned way with pen and paper. When setting your
goals always follow the S.M.A.R.T. system. Here’s
an explanation…
S for Specific
Your goals need to be specific. “Make a ton of money” or “have
more free time” are not specific goals and won’t push
you into action. Specific goals are “Make $250,000 this year” and “attend
10 of my son’s little league games this season”.
M for Measurable
No point in setting goals if you can’t measure them. If your
goal is to make $250,000 in 2010 then you know that by July 1 you
should have made $125,000 or you could be off track and need to
kick it into high gear. If you can’t measure your progress
with your goals then success or failure may be open to speculation.
We either hit or miss our goals – no in between.
A for Attainable
Your goals need to be worthwhile and possible otherwise you won’t
be motivated to pursue them. I’d love to make a billion dollars
a year but despite being a fairly confident and optimistic guy
I know that’s hardly an attainable goal. Set ambitious goals
but always remember it’s a whole lot more motivating and
gratifying to over perform on your goals than it is to fall short.
R T for Realistic Timetable
Goals have to have a deadline otherwise they won’t motivate
or inspire commitment. It’s hard to really be motivated to
take action on something we want to achieve someday. It’s
much easier to take action on something we want to achieve by the
end of the month or year. Give yourself a fair time frame to achieve
your goals otherwise you will set yourself up to fail but also
remember that most humans are not wired to think more than a few
years out. 1, 3 and 5 year goals are what I generally try to set.
End Goals vs Means Goals
There are basically two types of goals… end goals and means
goals. End goals are your ultimate goals, for example, earn $250,000
in 2010. That goal should be set but to really kick yourself into
action you will also want to create means goals. (as in a means
to an end). What goals will you need to set on a daily – weekly
and monthly basis to achieve that $250,000 in 2010? How many leads,
sales calls, candidate introductions, etc. will it take to achieve
my ends goal? In addition to writing out these goals, take an extra
few minutes to also write down how it will make you feel when you
achieve your end goal. How will it make you feel if you don’t
achieve it. Leverage your fear of failure to motivate you and visualize
your success.
In my 20 or so years of striving to be a successful entrepreneur
I have read books, attended seminars and sought advice from so
many of the greats including Anthony Robbins, Zig Ziglar, Steven
Covey, Brian Tracey, Chet Holmes and more. While the general styles
and focus of these people may vary I have never read one of their
books or attended one of their seminars where true goal setting
was not a key focus. If you have not already done so – go
get yourself a plain spiral notebook and a pen and get busy setting
your goals. I guarantee it will change your life.
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