What you do now will make all the difference in how high you soar this year.
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As an avid reader and personal and professional development junkie, it’s safe to say I’ve tried about every method there is for establishing and accomplishing goals.
Between a successful career as a former radio personality, and a thriving podcast and coaching business, I’ve been fortunate to see how wonderfully gratifying goal setting can be.
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… those not willing to physically write down their goals, either on paper or an office whiteboard where they can be seen often, are about 99% less likely to reach them.
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I still struggle hitting the mark on occasion, but over the last three decades I’ve learned that, to have a fighting chance at achieving any goal, focus, intentionality, and motivation are key.
So with that in mind, let’s take a look at what I’ve come to believe to be the three main forces working against you.
Your Goals Are Too Vague
In a recent email to listeners of my podcast, I asked them to share their goals heading into the new year. As it turns out, my listeners are pretty smart people. Many of them mentioned goals that were specific, measurable and focused such as, “grow my side business to $100,000 in revenue by July 1,” or “increase my subscriber list to 10,000 by December 31.”
Still, a few broader ones managed to slip through. Things like, “be a better husband to my wife/father to my children,” “continuous personal growth,” and “do everything with excellence,” are the kind of goals that, while noble, will probably never be reached without more specificity.
Your Goals Aren’t Written Down
In my experience, those not willing to physically write down their goals, either on paper or an office whiteboard where they can be seen often, are about 99% less likely to reach them. In others words, not at all.
If they’re not important enough to record, if they’re not dramatic enough that you desire a daily kick-in-the-pants reminder of the promises you’ve made to yourself, then it may mean you need to re-evaluate your choices altogether.
Writing them down communicates to yourself and those around you that you’re serious about what you’ve set out to achieve. Recording them also says you’re not above being held accountable to what you say you’re going to do, even if it’s only you that ever sees them.
Your Goals Aren’t Being Tracked
The importance of physically writing your goals by hand cannot be overstated. But neither can the need for consistent tracking of the ones you’ve determined to be of utmost importance.
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Continual and regular milestones will help instill the motivation you need to keep going when the going gets tough.
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Assuming your goals are not only written down, but specific and focused enough to be measured, you can ensure your success by tracking your goals in monthly, weekly and daily blocks.
In other words, you must be willing to reverse engineer the process. Beginning with the end in mind and breaking down each goal into manageable chunks gives you something you can actually measure.
Continual and regular milestones will help instill the motivation you need to keep going when the going gets tough.
Make no mistake, there will be times when you want to quit. But much like paying down debt by starting with the smallest obligation gives you the much needed psychological momentum to keep chipping away, hitting small goal-related milestones at just the right intervals will pay huge dividends.
Jim Rohn said, “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” To ensure the discipline you need, give your goals the discipline of focus, intentionality and motivation.
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Photo: Pixabay