Goal Setting – Part 2

Now back to the session on setting goals. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, scroll down to January 13 post, and read the first half.

So far you’ve reviewed your past accomplishments, written down your dreams & goals for the next 10 years, and numbered each goal with the approximate number of years it will take to achieve it.

Step 4 Look at each goal you’ve numbered with a one (1) and select the three (3) most important. …*waiting * waiting…..Now look at these goals one by one and right down why they are important. Why is it important that you have a 10 bedroom house with a 3 car garage? So you can have a place for your large family and friends to gather and celebrate special occassions? That sounds like a good answer. Oh, you want the big house so you can impress everyone and they’ll know you are important? Hmmm, better rethink that goal. Are there other ways to impress people….like, with acts of kindness or by improving your skills, being the best you can be…all that mushy stuff? Think about it.

Why is it important to write down the “why” for your goals? When the “why” gets stronger, the “how” gets easier.

Review all of your goals. Count how many 1’s, 3’s, 5’s, and 10’s you have and if you are lacking in short-term or long-term goals, add some now. As with the one year goals, select the top 3 most important goals for each time frame and write down why they are important. Also, have you set goals to cover all areas of your life? Community, Family, Health, Job or Career, Money, Personal, and Spiritual?

Step 5 What kind of a person must you become to achieve these goals in the next year? Confident, determined, strong, knowledgeable, skilled, well spoken, more focused, disciplined… What must you do to become this person? It is the person you become in the process of achieving the goal that is invaluable.

Step 6 Develop Goal Plans. Make a plan of the little things you can do each day, every evening, or the second Wednesday in every month to bring you closer to achieving your goals. This is your Action Plan. What skills must you acquire, who should you meet, what knowledge must you have, what financial capital is required…and how will you acquire them?

The key to sticking by your goals is to write them down. It’s no good to say “I got it all up here” as you clunk away at your head. We don’t believe you. Also as important is to choose which ones are unimportant and take them off the list, and always celebrate your accomplishments. Have a party when you reach a goal (good excuse!) and cross it off the list. If they are family goals, then celebrate with your family. Keep crossing them off and making new lists.

As you achieve your goals, keep setting new ones. When the early astronauts returned from their voyage to the moon, some of them developed psychological problems after they got home and all the “hoopla” died down. The reason? They had nothing left to do! They had been to the moon and back…what was left? So much time & planning, thought & energy had gone into the trip that once it was over they no longer had a goal to achieve. As a result, future astronauts were given projects to work on when they got back.

I hope some of you take the time to do this exercise because we really found it to be valuable.

Happy Goal Setting for 2004!

The information here was based on a goal setting session by Jim Rohn.

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