7 Steps to Effective Goal Planning
Wow! Here we are going into the last week of December. The time to put 2008 and all that it held… or failed to hold for you behind. You have the rear view mirror torn off and you’re not looking back. You have committed to making 2009 your most successful year ever.
You have set your goals for the New Year and you are excited about getting started. But before you do, let’s insure you have a sound plan. Remember this; if you fail to plan then you plan to fail. If you were going to build a new home, you wouldn’t just order the lumber and as soon as it was dropped off begin nailing boards would you? Of course not. You can’t build a home without a blueprint.
So today I am going to share with you a simple but very effective 7 step process for creating your blueprint that when followed will guarantee the successful achievement of your goals.
A goal is more than just something you would like to do or have; it’s an outcome that you are committed to achieving and that you are willing to support with a plan and with action.
Please print this out and post it where you will see it daily. Make it a part of your everyday planning process. So here we go.
7 Steps to Effective Goal Planning
1. Write it down. Sounds simple, but most people never even take this first step. As soon as you decide on a goal, you must write it down, clearly defined and specific. Goal setting is no time to be even the least bit vague. Vague goals produce vague results while specific goals produce specific results. It also gives you something tangible that you can focus on daily.
2. Know you “WHY”. Too many people set a goal and then immediately begin trying to figure out how they are going to achieve it. When they can’t see how, they give up. But what we know about the human mind is this; when you know what you want and you know why you want it, the how’s will show up every time. If it is really a goal that you want to achieve, there will be a strong reason behind it. Take the time to identify why your new goals are important to you and write it down. You why will become your motivating factor.
3. Identify the specific skills and knowledge you will need. No matter what your goal is, there are skills and knowledge that you will need to acquire to achieve it. Take the time during the planning phase to identify them and determine how you will acquire them. Here is the good news; no matter what it is you are trying to achieve, someone has already done it and success leave clues. They have written books or made great audio and video programs that you can listen to. The internet is a great resource for obtaining the skills, knowledge and information you need.
4. Identify the people, groups and organizations that can assist you in achieving your goal. Successful people don’t waste their time, energy or resources trying to reinvent the wheel. Instead, they identify the people who have been there and they take the time to align themselves with those people to learn from them. Don’t be an innovator, be a master imitator. As I said, success leaves clues.
5. Identify the obstacles. Take the time to identify the obstacles that may get in the way of you succeeding. When you identify the obstacles, most times it’s nothing more than a bad habit that you have acquired. You must identify it and then identify 3 action steps you can do each day for the next several weeks in order to develop the new habits you need. The only real difference between successful people and those you are unsuccessful lies in the difference of their habits. Successful people have developed the good habits they need to be successful and they are always evaluating how they are doing in regards to those habits.
6. List you action steps. Simply begin writing down everything you will need to do in order to achieve your goal. You don’t have to know everything, just enough to get started. You don’t want to contract paralysis through analysis. Once you have your action steps written down, prioritize them and sequence them using the 80/20 rule.
7. Establish your timeline for completion. A goal is a dream with a deadline. You must have a timeline established in order to create a sense of urgency and to prevent procrastination. Your timeline is what converts your daily meaningless activity in to directed action. Everything you do each day will have an exact purpose that is leading you to the achievement of your goal.
There you have it, the 7 steps to creating an effective plan. Please remember this, in life, nothing is static. Every living thing is either growing or it’s dying. If you do not have goals that are backed by a sound plan, you are not growing as a person, but you are dying. Goals are to stretch you, to keep you growing, to make you something more than you are today.
Don’t live your life by default and become a wandering generality who has settled for a life of mediocrity. You were created to be so much more. This is your life, not some dress rehearsal. You are the writer of your life’s great movie script. You are also the producer and the director. But best of all, you are the star. Set big goals; make a sound plan using these 7 steps, commit to taking massive action every day, and make it a great life.
Until next time, I’m Jim Driscoll,
“The man on Fire for Your Success”
Visit our website at www.JimDriscoll.org
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