My thought on goals are this. . .Necessary! If you research the life of any successful figure; be it an artist, business person, sports star. . .you will soon come to find that part of their successes was due to their ability to set goals. Everyone has them whether you keep them to yourself, spill them out to the world, write them down or whatever medium you chose to discuss them. It is vital that in order for us to stay excited throughout life, we need to feel self accomplished. Accomplished by something that we were able to contribute to. That feeling of accomplished bliss could come from self, or recognized by another individual. But to achieve that feeling, there is usually one common event that occurs. This event has stopped many people from celebrating a happy life, a healthy life, a financially comfortable life, and a personally fulfilling life. This event has caused many companies to fail, many relationships to deteriorate, and many potentials from reaching their fullest. The event that I speak of is: Completion
Completion is quite possibly one of the hardest events to reach. It takes many other events to happen, used in unlimited combinations. Those events may be; time, work, love, dedication, passion, teamwork, dependance, skill, learning, waiting, creating, brainstorming, building, and the list could continue for another hundred pages. Without the alignment of events that need to happen, you can kiss the sweet success of completion goodbye. Think about it? It’s either completed, or not. But only completed can celebrate the feeling of accomplishment. And who wants to miss out on that? It’s exciting!!!!
I’ve taught a few classes on goal setting and the response I get is split as follows:
1. I am a current goal setter and I am excited that we could talk about it today!
2. I’m excited to start goal setting and see what happens with it!
3. I’m a spontaneous person, so goal setting wouldn’t work for me.
Let’s address the spontaneous person for a moment! Everyone has a bit of spontaneity in them. But there are others who live by the excitement and adrenaline caused by spontaneous decisions. Adding goal setting to that agenda sounds more chore-like next to spontaneity! However, everyone sets minor goals, to some extent, unconsciously every day. You wake up. “I’m going to jump in the shower and get dressed for the day,” you say. Next, you think to yourself, “I am going saute me some eggs and hash browns for breakfast.” Followed by, “I’m going shopping today to buy me some hot new shoes and jeans!” Read over those sentences again and what do you see? They’re simply, daily tasks. And conveniently enough, tasks = goals! So you’ve subconsciously goal set how your day would ideally go about. What would happen if you woke up and did nothing? You would smell, starve, and probably be naked. And all those events are sad. And no sense of accomplishment could be celebrated in such conditions, agree?
Goal setting is an opportunity for everyone to take. It’s free, and pays off in the end! Della Menechella, motivational speaker, corporate success trainer, and author of the video series The Twelve Commandments of Goal Setting, has simplified the process of goal setting, so it becomes the opposite; not a timely process. Menechella states that, “. . .in order to be effective, goals must be written down in the present tense using clear, specific, vivid words.” Not so hard, right? It takes 10 minutes of your night to plan out your entire set of 2010 goals. Need ideas on how to do so? Della also gives us ten guidelines to help us stay on track:
12 Commandments of Goal Setting
1. Decide what you want to accomplish. The goal should be very specific. If you want to move to a different job, what are the characteristics of that job?
2. Determine a deadline for the accomplishment. A goal must have a deadline. If you do not have a date on it, the goal is only a wish or a dream.
3. Determine that the goal is believable to you. You must feel that the goal can be realized. If you believe it is impossible to achieve, you will never take the action necessary to make the goal a reality.
4. Where are you now? Take a current inventory. You will never know how far you have to go if you don’t know where you already are.
5. What obstacles do you need to overcome? Is there something that may make it difficult to achieve your goal? Be aware of the obstacle so you can make plans to overcome it.
6. What knowledge will you need to acquire? Will you need to earn a professional designation or take certain courses? Will you need to research new markets?
7. What organizations and groups should you associate with? Are there certain groups of people that can make it easier for you to accomplish your goal? How can you become affiliated with them?
8. What are the benefits to you? Write down as many benefits as possible. The more benefits you can come up with, the more likely you will be to stick to the goal until it is achieved.
9. Develop an action plan. Determine the specific steps that will be necessary to achieve the goal. Start at the accomplishment of the goal and work backwards.
10. Visualize yourself accomplishing the goal. See yourself in clear detail as if you have already achieved the goal. If you want to close more sales, see yourself closing more sales easily. Do this over and over again until it becomes part of your subconscious mind.
11. Take daily action towards the goal. Dreams and goals require action. The best goal in the world will never materialize unless consistent action is taken.
12. Resolve to never quit. Decide that you will never give up, even when times get tough, until your goal is reached.
Goal setting is something I continue to set myself up with, and also choose to surround myself with those who share the same idea for success! Feel free to post your 2010 goals here to share with the world, as I would add that accountability to others will increase your achievements with your successful goal setting!
With your successes in mind,
Steven Robertson
All material used for the Twelve Commandments of Goal Setting was information pulled from http://www.dellamenechella.com and her contributing book Thriving in the Midst of Change can be purchased here!
