How To Set Goals That Stick
What do you think about when the word goal comes up in
conversation? Do you cringe and snort thinking to yourself
"right, goals . . . whatever. What's the point of making
them if I won't keep them?" Or, do your eyes light up as
you tick off a long list of goals for the New Year that
will be impossible to complete?
No matter if you have an optimistic or pessimistic outlook
about your small business goals for this New Year, both
outlooks have something in common and it is this: Unless
you know how to set goals properly, you will fail to
complete them. So let's start by defining exactly what a
goal is: A goal is something that is meaningful, powerful,
and transformative. A goal is something that will change
your life, your business, your career, or your family in
some meaningful way.
A goal is fierce!
• A goal is clearly defined
• A goal is very specific
• A goal has an action plan and time line for completion
To be an accomplished goal setter, you must become a
fearsome time manager by:
• Setting priorities
• Completing tasks on time
• Eliminating distractions
In other words, those who manage their time, manage their
world.
Three Parts To Setting Goals That Stick
1. Activate Intentions. They key to getting your business
goals to stick it to activate your intentions. That means
to put down on a piece of paper what your goals are, and
then to take one action on each goal immediately.
Seven Steps For Successful Activation
• Identify your goal, very clearly and specifically.
Identify no more than 3-5 business goals to focus on. Be
concrete. Put your business goal into words and be as
precise about it as you can be.
• Think critically about whether or not this is actually a
business goal that you want to accomplish this year. Make
sure you know why this goal is meaningful.
• Thinking creatively about how to accomplish your goals.
Think outside the box. Stretch the boundaries of
possibilities. Engage others to brainstorm and
‘creategize' with you. Think really far out. Consider
outlandish and bazaar solutions.
• Next, identify your plan of action and create strategic
action steps that will lead to goal completion.
• Then, and this is all so energetically important:
schedule and take your first action step either now, or
within the next five days. This one step will set the
activation energy in motion. Since what we focus on
happens, it is important to schedule and take a first step
to create momentum immediately.
• Evaluate your activity and measure success every step
along the way.
• Reward success.
2. Eliminate Distractions. Distractions are the worst
enemy of time management, and are the number one reason why
goals fail. When we allow distractions to take our time
and attention away from our goals, the result is
frustration, leading to feelings of being overwhelmed, to
thoughts of not being able to do something, to failure. Be
fierce about your goals and guard them with your time.
3. Fearsome Focus. Dave Lakhani, speaker, trainer, and
author of the Power Of An Hour has come up with a fearsome
focus strategy that works. In his book, he suggests
focusing for an hour at a time on a specific action step of
one of your business goals, no more, no less. He
recommends that you block out time each day for this
fearsome focus hour, and that you divide that focus time
into 45 minutes fearsome focus, and 15 minutes doing
something else. Below is a summary of his strategy.
• Write down action steps for what you intent to
accomplish in your 45-minute fearsome focus time.
• Surround yourself with all the tools you need to get the
job done before you begin.
• Don't allow distractions.
• Launch into your project with gusto.
• Evaluate success along the way by reviewing steps, then
immediately re-engage in fearsome focus.
• If distracted, instantly dismiss distraction and
re-engage.
• Complete all action steps.
• Acknowledge completion and relax.
• Remain in fearsome focus for 45 minutes, and then do
something different for 15 minutes. After an hour, move on
to something else.
That's it folks. These are the steps to take if you want
to set goals that stick. All you need to do is activate,
eliminate, and focus. Keep in mind, though, that it is
ridiculous to spend time focusing on something you don't
intend to do. That's a failed goal in the making.
Instead, if you find that a goal no longer serves you,
replace or revise it with one that does.
Happy goal setting!
