Photo Credit - iStockPhoto
I saw a cartoon last week that asked the question, “What is a New Years Resolution?” Answer, at least according to the cartoon, “A to-do list for the first week of January.”
I am not a big fan of the new years resolution, at least not since I learned the importance of setting goals. Setting a few, clearly defined, measurable goals for the next 6-18 months is clearly one of the all-time best practice activities of top performers. I saw a survey recently that showed that of the top 5% of performers in a particular area 100% of them had written goals. Of the bottom 5% of performers only 16% had written goals. Seems to me that having written goals is important to achievement.
Begin with the End in Mind
When I ask people why they don’t have a written plan for what they would like to accomplish this year I often hear that they are not sure what to write. In fact, I was meeting with one of the young men I mentor this week and he asked me timidly if I thought his goal for the year was any good. When he told me his goal I sensed he was embarrassed somehow that it was not majestic enough to qualify as an acceptable goal. ANNOUNCEMENT: If it is YOUR goal and it is going to take some WORK to get there, it IS majestic enough.
Here is the simple approach I use to set the sails for the coming year:
1. Decide where you want to end up – think of the segments of your life (Family, Work, Health, Spiritual, Relationships, etc.) and decide what you would like to see in this area in the coming year.
e.g. Have a book published in 2012 by a major publishing house
2. Decide where you are starting from – honestly evaluate your starting point in each of the areas you identified in step #1. This will help you to see the gap and help you to decide on the actions for step #3.
e.g. I have an idea for a book and I have begun to write
3. Decide the 3-5 actions your will need to take – for each area you identified decide what 3-5 actions are required by you in order to achieve the goal you identified in step #1 a reality.
e.g. Actions – develop a book proposal; find an agent to help me navigate publishing waters; identify multiple publishers; formalize and present proposal to publishers; evaluate feedback; persist
Author Darren Hardy likes to say, “Ink it, don’t think it”, meaning, write down your goals. It is not enough to merely have them in your mind, you must commit it to paper. This allows you to read it on a regular basis, make notes and changes to the plan, and be accountable to yourself for what you said you were going to do.
If you would like a free resource for Goal Designing from Darren Hardy and The Compound Effect go HERE.
