We all have dreams and aspirations and many of us even have a vision for who we want to be. However, most people fall short when asked if they have a plan on how to get there. Investing the time to formally establish goals and create an action plan to achieve those goals provides us with the road map to make our dreams and aspirations a reality.
Here are a few tips to help you establish your route in 2009.
Success Starts with Attitude
Many people never set goals, and others write them down only to put them in their desk drawer where they never see the light of day. In both cases, the fear of failure takes over.
To truly create and align goals with your wildest dreams and aspirations, the first thing you have to do is break through that fear of failure and adopt a bold and audacious attitude. This attitude is one that squashes that little voice inside your head that says, “I could do this but…” or “That always happens to me….” Transforming to a bold and audacious attitude is all about understanding how we limit ourselves, recognizing those limitations, and making a commitment to squashing that negative inner voice every time we hear it.
With a bold and audacious attitude, you can live by the Law of Self-Achievement which, according to Sal Silvester, founder of 5.12 Solutions, says “the only person who can tell you what you can or can’t achieve…is you.” Once you recognize that you can achieve anything you allow yourself to envision, you are ready to start the goal setting process.
The Goals
To begin, we need to take a fearless inventory of our current situation – what are our strengths, opportunities, and limiters? What do we value? What is our purpose in life? Answering these questions gives us a starting point, and once we understand where we are, we can formulate where we want to be. In other words, we can establish our goals.
Our goals should be detailed, actionable, descriptive, measurable, and challenging. Additionally, a bold and audacious attitude empowers us to think outside the box without limiting what we can achieve. As part of each goal we should include a passionate statement identifying “why” the goal is important to us. Documenting the purpose behind each goal will help provide us with the direction and motivation we will need throughout the year to make each goal a reality.
Finally, we should organize our goals into two simple categories: personal and professional. Under the personal category we might include goals related to relationships, spirituality, health and fitness, balance of work/home life, and financials. On the professional side, our goals might be related to career, salary, knowledge, and skills we would like to achieve. Addressing both personal and professional goals will help us create a balanced life focused on the things that are truly important to us.
The Personal Action Plan
Creating a personal action plan for each goal is just as important as establishing the goal itself. The goal provides the destination, and the personal action plan provides the road map to get you there. It is important to recognize that success is simply a series of small steps that we take on a consistent basis. The action plan is the conceptualization of those small steps and should include detailed action items that you will take to achieve your goals and a target completion date for each action item.
Follow-Up
With our goals identified and an action plan established, we are now ready to track toward our desired destination. Start and end each week by reviewing your goals. This will give you the opportunity to refine your plan, focus your actions, and measure your results. To make this process easier, take your top 10 goals and create a one-page summary sheet that includes each goal and its respective “why” statement. Place the summary page in a frame and then put the frame in a place where you will see it every day (e.g., your office or home desk).
Tracking Toward Your Desired Destination
The New Year brings each of us an opportunity to start fresh and move toward our desired destination. Make this the year you achieve both your personal and professional dreams and aspirations. If you are interested in a more guided process, contact us to learn more about our a goal setting workshops and programs for individuals that will make an immediate impact on your life.