Many people set goals on January 1 for the new year. They all have good intentions to make significant changes in their lives. However, by the end of January 2, and for many people by January 2, these goals are a distant memory.
Why is it that when people set goals, a large percentage fail to achieve them? What can a person do to increase their odds for success at achieving their goals?
In working with people around the world on goal setting and goal achievement, I have discovered a few key principles to “supercharge” your goals and make them much more effective.
- Put your goals in writing. One of the keys behind goal setting is that you must take action. The first action you want to take on any goal is to write it down. The simple act of writing puts the wheels in motion for your goals. In other words, you have already taken some small action toward the achievement of this goal. This “act ionizes” the goal and gets everything in your life working toward the attainment of that goal.
- Take personal responsibility. In achieving any goal, you must adopt the attitude that “If it is to be. It is up to me.” All goals are personal. In other words, you cannot rely on other people or other events to make your goals happen. You must take total responsibility for the attainment of your goal. To do this, always state your goals in the first person and always use the pronoun “I” when you are stating your goal. If your goal is to exercise every day, you would state your goal as, “I exercise every day.” This clearly communicates to your mind that you are the one who must make your goal happen.
- Only set positive goals. One of the main reasons that people fail to reach their goals is because they set negative goals. In other words, they set goals to stop doing things or for something to stop happening. A good example of this is a goal to lose weight. People say they will stop eating, or stop doing this, or stop doing that. But, it is impossible for your mind to visualize what “stop doing something” looks like. Your mind doesn’t understand the words won’t or don’t. All your mind understands is doing. Therefore, you must state your goal in the positive sense of what you will do or will eat, rather than what you won’t.
Another good example of this is golf. I love to play golf, and I try to play as often as possible. In playing golf, you always want to focus on where you want to hit the ball. Too many people focus on where they do not want the ball to go. For instance, if there is a water hazard or a sand trap, they keep saying to themselves, “Don’t hit the ball there.” Well, of course, that is usually where the ball goes because your mind does not understand the word don’t.
- Make your goals vivid. You must bring your goal to life. It must have a magnetic pull to it for you to make the commitment necessary to achieve it. The only way to do this is to make your goal as exciting and sensory rich as possible. To do this, you must make your goal as vividly real as possible as to what it will be like when you achieve the goal.
The only way to do this is to state your goals in sensory terms. What will the goal look like? What will it smell like? What will it sound like? What will it taste like? What will it feel like emotionally? It is only when you can experience your goal in advance that it will have the necessary attraction to pull you toward it.
In the next month’s column, I will explain the remaining keys to supercharge your goals.
Life is too short to spend constantly missing your goals. Take action now to supercharge your goals and start living the life of your dreams.
By Randy Slechta, CEO / President of Leadership Management International, Inc. a global leadership and organizational development company.
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