3 Absolute Musts To Be Successful At Goal-Setting

What I’ve learned over the years in developing a more effective goal-setting process is that there are just a few key factors which I used to skip over. Not only that, but missing even one of the factors will likely result in not achieving said goals.

While many goal-setting or new years resolution methods touch on some or all of these factors, I’ve personally found that successful goal-setting requires completing the trifecta and that missing any one of them significantly lowers your chances of achieving what you want.

My 3 keys to effective goal-setting are:

#1 - Be Your Own Therapist And Shrink Yourself

This means asking yourself why do you want this goal and what feeling do you hope to get from achieving it. Go as deep as you can. Why do you reallywant that goal?

For example, a common goal is “making more money this year.” So if this applies to you, ask yourself: why do you want more money? What will having more money or the things you can buy with it actually get you? Is it to feel more secure? To be able to afford spending more time relaxing or with your family? Maybe it’s to be recognized as a successful person?

“More money” is a vague and undefined goal, like “reading more” or “being healthier”, and is unattainable since there is no defined finish line , but you can use these as inroads to discovering your real goals. Connecting to why you want what you want will help you get there. For me, when I really drilled down into why I wanted a bigger agency with bigger clients it was actually because I wanted more freedom and flexibility over my life. Once I realized THAT it changed everything, because then it became clear to us that we could actually get more freedom and flexibility faster if we DIDN’T have a big agency at all. That was the impetus to us downsizing to just two people, changing our business model and achieving that freedom and flexibility in just 6 months! Instead of what could have taken YEARS if we had kept going down the traditional agency path we were going down.

#2 - The Big Picture, Middle Picture, And Small Picture.

If you come up with big huge amazing goals but then don’t have clear bite-sized steps to get to them, you will be left dreaming. If you have manageable bite-sized goals but no bigger picture, you may either lose motivation and never achieve it or achieve it and then not know what to do next. Knowing the ultimate goal, the middle steps, and the micro steps needed each day completes the picture.

#3 - Plan Like A Quitter

Being an entrepreneur, I don’t think I know anyone who is comfortable thinking of themselves as a quitter, but doing so will improve your goal-setting process and increase your chances of achieving whatever you write down. Because unless you have a specific, written out plan to follow through on your goals that takes into account the inevitable interruptions, distractions, and dips in enthusiasm then you are likely going to be part of the 92% of goal setters who fail.

Planning the method through which you will stay accountable and in touch with your goals throughout the year knowing there will be challenges and lapses in motivation is critical to its success. That gusto we all have when we sit down to create goals is going to dwindle at some point and if there’s no net to catch you it’s easy to genuinely forget what you were going after.

Doing just one of or two of these things makes you far less likely to achieve your goals. Half-assing how you set and pursue what you want does not get you to your dream goals. It only sabotages your own success. Your goals should work for you, not against you, and our three-step approach can ensure that happens as long as you’re putting in the work.

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