When it comes to goal setting, would it be great to learn from the people who have achieved massive goals?
So today let's learn how to reach goals from three most wealthiest and successful people in the world: Bill Gates, Richard Branson, and Ray Dalio.
Billionaire and co-founder of Microsoft Bill Gates takes a very specific and measured route to goal-setting. He uses what’s called the OKR method which is also a method used by successful companies like Google.
OKR starts with first setting objectives (the “O” in OKR), meaning what you want to accomplish; they should be significant, action-oriented and aspirational. Then you identify key results (“KR”) that help you meet your objectives. Key results should be specific, measurable and verifiable.
According to Gates, “Having a good mission is not enough. You need a concrete objective, and you need to know how you’re going to get there.” He also used OKR when he was running Microsoft and starting the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: ”[M]y time was limited, and [we] had to make things very efficient.The goals process was a big part of that.”
Billionaire and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson is known for his big, out-of-the-box ideas. To reach his goals, Branson writes things down. “It’s time to get your New Year’s resolutions down on paper. The simple act of writing it down will help you stick to it,” Branson says in a post on his blog. “Share your goals with your family and friends but ultimately it’s down to you to make your resolution happen.“
Branson also recommends having short-and long-term goals, as he says it’s motivational to rack up small successes while working toward loftier resolutions. “If you set daily goals and work through your list every day, you can mark off every completed task with a satisfying tick,” Branson says. “This helps keep you motivated to aim for the big targets.”
Billionaire Ray Dalio grew Bridgewater Associates from an operation run out of his apartment to one of the world’s largest hedge funds. Here are his thoughts on achieving goals.
“While you can have virtually anything you want, you can’t have everything you want,” he explains in his 2017 book “Principles: Life & Work.” “Life is like a giant smorgasbord with more delicious alternatives than you can ever hope to taste. Choosing a goal often means rejecting some things you want in order to get other things that you want or need even more."
“Some people fail at this point, before they have even started,” he says. “Afraid to reject a good alternative for a better one, they try to pursue too many goals at once, achieving few or none of them. Don’t let yourself be paralyzed by all the choices.”
Hope you get something out of the wisdom they shared. We may not expect to achieve anywhere near the level of success they reached, but it wouldn't hurt to adopt at least some of their ideas for our own goals.
Harry
