The Goal Setting Process

Short term goals take 3 months to a couple of years to complete, while long-term goals take 3 to 5 years to complete and sometimes even longer. An example of a long term goal is making $5Million dollars 5 years from now and a short term goal is making $100,000 in the next quarter.

Ensure that your goals are realistic and attainable and not pie in the sky. Don’t have an unrealistic goal of losing 30lbs overnight! I exaggerate but unrealistic and unattainable goals are harder to achieve because your mind has to grapple with something it has not achieved before. When goals are more realistic, the mind has an easier time seeing them to the end.

You set the goal and then you build the structures around it so that you are successful at achieving your goal. For example, if I say I want to be making $250,000 in revenue in my business next year. What do I need to do to get there? I need to start working my way backwards from December 31st, where I have achieved my goal of $250K and work my way backwards for each quarter and then each month and week. And then break it down to daily actions.

Plan out the work you need to do to achieve your goal. Make sure to use some type of calendar system to schedule all the tasks that need to be completed. The calendar system can be electronic (such as Google Calendar or iCal) or paper based. Choose one that is most effective for you and you are most likely to use and maintain.

Spend time to reflect on your actions and results achieved through these actions.

This is a very important component of achieving your goal. Look at whether you are on the right path and course correct anything that is not working. Do not get discouraged if it feels like you have taken many missteps. Remember, even the Apollo 11 mission was off course 97% of the time and had to continuously course correct!

Consistency is key. The goal may look far away right now but next year will come whether you take the actions or not. So why not keep going? Right? There is a great book that I read and tell all my friends, family and clients to read called “The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson (https://www.amazon.com/Slight-Edge-Turning-Disciplines-Happiness/dp/1626340463)

Celebrate ALL your successes whether big or small. This will create a mindset of more success. When you celebrate your brain has a way of setting yourself up for more success. The celebration does not have to be anything huge, it could be something as small as getting your favorite dessert or buying a book you have had your eye on for a while or even sharing with a friend in your success.

1. Figure out what you want to achieve

2. Write down your goals

3. Figure out how to measure the progress of your goals

4. Figure out what the potential obstacles are

5. Map a timeline

6. Create a plan around the timeline

7. Measure progress