There are many formulas and recipes for goal setting. As a rule, “Any plan is better
than no plan at all.” Here is one of the best and most effective goal setting plans or
formulas you will ever learn:
Step One: Decide exactly what you want in a specific area and write it down
clearly, in detail. Make it measurable and specific.
Step Two: Set a deadline for the achievement of the goal. If it is a large goal, break
it down into smaller parts and set sub-deadlines.
Step Three: Make a list of everything that you will have to do to achieve this goal.
As you think of new items, add them to your list until it is complete.
Step Four: Organize your list of action steps into a plan. A plan is organized on
the basis of two elements, priority and sequence.
In organizing by priorities, you determine the most important things that you can
possibly do on your list to achieve your goal. The 80/20 Rule applies. 20% of the
things that you do will account for 80% of your results. If you do not set clear
priorities, you will “major in minors” and spend much of your time doing small
and irrelevant tasks that do not help you to achieve the goal.
In organizing by sequence, you determine what has to be done before something
else can be done. There are always activities that are dependent upon other
activities being completed in advance. What are they, and what is the logical order
or sequence?
Step Five: Identify the obstacles or limitations that might hold you back from
achieving your goal, both in the situation and within yourself. Ask yourself, “Why
have I not achieved this goal already?”
Identify the most important constraint or limitation that is holding you back and
then focus on removing that obstacle. It could be a certain amount of money, or a
key resource. It could be an additional skill or habit that you need. It could be
additional information you require. It could be the help or assistance of one or
more people. Whatever it is, identify it clearly and go to work to eliminate it.
Step Six: Once you have determined your goal, developed your plan, and
identified your major obstacle, immediately take action of some kind toward the
achievement of your goal. Step out in faith. Do the first thing that comes to mind.
But do something immediately to start the process of goal attainment moving
forward.
Step Seven: Do something every day that moves you to toward your most
important goal. Make a habit of getting up each morning, planning your day and
then doing something, anything, that moves you at least one step closer to what is
most important to you.
The habit of doing something every single day that moves you toward an important
goal develops within you the power of momentum. Daily action deepens your
belief that the goal is achievable, and activates the Law of Attraction. As a result,
you begin moving faster and faster toward your goal, and your goal begins moving
faster and faster toward you.
I have spoken to people all over the world, for many years, who have told me that
the habit of taking action every day on one or more of their major goals has been
life-transforming. They have told me that this single habit has been more
responsible for their success than any other idea they ever learned. Try it for
yourself and see.
Set Your Goals Each Day
One of the most important habits you can develop is the habit of daily goal setting.
Countless people I have taught this to have told me over the years that the power of
this process is absolutely incredible!
Daily goal setting is quite simple. Get a spiral notebook to write your goals in, and
resolve to keep it nearby for the rest of your life. Each morning, before you start
out, open your spiral notebook and start a new page. I always begin with the words
“My goals are the following: . . .”
You then write down your top 10-15 goals in the present tense, as though you have
already achieved them. Your subconscious mind is only activated by commands
that are stated in the present, positive, personal tense. So instead of writing a goal
such as, “I am going to lose weight in the months ahead,” you would write instead,
“I weigh xxx number of pounds by (a specific date.)”
Instead of saying, “I will earn more money over the next year,” you would say, “I
earn X number of dollars by such and such a date.”
The more specific you can be in terms of what you want and when you want to
achieve it, expressed in the positive, present tense, and beginning with the word
“I,” the more powerful the effect will be on your subconscious mind. Goals written
and stated in this way activate the Laws of Expectation and Attraction. They cause
you to develop new beliefs about what is possible for you. They activate the Laws
of Emotion and Correspondence. They increase your energy and stimulate your
creativity.
Positive, personal, present tense goals, written down repeatedly each day, activate
your subconscious and superconscious minds and step on the accelerator of your
own potential. As a result, you start to move more rapidly toward the achievement
of your goals and they begin to move more rapidly toward you.