Setting Your Goals for a Successful 2011 Published on Monday, December 6, 2010, 4:19 PM Last Update: 3 day(s) ago by Van Deeb
What are your goals for 2011? Goals. You have set them, and you have heard everyone tell you that you should have them. The question is do you qualify for your own goals. Are you talking the talk and walking the walk?
It is very easy to grab a sheet of paper and begin writing down your goals; where you want to be by the end of the 1st quarter of 2011, or by the end of the year. Maybe you have broken them down to daily, weekly and monthly goals like I recommend. HOWEVER, what are you doing to make sure you are not just wasting time and the ink and sheet of paper you are writing them on. Ask yourself these questions:
- Are you committed to accomplishing these goals?
- Are you taking the necessary steps to achieve the results you wrote down?
- Do you need to change your lifestyle to make this happen?
- Are you going to make the changes in your daily routine?
- Have you told your supporters, family, loved ones or manager or employees about your goals?
- Have you displayed these goals in places that are visible to remind you of these goals everyday?
So many people say they have goals, but to most people that is all they are... just words! In order to qualify for your own goals you have to ask yourself the questions above. You have to make some changes in your life or else you would have been accomplishing these goals all the time and it would have been routine.
The nice thing about goals is that it is never too late to set them and start pursuing them. When I say change your lifestyle I am referring to maybe going to bed an hour earlier, watching TV an hour less, getting up an hour earlier. Maybe drink less alcohol to keep your mind sharp, quit smoking, eat less. Maybe you are in a relationship that is keeping you from spending time on your goals. Whatever it may be that YOU feel could be holding you back is keeping you from qualifying for your own goals. Even the slightest bit of change in any of these areas may benefit you in accomplishing your goals.
One of my favorite ways to accomplish a goal is to try and find a way to make it fun. We all love fun in any capacity. If we think something is fun then we are usually going to see it through. I think being successful is fun and rewarding to say the least.
I ask you, "Do you qualify for your own goals" because you are the only one that can truly answer that question. Its like building a home, you know it won't stand long without a solid foundation. Well, your foundation is making sure that you are justifying the path you will take and the necessary changes you have to make to see that your goals become a reality. Take setting goals seriously, make changes in your life, make it fun and you will see results...period.
Did you know that most people spend more time planning a wedding or planning a vacation than they do planning their own life or career? To accomplish what you want to do you need to set goals or, as I like to call it, create a flight path. The following are some suggestions to help you create a flight path for 2011 and make it your best year ever! Why? Because you can.
1. Decide exactly what you want. Decide for yourself what your goals and objectives are until you are crystal clear about what you expect from yourself.
2. Write it down. Think on paper. When you write down your goal, you solidify its meaning and give it tangible form. You create something that you can touch and see. On the other hand, a goal or objective that is not in writing is merely a wish or a fantasy.
3. Set a deadline on your goal. A goal or a decision without a deadline has no urgency. It has no real beginning or end. Without a definite deadline, you will naturally procrastinate and get very little done.
4. Make a list of everything that you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal. As you think of new activities, add them to your list. Keep building your list until it is complete. A list gives you a visual picture. It gives you a track to run on.
5. Organize the list into a plan. Take a few minutes to decide what you need to do first and what you can do later. With a written goal and an organized plan of action you will be far more productive and efficient than people who are carrying goals around in their minds.
6. Take action on your plan immediately. Do something. Do anything. An average plan executed is far better than a brilliant plan on which nothing is done.
7. Resolve to do something every single day that moves you towards reaching your goal. Build this activity into your daily schedule. You may decide to read a number of specific pages on a key subject. You may call on a specific number of prospects or customers. You may engage in a specific period of physical fitness or doing a good deed for others. Whatever it might be make sure you are committed to it. Keep pushing forward. Once you start moving, don't stop. This decision, this discipline alone can dramatically increase your speed of accomplishing your goals and boost your personal productivity.
If you want your life to change than you have to change the things in your life. As legendary basketball coach John Wooden wrote "Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be"
Life is not a dress rehearsal, this is the real deal. Do not LIMIT yourself now and regret it later, think about all the possibilities of creating a flight path to help define the kind of life that you want to live. Limitations are the product of the world. Possibilities are the product of faith and believing in ourselves. We can expect nothing more than what we believe possible. Set your goals now, put it in writing and make it happen! "There is nothing you can't do"
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