Clinton Skakun

This photo is courtesy of Red Stick Republican’s Rantings
Goal setting is not a one time activity, it’s a skill that, with much practice, can be mastered. Some people set better, on target, goals than others. It can be a very simplistic process, if done right. If you do it wrong you can confuse the hell out of yourself. It pays to learn how to set goals. Thousands of books, audio tapes, CDs, seminars have been made on the topic of goal setting. Avoid reading and listening to ALL of the material out there, obviously you won’t live long enough. Instead get advice from the best selling business and personal best practices authors out there like Brian Tracy, Stephan Covey, Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar and Tony Robbins just to name a few.

There is really no right amount of goals, some people set 500 a year and other set 2-3, most people set none. Some people like to set small goals so they can check something off every day so they can build up momentum to larger goals. There are also those people who think 20 years down the road before they achieve any of their goals.

I use a system for tracking my progress and just started using it recently. In order for this system to work your goals NEED to follow these guidelines:

Smart Goal Setting Guidelines:

1. They need to be written in the present tense and personal(I–or we if you’re an organization–am/have/own(present tense) …)
2. They need to be measurable(e.g. I have grossed $120,000(specific amount) this year)
3. They need a deadline(e.g. Jan 1st 2011)
4. They need to be specific(WRONG: I have gone on vacation…RIGHT: I have taken a vacation with X in X resort as of June 12th 2010)
5. It needs to be meaningful
6. You need to be clear on how to get there(at least have an idea on the first step or know someone who you can model)

Quick Note: The Best Things Come in Three’s

One is not enough, four is too much to focus on. You should not focus on more than tree goals a month. The fewer goals you have per month, the sharper your focus. There’s only 30 days in a month, don’t plan on changing the world within that time. Three goals is just right. Like I said above, there are no “right” amount of goals. However the less number of goals you have and the more meaningful they are, the surer you can be that you will accomplish them.

The Monthly Review–Be Accountable

What happened if you set goals and never checked the progress? You might not get there. Why? Because it’s easy to stray. It’s easy to set a goal and forget about it in three weeks. This is important: KEEP YOUR GOALS IN FRONT OF YOU DAILY!

SideNote: There is a common opinion in psychology that says that the brain can’t differentiate between internal references(like constructed and remembered images) and external references(things that, in the life out side of you, actually happen and you pick up on through your senses). There’s a major difference between merely reading the words, of the goals you’ve written down, and the seeing and feeling them in your mind before they happen; we know that from many reliable sources, as well as the new discoveries in quantum physics, that say that the subconscious mind is always working to live up to the self concept you choose. When you write down goals on paper your subconscious mind comes up with ways to achieve them, I believe that this is where intuition and bursts of creativity come from. We all know though, that what you focus on expands. When you talk about, think about, and dwell on your ideal future, you begin to find your self working towards it.

Five to ten days before the end of the month do a monthly review on how far you are from your monthly goals. If you set a goal for the 31st and it’s currently the 22nd, review your progress:

CASE 1. Didn’t achieve goal but made progress:

1. How far am I from X goal? (Use some math if there are numbers involved to get a percentage)
2. How much did I do vs. Averages? (e.g. Averages say I need to sell 20 cars to reach my income goal, I sold 16 thus a shortfall of 4)
3. How much harder will I have to work/What will I do differently next time to accomplish this goal in the comming month? (e.g. if I continue to work the same way I’ll continue to get 16, if I follow up more often and take a sales course I might be able to get those extra 4—or just stay later and start earlier)
4. What will I do next week to prepare to acheive this goal in the next month?(Add this to next weeks list of things to do…e.g. Contact more prospective car buyers in the last week of this month that may generate some sales next month.)
5. What is a major constraint(or constraints), that I can leverage, that if eliminated would make all the difference? (You will now focus on eliminating this constraint, brainstorm how to do it and then take action … e.g. get out behind the desk and actually go talk to people who are look at vehicles in the lot.)
6. Due to the Lead* measures, are the Lag* measures leading me to think I’m closer/future than I really am to achieving this goal? e.g. Am I too busy checking the score sheet(Lag) when I should be perfecting my skills(Lead)?
7. What did I do right(what’s the winning strategy), that allowed me to get as far as I have? (focus on what you did right and either do more of it or continue it at least … e.g. Gave out a lot of cards which resulted in multiple calls from certain people interested in buying Hondas)
8. What assumptions did I make this month that may have acted as a constraint to this goal? (e.g. I assumed that it was going to be a good month for vehicle sales, ended up I didn’t work hard enough to find prospects and sat back)
9. Is there a lack of emotional desire to this goal, or mabye mixed feelings? Can I adjust this goal to appeal to my emotions better so as to increase motivation? If not, is this a goal that really matters to me? (If you’ve lost interest in this goal, strike it off the list and save your energy for what you really want.)

If you did achieve your the goal this month ask: What is the winning strategy that I can extract from accomplishment and duplicate over the next few months, years, decades, etc?

*A Lead measure is what Kaplan and Norton call a “Performance Driver”, a Lag measure is a “Performance Indicator”. Lead measures can often be referred to as preventative measures or measures(e.g. changing tires on a car). The speedometer can tell you how fast the car is traveling but can’t predict a flat tire, tending to the tires are Lead measures. The Lag measure will tell you your weight(on the scale) but can’t tell you the driving forces of your weight loss.