6 GOAL SETTING STEPS THAT GUARANTEE SUCCESS

Money, love, promotion, fitness, organization, relaxation, education… these are some great reasons to apply a solid goal setting system to your life. You just need a clear and proven goal setting plan. Here's the 6 step goal setting system that I use myself and that my clients use. This is straight from my Time Mapping system at http://alancurrens.com.

6 STEP GOAL SETTING SYSTEM

1.
Name the goal with positive words. This is a critical rule, because if your goal is referred to in a negative way, you will focus on the negative aspect of it. For instance, "I don't want to be over weight" puts the focus squarely on "over weight" and that is a negative thing. Rather, "I want to be fit" puts the focus on the positive "fit". If you think this is anything less than paramount you are mistaken. How you think of your goal is key to how you act. You avoid being "over weight" by not eating Doritos… you achieve being "fit" by walking 2 miles a day. Big difference.

2.
Be certain the goal is within your control. Setting a goal that is NOT in your control is not realistic. You cannot control others and if you try to, but fail, you might construe that as a failure of your own and become despondent of your chances to succeed. Know what you can and cannot control and set your goal accordingly.

3.
Define how you will recognize success in achieving the goal.. in other words, have benchmarks or evidence milestones. I.E. "I'll weigh 135lbs" or "I'll fit into a size 4 dress". Not just, "I'll feel better". Specific evidence of success is important.

4.
Clearly identify the resources and other context of your goal. This goes back to the whole "a failure to plan is a plan to fail" concept. You have to think the goal through or it will remain illusive and hard to grasp. People, time, places, devices, knowledge… things like this constitute the context of your goal. Books, libraries, people, trails near house… things like this are considered resources.

5.
Can your life accommodate this goal. I read a book that called this aspect of goal setting the "ecological" condition (the exact definition of ecology must be interpreted slightly different, but the concept of environment holds true). It's brilliant in its simplicity and possibly the most vital aspect of your goal because if your life, or rather the ecosystem of your life, can't accommodate the goal's specific workings you will find the challenge greater than it might be for someone whose life is more fitted to it. For instance, trying to quit drinking while you are a bartender in a night club might be considered a goal that is not conducive to the ecology of your life. This is disheartening and also might be construed by the goal setter as a failure on their part, when it's not. Have you ever failed at a goal that in retrospect was not ecological to the ecosystem of your life?

6.
Have a starting place. That is to say, is the very first step of the goal clearly set… identifiable and planned? If this isn't done, you may be unconsciously sabotaging your goal. For instance, a good first step might me "call the fitness club and set up my 12 month membership before noon today". Another good first step, "Go on the secretary of state website and form the LLC for the company I want to start before 5 p.m." A goal has never been accomplished that didn't start with a first step.

If you do these things, and apply your passion and commitment to the process, you will succeed. Skip any step above and you might hit some big obstacles. You can greatly increase your odds for success by wisely identifying the goal. What's the old saying, "measure twice, cut once". If you start with an intelligent plan, your odds of following the plan are better.
For more on Goal Setting, be sure to sign up for my Emails! And Look into the release of the Unbound & Limitless and Time Mapping programs, soon to be released.
Alan Currens
http://alancurrens.com/