What the Four Steps Are For Setting Clear Goals
Building Blocks
Plan to Reach Your goal
Four Steps to Setting Clear Goals
Goals… without them, you do not have a roadmap to direct you to where you want to be at any given time in the future. You lack passion or motivation to arrive anywhere, because the truth is, you do not know where you are going. Setting goals with only a target destination is not good enough. In order to reach your destination you must have a clear and concise plan of action that will guide you toward your target with as few diversions as possible.
I am an independent contractor who works as a recruiter for an international corporation. And, as an independent contractor, I am responsible for my own success. The most common factor that I relate to the successes I have achieved in my career and life are due to the realization of precise strategies set in place to achieve specific goals. Whenever I am successful, I look back at my journal notes, I see that I set a clear plan in motion and almost like magic, my goals came to fruition. Likewise, whenever I have not been successful, I see that I may have had a goal in mind, but I did not have a noted plan of action to accomplish the tasks required for success.
Here are four basic goal setting steps to make sure you receive victory in making sure you reach your goals.
Planning Your Goal
You may have heard the saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!” Enthusiasm will not be enough, because, no matter how enthusiastic you are, you still need a guide to show you where to go. You must map out the steps you are going to take to complete the journey to your goal. The planning stage is the most critical act toward reaching your goal. You must establish a plan.
Follow these goal setting strategies to help you get through the planning process.
1. Decide what you want. Work on one goal at a time. And, you cannot just say you want to be successful. You must be specific. For instance, if you want to lose weight, you must state how many pounds you want to lose. If you want to earn money, you cannot just say you want to earn money, you must state how much money you want to earn. Take your time and think about it; visualize your goal and “experience” your goal as if you have already achieved it. Are you happy with the results once you have achieved them? If so, proceed to step two.
2. Be specific. You need to state detailed information about the exact steps needed to arrive at your precise destination. For instance, if you live in Texas and you want to take a trip to California, don’t just get in your car and start driving westward. No; map it out. Find out exactly what streets, highways, and freeways you need to travel. Take a look at your route and determine where the gas stations and rest stops are and your approximate time of arrival to your destination.
3. Write your goal down. That’s right! Write your goal down on whatever you use to create a visual copy of your thoughts. You can type it into your computer, or you can simply write it down on a napkin or piece of paper. It doesn’t matter; just write it down. There are two reasons for this:
a. Writing your goal down helps you keep track of all the details involved with reaching your destination.
b. Your plans to reach your goal become more real when you see them in writing. Plus, you have your notes to refer to if you happen get lost or stumble upon an obstacle on the road to your destination.
4. Break down your goal into segments. A grand goal is obtainable; however, you may find it difficult to manage all the elements involved with achieving your goal. To make your ultimate goal less complicated, break down your entire plan into small, buildable components, setting mini goals along the way where the accomplishments of the previous goals come together to attain your ultimate goal.
Once you have mastered the process of setting one goal, you can use the above steps to set other goals in life.
Go ahead and dream big! After all, dreams can become a reality if you set the proper plans in motion. So long as your dreams are forthright and fall in line with your happiness and the happiness of those around you, you have the power to accomplish great things.
Start today to create the tomorrow you want for your life.
