Setting and Completing Goals Part 1

The people you keep company with can be the deciding factor between your success and failure. Surround yourself with likeminded peers: people who have goals, actively pursue goals, and even share similar goals to your own. Liz Lynch gave a great explanation of this on Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog:

It would seem that no matter what your profession, pursuing an individual goal in the presence of others who are actively pursuing their own goals can help increase your motivation, drive and energy in part because:

1) Your competitive spirit kicks in

2) You push yourself because it’s harder to slack off when people are watching

3) You see the possibilities for yourself when you see others succeed

4) You feel more accountable because others are counting on you to show up and keep up

Yet if being with a great group of people over time can give you strength and confidence, being with the wrong group can zap you of both.

(http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/how-the-company-you-keep-can-fuel-or-foil-your-success/)

What is the moral of her article? Your peers/primary social group should share your priorities. When they don’t they are simply a distraction.

Choosing good company is the first step towards success. What’s next?

Lets expand on the process of setting your goals that I wrote about last time. If you completed the exercise on my last post “Life and Work[..]” you should have a decent idea of what your priorities are. You know what you want to accomplish, now lets create the path that will get you there.

Over at www.GetOrganizedWizard.com Michele Connolly provides a 5 step plan – known as SMART- detailing the process of creating and accomplishing goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time Framed. You begin by making a Specific goal. Make sure its Measurable, i.e. define your objective, such as reading 3 books a week. You say you want to read more; making your goal tangible (3 books) will help you achieve that goal. Your goal must be Achievable; if it is not a feasible goal, you will not stick to it. The Relevance of your goal is tied to its achievability. If your end goal is not relevant to your life it will not keep your interest, and thus your chance of success will drop dramatically. Finally, give your self a Time Frame. Don’t be too ambitious, but don’t let your goal drag out too long until it is no longer pertinent. You can find the full text of Michele Connolly’s article here: http://www.getorganizedwizard.com/blog/2009/02/smart-goals-5-steps-to-smart-goal-setting-with-free-goal-planner-template/.

Now that you have a process to help you set your goals, take it to the next level by learning how to stick to your goals. The hyperlink leads to an article which recommends 10 tools to help you stick to your goals. I will briefly explain 2, but feel free to read the full text of the article for more explanation and tools. Kevin Purdy’s step 10 for sticking to goals- “Schedule your goals inside your high-energy times” has made my life infinitely easier. I’m a morning person. I’ve found that if I schedule my most important tasks of the day for morning, I am far more efficient with my responsibilities. Simply isolate what time of day you are most productive and create a routine where you use that time for your most important work. Kevin’s 3^rd and 5^th steps go hand in hand. Step 5 recommends keeping your list of tasks AWAY from your computer and step 3 recommends WRITING your list down (Old fashioned, I know). Technology is not the most effective way to keep track of your responsibilities, most of the time it is a distraction. Pen and paper will provide the most utilitarian outlet for you to write and track your goals. Write them down somewhere visible and use a calendar. Believe me. These things work (more on that in Part 2 of this article). Finally, I believe Kevin’s Step 1 to be most effective. Step 1 simply recommends setting 1 task at a time and completing it before moving on to the next one. Don’t make such a huge list of goals/tasks that it is discouraging to even look at, let alone attempt to complete. Step 1 has been the most valuable piece of advice in my life. I’m far more effective when I tackle one task at a time.

These simple things will work for you! Spend the next week experimenting with them. I’ll be out with Part 2 of this article in the next few days. Feel free to leave comments detailing your experiences!

Related posts:

1. Life and Work… Approaching the Problem of Balancing your Busy Day