Goal getting – how to get what you want out of life without being a Napoleon or a Type-A

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For a guy like me to write about goal-setting is a little strange – because I am more averse to setting goals than a lot of people – or perhaps I just do it in unconventional ways.

I’m gonna try to share some insight. Like most stuff, take what you can use and the stuff that feels stiff or unnatural to you… well, consider what foreign lessons have to offer but also follow your intuition. Getting to where you want to go and enjoying the journey are equally important in my book – which is why I’m averse to the kind of “type A” GET RESULTS goal-setting we sometimes see.

There are some sort of formulaic and common-sense stuff you should take to heart when deciding what your goals are going to be. Writing about it always seems kind of stiff and academic to me – because there is a big difference between saying you’re going to kick the ba1l past the goalie and actually getting on the field, getting knocked-around and persevering doggedly until you succeed.

Getting goals has a lot to do with stubborn determination in my experience. How you set them is less important than how committed you are to moving forward to achieve your end objective.

Personally I’m usually pretty flexible with how I proceed, because I view lifestyle design as sort of like shaping a lump of raw clay – a process of discovery.

Goal Setting – Theory And In Practice

Setting one or more goals seems to be a straightforward process: you establish a specific goal, one that’s measurable and has a defined timeframe for completion. You implement your plan, measure your progress towards reaching your goal and then evaluate the outcome objectively to refine your process.

On the surface of things, it reads well and sounds easy enough to do. Unfortunately, it rarely works out that way for numerous reasons; primarily because we often fail to establish realistic goals.

Additionally, we often casually set goals with only a hazy view towards how they’ll actually be accomplished. And while we’re typically motivated at the beginning of the process, it’s not at all unusual to lose our motivation somewhere along the way.

When preparing your own goals, it’s important to first understand that every goal you set must be realistic and readily achievable, given an appropriate amount of time and resources. For example, setting a goal to earn $25,000 per month within three months, when your present earnings are less than $1,000, is probably unrealistic. On the other hand, setting an ongoing goal to increase your earnings by 5% or 10% per month is not only realistic, but more likely to be achievable.

Once you’ve defined a goal you believe you can accomplish, the next step is to break it down into smaller, manageable tasks and scheduling them in sequence (assuming one task depends on the completion of another). Before defining the target date the overall goal must be completed, be certain that each task is given a reasonable amount of time for completion and allow the sum of the tasks to define the completion date, rather than arbitrarily selecting one.

Depending on how far into the future your goals are planned for, it’s helpful to schedule regular progress reviews, even if you’re the only one involved. For example, scheduling time every Friday afternoon to review your progress and make any necessary adjustments will keep your goals current. Don’t be surprised if something unexpected interferes with your scheduling from time-to-time. That’s normal and you will simply need to identify some way to compensate for it.

Another artificial barrier to actually meeting your goals is the process itself. Be careful to avoid implementing a goal management process that consumes more time than the goal itself.

Aside from actually working the process towards eventually realizing your goal, the final step is to take some time to evaluate the overall process and your performance at the end. This should be done objectively and embraced as a learning opportunity, one that will help you to improve your performance the next time.

With proper planning, setting realistic goals can only benefit you and your business in the long run, especially if you streamline the goal management process for yourself. If you think of it as an evolving process focused on continual performance improvement, over time you will see a measurable improvement in everything you do!

The post author, Loren Woirhaye writes sales copy and creates marketing systems for business clients who want to slash customer acquisition costs and position their businesses For 20%-30% sales growth in the next 12-18 months. He writes regularly about marketing and life at his Entrepreneur Blog.