Goal Setting For Success

Committing your goals to writing is one of the best ways to motivate action.

Being of sound mind, you’ve decided to make positive changes in your career and life. You’ve thought through what you want to accomplish. You’ve formalized your goals.

You’ve mapped out a plan. And you’ve inscribed a permanent record of your intentions.

If you’re not serious enough to commit your goals to writing, you may as well kiss them goodbye.

Life will get busy, you’ll get wrapped up with other things…and you’ll continue to get the results that you are getting now. If you’re going to make a break to greater success, you have to take the time to decide what you want, get 100% committed to it, and create a plan to make it reality.

This 6-Step goal-setting process will help you think through, clarify, and achieve worthwhile goals.

Depending on your current life situation, the goals you choose might be huge, or they might be relatively modest. Ideally, your goals should be aggressive enough to be meaningful, but also realistic enough that you can accomplish them.

"Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now."

-Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Click here to download the worksheet to your computer.

Clark Bartram's 6-Step Goal-Setting Worksheet

Step 1: List Three Goals

Write down three goals, whether big or small, that you would like to accomplish. If appropriate, designate a deadline by which you intend to accomplish them (in three months, by the end of 2008-2009, etc.).

1. _______________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

Deadline: ________________________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

Deadline: ________________________________________________________

3. _______________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

Deadline: ________________________________________________________

Step 2: Benefits Statement

Next, write down the reasons you are making these changes. What benefits will you realize from achieving these goals? How will your work and life be better? What is the value proposition?

1.Benefits for Goal #1:

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

_________________________________________________________________

2.Benefits for Goal #2:

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

3.Benefits for Goal #3:

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

Step 3: Identifying Obstacles

Now, let’s talk about obstacles. If it were easy to achieve the goals you’ve identified, you would have

already done it. Almost always, there are barriers in your way. In the space below, write down some of the obstacles you will encounter on the way to accomplishing your goals. What barriers will you run into?

1.Obstacles to Goal #1:

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

2.Obstacles to Goal #2:

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

3.Obstacles to Goal #3:

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

Step 4: Strategy Session – Overcoming Obstacles

Now that you’ve identified the obstacles to your goals, what do you need to do to overcome these barriers?

In the space below, write down concrete strategies that specify your plan of attack.

1.Specific strategies for Goal #1:

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

2.Specific strategies for Goal #2:

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

3.Specific strategies for Goal #3:

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

Step 5: Who Will You Ask for Support?

Support from friends, colleagues, associates, or family members is essential for making positive change.

It’s powerful for two reasons. The first is that you are going public with your plan – officially announcing it to your community – which makes it more difficult to just blow it off. Secondly, getting support from your family and associates is crucial to helping you stay focused and disciplined.

1. Supporters for Goal #1:

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

2. Supporters for Goal #2:

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

3. Supporters for Goal #3:

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

Step 6: Setting Up a Rewards System

Setting up a rewards system is like adding rocket fuel to your motivational fire. How will you reward

yourself if you achieve your goal?

And equally important, what will happen if you do not achieve your goals? The inner satisfaction of accomplishing a difficult task is sometimes the single greatest reward.

But it’s also motivating to establish an external reward system, an incentive you give to yourself – such as a great dinner out, a weekend vacation, new wardrobe addition, golf at an exclusive course, etc. If your goal is an ongoing one (like making 10 sales contacts per day or exercising 5 times per week), then pick a random date (one month from now, 90 days from now, etc.) to celebrate your success in progress.

1.Reward system for Goal #1:

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

2.Reward system for Goal #2:

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

3.Reward system for Goal #3:

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________