All Things Inspired

Turning the invisible into the visible through goals!
You may (or may not) have noticed that there has been a deliberate path thus far in the year with this series of articles. In this series, The Fundamental Steps To Transformational Growth, we started the new year with understanding new beginnings and how to welcome change. Then we progressed into preparing our mindset, taking that a step further into lion mentality. Having and realizing our vision, followed next by addressing how to have a prepared mind to take that vision and put it into motion. Remember we said vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to most people. Motivational legend, Tony Robbins said, "Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible."

Goals are simply the results that you desire and are committed to achieving within a specified period of time. You must start by setting long-term goals and creating short term objectives that will allow you to focus solely on your goals and be able to track your progress through to success.

Over the course of the next two weeks, we'll examine the types of goals to consider and once that is determined, the steps needed to set goals. Week two of this topic will address putting goals into action and effectively tracking your goals to ensure success.

In terms of goals, they are typically classified into three types which are process, performance, and outcome. Here's a synopsis of these three types...

Process Goals - by individual steps or actions that are taken to reach performance goals. Process goals tend to be cultivated from habits that prepare us for achievement.
Performance Goals - driven by personal standards, these goals tend to measure progress in intervals. Because you can't always control the performance, these are usually more challenging.
Outcome Goals - based on winning or achieving success. Obviously, these goals are the hardest to achieve because they are the "outcome", the pinnacle of your vision and goal.

Understanding the relationship between these three types of goals will help you develop the structure of your personal goals. For example, if you've ever read the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, it tells you to begin with the end in mind. That's where having the vision comes in. Vision is the "end in mind".

In taking the steps needed to set meaningful goals, remember that this process should not be taken for granted. Outcome goals must be set so that they are almost out of reach. If you set a goal that is too easily attainable without much effort or thought, you are not maximizing your talent and potential. Then work backwards by setting the performance goals, the ones that will lead you to the outcome, and then determining the process goals, the smaller step goals that spur action on your part. Here's some steps to consider in building and achieving your goals:

Prioritizing the impactful - perhaps you already know that one goal in your life that if you achieve it will create a transformational change in your life. If that describes you, that's great! If this does not describe you, have you considered several different goals you'd like to achieve?
Begin by listing out on a piece of paper three to five goals you would like to achieve.
Consider any potential obstacles to each goal you listed and possible solutions, skills needed, and other resources you'll need to achieve the goal.
Which goals based on the factors in #3 will be the most impactful to your life, and possibly others? Do you have the resources needed to pursue the goal? Again, the goal should be challenging in such a way as to push you beyond what you thought to be your limitations.
Your goal should be focused and achievable as well as challenging. Have you heard of the SMART goal approach? It's an acronym for S pecific, M easurable, A chievable, R ealistic, and T ime-limited. Specific is having detail in your goal. You just can't say, "I want to be successful". Measurable ensures that there are quantifiable steps to your goal. We said earlier that your goal should be achievable. If you set unachievable goals you'll give up too easily. If you don't have the ability or resources to achieve your goal, then it's probably not realistic and will create disappointment in pursuing it. And finally, if there are no boundaries on time that will keep you motivated to keep the process going, your pursuit of the goal will fade short of success.
Break it down into manageable levels - with the end in mind, breaking down your goals backwards into smaller manageable goals will help you keep your focus. Taking this backward approach, ask yourself what is my life goal? Where do I plan to be in five years? How about a year from now, what will my course look like? You get the idea now. You can take this further into a few months, weeks or days even. It's all about gauging your progress and confirming that you are on track for your one-year, five-year, and life goals.
Document your goal plan - for these steps to work, you need to put the goal plan to paper. Beginning at step 1, write your potential goals on paper. This is important so that you can refer to it frequently. This will remind you why you started and how to manage the various intervals of measurement of your journey. If you want to take this one step further in accountability to yourself, post your written plan on the wall where you can see it and refer to it regularly.
Be prepared to compensate for the uncontrollable disruptions - you must realize that the path to your goal is not going to be a smooth ride. When you review your document regularly, you can begin to anticipate the obstacles in your path and have an alternate solution to compensate for what you cannot control.

Following these steps in setting goals creates clarity in your process. It is the flight plan for your vision to soar. It allows you to establish a set of guidelines for ensuring that you will succeed on your journey to success. Now you're ready to pursue your goal. Next week we'll cover what it takes to put your goals into action and how to track your progress along the way. Until then...

Be inspired! Inspire others!