Achieving Personal Goals

What’s the point of goal setting? We know we want some outcome, some change in the results in an area of our lives. For example we may want to look better, be more successful, be financially secure, free of debt, etc.

But how exactly do goals play a useful role in achieving that desired outcome?

The answer may seem obvious, but maybe not. Many of us set goals instinctively, without necessarily being clear why. Knowing why, though, can help us realize the greatest possible benefit from the use of a goal.

Knowing how goals help us reach our objective can enable us to make the best use of them. So here it is:

Goals provide focus.

Goals help us put on the blinders, eliminate the “clutter” we have to deal with day in and day out, so that we can control the outcomes in our life. Setting a goal is a way of telling ourselves “I’m going to give this task a certain amount of my time and energy today, over and above the other demands for my time and attention”.

Most of us have countless demands on our time and attention, particularly if you are ambitious or are inclined to always be seeking improvement. It is only by setting a goal that we are likely to eliminate the non-essentials sufficiently to bring our attention and energy to a single point. That is, to focus.

• Success demands singleness of purpose. – Vince Lombardi
• We succeed only as we identify in life, or in war, or in anything else, a single overriding objective, and make all other considerations bend to that one objective. – Dwight D. Eisenhower

There are plenty of other leaders who have shared the same belief, but I suspect you don’t need to be convinced. In the same way a golfer targets a green, or a batter never takes his eye off the ball, focus provides the concentration and intensity necessary to produce the desired results.

Achievements in any area of human endeavor generally require 2 things from us:

1. Focus
2. Action

I’ve talked at length about the importance of taking action in producing desired outcomes in our life. But if you’ve ever seen the person who was extremely busy, but didn’t have all that much to show for their efforts at the end of the day, you have an example of the benefits of focus. Focus is that magical ingredient that ensures that an objective receives sufficient action until the finish line is reached.

By deciding where to direct our attention and energy (Focus), we can begin to direct the outcomes in our lives. Setting a goal is the process that makes that happen.

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Eating what we want, when we want it, is easy.

Adopting on a managed intake, calorie-controlled diet is harder because we have to start to manage our appetite, and begin to say “No” to some choices. That’s resistance.

Work that allows you to do what you want, when you want to do it, and stop any time you want, is easy.

Having to get up every day and do the things necessary to reach your goal is harder, because some days we don’t just don’t feel like it. That’s resistance.

The point is that there is almost always some degree of resistance when we set out to accomplish something. As we decide to take specific, intentional steps in pursuit of some goal, things generally get harder. Things come up, there are days we don’t feel good, interruptions arise, our own weaknesses appear, any or all of which can be a pull against reaching your goal.

That’s not an “oh poor us” remark, it’s simply an observation of how things work. It’s normal, natural and to be expected. The point is that, hopefully, being armed with this knowledge we can better deal with it.

For me at least, knowing this makes achieving a goal easier. It’s similar to a message in The Magic of Thinking Big which talks about learning to value sacrifice. Sacrifice is generally required to accomplish most things, and realizing “yeah, now I’m doing the work and pressing forward when others turn away” is useful, at least for me.

It’s wise for us to understand that resistance comes with the territory when we are trying to reach our goals, and we shouldn’t let it dimish our determination or mistake it for a message that we’ve done something wrong. In fact, it’s one of the things that makes success and achievement all the sweeter.

So the next time you feel the resistance as you work through your Action Plan, to walk right up to the resistance, lean into it, and if necessary punch it right smack in the nose saying “You’re not stoppin’ me now!”. Uh, make sure no one is looking first.

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Of course not, but I really needed to get your attention so I had to come up with something provocative.

Short term goals are actually an essential part of any goal setting plan. But they tell me catchy headlines attract readers, so I thought I’d see for myself …..

The are two key things to know about short term goals:

1. They are important to creating and maintaining motivation
2. They are essential to accomplishing any goal that takes more than a couple of days to complete.

I’ve said it multiple times throughout the pages on this site, because it’s so important, and I’ll say it again: The key to achieving any significant goal is to stay motivated, staying focused to the task at hand. One of the important aspects of motivation is staying aware of the benefit you are seeking, whether it’s debt relief, financial freedom, weight loss …. whatever. If you can keep that carrot dangling in front of your nose, metaphorically speaking, there’s a good chance you’ll stay engaged for the long haul.

The other important element of motivation is to have rewards or accomplishments identified within reach along the path. Similar to the example of the farmer who tied a carrot to a stick and dangled it just 12 inches in front of his mule to keep him moving forward to try to reach the carrot, it works when we need goals or objectives easily within reach to help us maintain our momentum and progress.

David Allen wrote the best seller “Getting Things Done”, and one of the key principles in that book is the idea of the “next action”, which is analogous to a short term goal. Allen says we should always be absolutely clear about the next thing we need to do for a project or goal, so we don’t end up procrastinating as we summon the mental energy to sift through all the facts to determine what’s we need to do at any time.

That’s exactly what short term goals do. First we identify our major milestones, then we break those down into short term goals that are easily reachable and leave little doubt about what we should be doing at any point in time. The tasks to accomplish a short term goal should also be expressly stated, or so obvious that it’s not necessary.

Short term goals aren’t dumb. They’re smart. Very, very smart! (Did anyone remember the 4 episodes of Colonel Flagg on M*A*S*H? If so, let me know.)

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The process of setting goals is not too different for most of us whether we are very young, a teenager or an adult. However, starting the process of learning about goals for teenagers is an important step toward learning valuable life skills. This page covers 5 of the most important goal setting tips for teenagers to help them learn how to set goals properly, pick up useful problem solving skills and ultimately realize achievements that will last them a lifetime.

Lesson One: Just Get Started

Developing awareness of the very concept of setting a goal, having some sort of plan, and following that plan can be a huge benefit to a teenager who is in the process of learning valuable life skills. Learning to set a goal, even a simple one, produces a shift in mindset from waiting until something happens for me, to choosing what I want from life and understanding that I can define and follow a plan that will allow me to reach it.

Lesson Two: The Long Term View Is Always Best

Ideal goal setting requires perspective, but youth by definition involves a lack of perspective plus generally impatience and a desire to get things done immediately. When we’re young we simply don’t know that we are likely to overestimate what we can do in the short run, while we don’t have the experience or perspective to realize just how much we can be accomplished over a period of time if we aim for a consistent target (goal). One of the greatest assets of youth IS time, and helping teenagers understand that life is a marathon, not a sprint, can provide them with the perspective needed to make smart choices and set worthy goals. For example, an extra 2-3 years in graduate school is insignificant when compared to a 30 year career doing what you love, but sometimes the notion of another year of school just doesn’t seem worth it. But …. life is a marathon, there’s plenty of time to lay a proper foundation.

Lesson Three: Making A Plan Is Smart

Many time teenagers view a challenge or a goal as a ’seat of the pants’ effort, i.e. they make an quick, emotional decision to jump in and get started without stopping to consider all their choices. Knowing the importance of creating a thoughtful, well considered plan (written or not, although written is much better) that will describe the steps to lead them to the goal, and getting advice and counsel from someone who has already accomplished that goal, is an incredible advantage. Learning how to make a plan to reach a goal is a skill that provides a teenager an incredible advantage over someone who has no clear direction.

Lesson Four: The Difference Between Important Stuff and Unimportant Stuff

The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, is an important concept to impart to a teenager who is just learning about achievement. It’s widely known that generally speaking, 20% of our activities or tasks will contribute as much as 80% of our results (e.g. studying to academic achievement), but that’s not necessarily intuitive. Many people, adults included, make the mistake of confusing activity with progress. Helping a teenager realize that some activities contribute far more to achieving their goals than others can help them make better choices. Working smart by focusing on the high impact activities can produce more results with less effort than working hard on “busy work” is a huge lesson.

Lesson Five: The Power of Rewards

If you have or know a teenager and they are willing to share one of their goals with you, regardless how large or small, seize that opportunity to make sure they are rewarded for milestones achieved along the way. Helping a teenager begin to form the mental connection between (a) taking action toward a goal and (b) the progress they make toward that goal is important, and periodic rewards is a useful technique to insure that happens and they stay properly motivated.

Helping teenagers understand these 5 keys can help put them start to develop skills that will serve them well throughout their lives, and put them on a path of success and achievement that will add meaningful to their lives. Knowledge and wisdom are wonderful things, but sometimes they require a benevolent teacher to get the point across.

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