Tag: goals

In a post earlier today I touched on the importance of committing publicly to a goal that you are working towards. So why is it so important? Promising yourself you are going to exercise, finish your assignment for your CIPD studies or complete your application to become a member of the Learning and Performance Institute are all great goals.

The problem is you are only holding yourself accountable. If you do the work to reach your goal, that’s wonderful. But if you don’t, then no one is going to know. Committing to your goals publicly helps you hold yourself accountable to reach them.

Three Easy Ways To Commit Publicly:

1. Sharing your progress with colleagues, family and friends keeps you accountable to a broad group of people who have your best interests in mind. You have to answer to them if you skip a workout or if you increase your debt in some way.
2. Create a group on social media and form a group of like-minded people all working to help each other succeed. Peer pressure while working towards a goal can be powerful motivation. The support of others can be invaluable in keeping you on track or getting you back on track if you stumble or want to give up. You can report your progress as well as your fails, while supporting others in their progress. One more way to increase your commitment to your goal is to involve others in its achievement. Instead of engaging your competitive spirit, you can create a spirit of collaboration, cooperation and teamwork.
3. Commit on a blog and through an accountability partner or coach. By announcing your intentions on your blog, can hold you accountable to your actions. People will begin to lose faith in you if you don’t follow through and none of us want that do we? The same can be said of an accountability partner or coach. They are putting their time and trust into you. You don’t want to disappoint them do you?

Committing to your goals publicly is a way to get help and support from others, while returning the same for them. When others know your goals, they act as a support system you can go to when you need encouragement and motivation.

Openness enables others to hold you accountable. They will want to know what you did towards your goal that day or week, or why you didn’t work on it.

As we are now moving towards the end of the first quarter of the year it’s a good time to think about how we are doing with our goals for the year.

Do you set off with the best of intentions at the start of the year and set goals, only to eventually give up on them? Maybe you set a goal to lose 20 pounds this year. But by the middle of the year you will have given up completely. If this sounds familiar, it might be because you are trying to achieve your goals in the wrong way. Following through with your goals means you need to know the right way to achieve them. In other words, you need a goal setting success plan.

Let me share 10 steps for goal setting success that will get you back on the right track before more of the year disappears:

1. Focus on one goal at a time. Many people start out with several goals at once and try to do too much. At the end they become overwhelmed and lose energy and motivation. It’s a very common mistake. It is impossible to maintain your passionate energy and focus when trying to reach two or more goals at once.Choose one goal and focus on it completely. You can always go back to the other goals once you’ve accomplished your primary goal.
2. Write down your goals and post them someplace you’ll see them every day. Put them on your bathroom mirror, your refrigerator, on your smartphone and on your desktop. Seeing your goals every day keeps you motivated. Having them written down means you won’t forget them or get sidetracked.
3. Believe in your goal. Have faith in the process and believe you can accomplish it. Make your thoughts positive and turn your thoughts into reality.
4. Visualise your end result. Think about what your want the finish line to look like. What does it feel like, look like, smell like? How do you feel? Be absolutely clear on what you want to happen.
5. Create a plan of action to achieve your goal. Write down a list of the action steps you need to take. When you have a goal, but no plan of action, you aren’t sure of what to do next. It’s like driving without directions of where you want to go. You miss deadlines, don’t have priorities and are unorganized. You eventually get frustrated and your goal fails.
6. Know your “why.” Knowing your purpose or the reason why you want to achieve a particular goal keeps you motivated to take the steps needed to reach the goal. It helps you recognize that the goal is worth working towards.
7. Commit to your goal. Write down why and how you are committing to your goal and why it’s important. What does the finished goal mean to you, and why is it necessary for you to make it happen? Write down the steps you need to take to make it happen.
8. Hold yourself accountable. Get outside help like a coach if you need to have someone else hold you accountable. They can provide valuable feedback when you need it.
9. Stay focused on your goal. There will be times when you get sidetracked or you won’t know the next step you need to take. It’s easy to give up on your goal when this happens. The key is to remain focused on your goal. Take out your “why” and remind yourself the reason you are reaching for this goal.
10. Review your goals every day. Then take action on them. This keeps your goals fresh in your mind. It also allows you to see which steps you still need to take, and to make any adjustments that you might need to.

If you really want to succeed then you might need to think about a good goal setting success plan. By following these steps and taking action on your goal every day, you have everything you need to succeed.