So the end of another year. We have met some of our goals and not met some others. In this newsletter I wanted to give you a couple of tips for setting your goals in 2016 and significantly improving your chances of achieving them.
1. Clarity
Knowing exactly what you want is probably one of the most important factors when setting goals. We procrastinate when we have "fuzzy" thinking. Decide on what it is you really want.
The 3 most important areas of life for most people when setting goals are Financial/ Career goal, Family/ Personal Goal and Health/ Fitness goal in that order.
Rate yourself out of 10 (10 being the best and 1 being the worst) for each of these areas.
In 30 seconds for each section, write down your 3 most important career goals, 3 most important family goals and 3 most important health goals.
2. The next step
Now that you have some clarity about what it is that you want to achieve and written it down we need to set a deadline.
E.g. I have increased my profits by X on 24th September 2016, I am spending X amount more days a week with my friends and family by 30th July 2016 and I can easily row 2000m on the rowing machine in X seconds.
3. Brainstorming
Once we have a deadline set for the goals we want to achieve we now need to sit down and figure out everything we need to do to actually achieve these goals. What habits do we need to form to make these happen?
E.g. In order to complete Pat's 2000m rowing challenge I will need to go to the gym 3x aweek. I will need to practice rowing for 20 minutes in each of those sessions. I will need to improve my time by 3-5 seconds every 2 weeks. I will need to research rowing technique and perhaps hire a coach to direct and speed up my learning.
4. Priority
Using the 80/20 rule, what are the most important things that I need to focus on in my action list. If I could only pick 2/10 of the actions on my list, what will have the biggest positive impact towards achieving my goal?
Organize your list of actions by priority, draw a picture of all the individual tasks and put them in order of importance.
5. Take Action
Take action on one of the things on your list immediately, no matter what it is
6. Consistency
Resolve to take action towards your goal and aim to never miss a day.
Clear written goals that you review regularly help you release energy and are the fuel for the furnace of achievement.
7. Master List to Daily List
Master List- Things you want to do in life
Monthly list- What you need to do each month
Weekly list- What you need to do each week
Daily list- Helps generate self esteem and self respect
Plan each day in advance, ideally the night before and use this method to keep you focused each day. There will be days when you don't feel like it, but even getting one or two tasks complete on your daily list will keep your momentum and esteem high.
Good luck to achieving whatever meaningful goals you have for 2016!
Yours In Health
Patrick Fallis
PS I would like to give a huge credit to Brian Tracy and his Audiobook Eat That Frog