By Tim Brownson, Personal Coach and Published Author
I have a love/hate relationship with goal setting because whereas it can be amazingly useful for a great many people, it can also be counter-productive for others.
My relationship with New Year’s Resolutions is less ambiguous. I simply don’t like them. I’ll spare you all the reasons here, but it’s primarily because they don’t work for the vast majority of people. And when I say vast majority, I’m talking in excess of 95 percent of people.
However, even though I don’t like them, I acknowledge that they’re not going away any time soon, so I may as well go with the flow and do what I can to help people succeed with them.
I also realize that toward the end of January is the time when people tend to start to struggle with the resolutions or goals they have set. So if that’s you, or if you are thinking of setting goals in the future, here are three crucial aspects that you need to be aware of if you are going to succeed.
Make Sure You Want It
Do you see that word “want?” I cannot begin to tell you how important that word is in the goal-setting equation. If your goal or New Year’s Resolution fails to inspire you when you set the goal, or if you believe you’re being pushed into it, how motivated do you think you’ll be in a couple of months when the initial burst of enthusiasm has worn off?
Never, ever, set goals you “think” you should set. Set goals you “want” to set irrespective of what other people think. Otherwise, I can almost guarantee you’ll feel miserable and come up short.
Make Sure You Know Why You Want It
I developed by own version of SMART goals that I call SMARTER goals because I believe there are two crucial areas missing from the SMART method, not the least of which is that it completely disregards the reasons “why” you want whatever it is you want.
Remember SMART stands for, Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Achievable and Time-bound. The “why” is the last ‘R’ of SMARTER and stands for “Reward.” We’ll get to the “E” later.
If you don’t know the “why,” or what your reward is, then you will exponentially reduce your chances of succeeding.
If you want to quit smoking, what’s the reason? Why? Sure you know it will give you better health and save you money, but that is way too vague. Maybe it’s the thought of playing with the grandkids in 30 years time without the need for an oxygen mask?
If you want to earn $1,000,000, what’s the reason? Why? Money is a terrible long-term motivator, there has to be something deeper than that to keep you moving forward.
Maybe it’s to retire early so you can take time to travel the world? Or perhaps you want the satisfaction of giving back to people less fortunate than yourself? Or because you are sick of constantly living hand-to-mouth and you want to be able to go and buy yourself a filet mignon without worrying about whether you can afford it?
If you can bring the reason or reasons to the forefront of your mind when you are starting to waiver, it will be much easier to continue on a path towards success. It will shift your focus from the short-term pain to the long-term gain.
Make Sure Those Closest To You Know Why You Want It
Yes, SMART goals come up short because there is no reference to the real reward of achieving the goal. But there’s another reason they are lacking, and that’s because they don’t take into account the reactions and behaviors of people around you – things that can often kill all the good intentions in the world.
This is the “E” in SMARTER, and it stands for the “Ecology” of the goal. In other words, it’s impact on those around you.
If those closest to you have no idea that your goal is genuinely important to you, then they are unlikely to take it seriously. Worse still, they may even undermine it, either consciously or unconsciously, and you will spend too much time and energy fighting their negativity.
Spell out clearly and concisely why your goal is really important to you, and that you’d like their help and support.
If you can take each of your goals and make sure it meets each of the requirements in this 3-point test, I promise that you will massively improve your chances for success.
About the Author
Tim Brownson is an English Professional Life Coach, NLP Master Practitioner and author living in Orlando, Florida. He is currently involved in a unique project to give away 1,000,000 copies of the hard copy version of the critically acclaimed book he has co-authored called “How To Be Rich and Happy.”
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