Do you set goals but don’t allocate the time to achieve them?

Well, you need to look no further – here are the five steps I use with all of my clients to ensure they achieve their goals.

1.    MAKE THE GOAL – SMT NOT SMART

Something I notice when goals are set is that they are not SMART. Well, here is something controversial, they don’t need to be SMART but simply SMT.

SPECIFIC (S) – The goal is clearly defined and connected to the achievement of a bigger goal or vision, whether that be business or personal.

MEASURABLE (M) – the goal can be quantified, understanding where you are starting from and what the end point looks like – usually associated with a unit of measurement (months, years, currency).

TIME BOUND (T) – The goal has to have a time frame or limit for when the goal needs to be achieved. Otherwise, the goal is merely a thought, rather than clearly defined.

In summary – understand the goal that needs to be achieved (S), what unit of measurement is associated to the goal to measure success (M) and the date that the goal must be completed by (T).

2.    PUT EMOTION INTO THE GOAL ITSELF

In my experience putting emotion into why you want to achieve the goal makes it far more important to you. It will encourage a greater desire to TAKE ACTION! Dig deep to understand how you will feel when you achieve it.

3.    BREAK THE GOAL DOWN

Goals are great, but I regularly see them set with no understanding of how they will be achieved through activity. An example being – I need ten new clients this month but don’t know how to accomplish this, sometimes this can be down to a lack of knowledge. Look at what excuses you might be making!

Ok, so go ahead and develop your SMT goals and consider what activity needs to happen to achieve the goal. Break the goal down into parts – I must do x, y, z or hire this person, delegate that task to achieve the goal. 

4.    NOW GET THE GOAL IN TO YOUR DIARY

Now it’s clear what needs to be done to achieve the goal, you MUST diarise it!

There is absolutely no point creating the goal and working out what needs to be done to achieve it, if we don’t actually put the tasks or the milestones to achieve the goals, into our diary. Whether it be a google calendar, diary spreadsheet or paper diary, there is no excuse, just get it in your diary.

Some of my clients do a one-page plan for the quarter, which allows them to visually see the goal broken down into its constituent parts. But they still must add the tasks in to their diaries as well so they allocate the time to focus on them.

5.    GET TO WORK

Stop reading and start doing! Go get to work and start doing steps 1-4. Oh, and don’t forget to regularly review your progress towards them too.

If you’d like some support with setting and achieving your goals why not book a free discovery call with me?

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