Setting Goals!!

This is a time of year when folks make resolutions and plans for the coming year. Over the years I have often done goal setting exercises, but almost never around New Year’s… just when the mood strikes me. Well, I’ve been eager to get some goal setting done. The exercises I use are excerpted from CD’s by Jim Rohn. I’ve summarized the goal setting exercises he outlines below. Interestingly, I summarized his goal setting exercise in 1995 and have been using it ever since! Wow… that’s a long time.

I highly recommend taking some quiet time to go through this in a thoughtful manner. Put your goals some place where you can go back to them frequently. After I complete the exercise I put the results, my goals,in my journal. Then I flag the page so I can regularly review them and continue to make progress.

Long Range Goal Setting:

1. Label a piece of paper, “Long Range Goals
• Take 10-15 minutes to think about what you want within the next 1 to 10 years.
• Write down 50+ items
• Include, what you want to do, what you want to share
• Be brief, let the ideas flow
• Goals should include Economic (income, profits), Material items (tangibles), Personal development (fitness, be more decisive, etc), Other areas (family, social, etc).

2. Go through the list. Next to each item, if it can be accomplished in 1 year write “1”, or for items that can be accomplished in 3 years write “3” and so on. Do this for the following time frames, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years.

3. Review – do you need more 1 year or 3 year goals or 10 year goals? Add or shift a couple if necessary

4. Pick the 4 most important goals in each time frame (1,3,5,10). Write a description of each goal in detail. Include why you want to achieve it.

Reflect, refine and revise your goals. Make sure you know why you want them.

Once complete, transfer your goals and descriptions to your journal or someplace where you can keep track of them and review them. Continue to review your goals often, weekly or daily.

Celebrate the accomplishment of any long term goal.

Short Range Goals

Next, make a list of 50+ short range goals, things that can be accomplished within the next year. These are confidence builders for working and achieving the long term goals.

Put the list in your journal and check off items as you complete them.

Share your goals with others as you feel appropriate. Do what it takes to become the person you want to be.