A few months ago I wrote about Reggie Williams and his dream of playing for the NBA (“Reggie Williams and Setting Goals”). Today I wanted to share with you 6 rules that if followed, greatly increase the likelihood that you’ll achieve your goals and make your dreams come true.
1. Clearly define your goals. This may seem obvious but you’d be amazed at how difficult this can be. Because to be able to achieve your goal, you need to be absolutely clear about what your goal is and how to accomplish it. You can’t say your goal is to be rich. This is too vague—how are you going to accomplish this goal? By playing the lottery? By saving 30% of your income? Be specific and create goals with as much clarity as possible.
2. Write your goals on paper. This simple act increases the likelihood you will achieve your goals by 90%. Seeing them in writing gives them a reality, solidity. Once you’ve written them, you need to put them in a place that is accessible so you can review them at least once a week. Circumstances change and you’ll probably need to tweak these as time moves on and you make progress.
3. Ensure that your goals are in line with your gifts and talents. You want to set goals beyond your current level of achievement but you need to be aware of just what you can accomplish realistically. You can’t become the Pope if you are not Catholic.
4. Don’t let others talk you out of your goals. The first person you have to worry about is yourself. If you can’t convince yourself you can do something, it’s not going to happen. But odds are you will encounter people who try to talk you out of your goals. Don’t let them!
5. Let your goal-seeking mechanism take over. Dr. Maxwell Maltz in his book Psycho-Cybernetics points out that every creature on the planet has a goal-seeking mechanism. He compares it to a heat-seeking missile. Let your natural internal guidance system help you attain your goals.
6. Persevere: recognize that failure is not a roadblock. Part of the secret to attaining your goals is to take risks and risks often involve failure. However, you need to use these failures as learning opportunities. As Henry Ford said, “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely.”
Use these guidelines to help you attain your goals. You only have one life to accomplish what you want to do. By setting goals, you can stretch yourself, develop your talents, and lead a more enriching life.
If you want to learn more about how to set goals, click here to learn about this lesson and others that are part of the Delta Points of Sales Excellence lessons.
