Guaranteed Success – New Goal Setting Formula

How you write your goals will have a direct impact on whether the achievement of those goals is successful or not. I believe proper goal setting is a definite way to take charge of your destiny and create your future the way you want it to occur. Understanding how to write your goals is an important part.

The first step is you must write your goals down. I’ve heard many people say they have their goals in their head and don’t need to write them down. My response – you also have all the reasons why you haven’t, can’t won’t achieve your goals in your head. You have the excuses and limitations in your head. Albert Einstein once said “we are boxed in by the boundary conditions of our own thinking”. Well, those boundary conditions that are boxing you in are also in your head. Get your goals out! Get your goals written down on paper.

There is a second reason I say get your goals written down on paper – when you can articulate what it is you want to achieve, you are much more likely to obtain success in achieving them. Writing them down gives you a certain amount of clarity about what it is you want. In fact, there is an acronym I like to use that helps me write my goals in a manner that is compelling for me to achieve them – C.R.E.A.T.E.

Here’s what C.R.E.A.T.E stands for:

C – Concise and Clear

Your goals need to be concise and specific on what you want to achieve. If your goal is a financial goal, how much money do you want to earn, save, or attract? What is the specific amount? If you goal is a weight loss goal, how many pounds/kilos do you want to lose? Be very specific and Clear about what you want to achieve.

R – Realistic

Your goals need to be realistic for you. You have probably heard the saying “most people over estimate what they can achieve in a year and under estimate what they can achieve in a life-time”. Is your goal realistic in terms of resources, skills and skillsets, and time? If you are a person who is very good at achieving the goals you set for yourself, then I recommend you raise the bar a little and stretch yourself when setting your next goals. That would be realistic for you. If on the other hand you are a person who sets goals and rarely achieves them, then I suggest you scale your goals back a bit. At least until you can get a record of success under your belt first.

E – Ecological

This simply means; is your goal safe for you, safe for others, and safe for the planet? If you can say yes to all three possibilities, then it’s a good goal. To make it a great goal, ask yourself; Is it good for me, good for others and good for the planet?

A – As If Now

To make your goal as true as possible for you, write it in present tense. Einstein again said, “time is relative” so I like to think of my goals as being memories that I toss out into the future as opposed to the past. Write your goal using the following words: I am / I have ________ As Neville says in his book “The Power of Awareness” – Act as if. Act as if the goal has already happened. The first step of that is to write the goal down as if you have just achieved it.

T – Timed and Towards the Positive

Every goal should have a date on it. That way you can’t succumb to the trap of tomorrow-ing yourself. Or next month-ing yourself. eg. Next month I’ll have… The problem with this is that there is always a next month, so there is no conclusion for when the goal should occur! You must let the universe know when you would like the goal delivered by. Always put a date on it.

The second part of the T is towards the positive. You need to make sure the goal is stated in a manner that is TOWARDS what you want rather than away from what you don’t want. For example:

It is now June 30th 2009. I have no more debt on my credit cards. – This statement is AWAY from what you don’t want (debt on your credit cards). Your goal would be better written as; It is now June 30th 2009. I have a zero balance on all my credit cards.

E – Evidence Procedure or End Step

This is the holy grail of the whole CREATE process. This last step is what makes your goal SO compelling, you would do anything to achieve it! HOW will you know you have achieved your goal? What is the last step that has to happen? What is the evidence that you need to see, hear, or feel to know that the successful completion of your goal has just occurred? Picture that, and write that down in your goal. Keep it clear and concise, realistic, ecological, in present tense and towards what you want.

For example – if your goal is to weight a certain weight, how will you know? Will you fit into certain clothes? Will you be standing on a set of scales? If your goal is to go to the Caribbean for a holiday, what is the last step or evidence procedure for you to know you are going? Is it booking the tickets, paying for the tickets, boarding the plane, or landing at your destination? Get very clear on the Evidence Procedure or End Step.

Now that you know how to write your goals, it’s time to implement them. Writing your goals is just the first step to achieving them. You now need a plan or strategy to ensure you are on path to achieving your goals.