Setting Your Goals to Work!
By Patty Benton

Adapted from "Failure is NOT an Option" by Patty Benton, www.virtualvacoach.com/vaguide.html
 

I was very fortunate to be included in the Success Principles Workshop with Cheryl Callighan.  Though I don't go into nearly as much detail and all the steps Cheryl does, I have adapted some of the methods to work for me (you can contact her and/or get the Success Principles by Jack Canfield to expand upon his). I started in May, and have reached some goals that I had set for a few years ago.
 

Before I start with the steps to writing your goals, I want to first strongly encourage you to write your goals down and then keep them posted where you will see them daily. Read through them at least once a day, if not 3 or 4 times during the day. This will keep them fresh in your mind and aware of where you are headed!

1. First set 2-4 goals for each of the following areas. If you would like to do more, that is fine. Be realistic, though, in what you want to achieve. Note that in the example goals, I am very specific. I set monetary values, numbers or anything else pertinent to know exactly what I want to achieve with the specific goal.

   1. Financial- What would you like to achieve financially with your business? Some people just want extra spending money, while others need a set amount to quit their job.
      Here is an example goal I set for myself: $125.00 for Anjonae’s preschool.

   2. Career- Where would you like to go with your career? Do you want to quit your job? Do you want to eventually not be working at all and retire?
      Here is an example goal I set: Start coaching 4 students/week (at this time I was just establishing my coaching program).

   3. Personal Goals- What would you like to achieve for yourself? This has nothing to do with your business, but everything to do with keeping yourself healthy and happy (please note: These are not just health goals, but any goals you want to accomplish in your personal life).
      Here is an example goal I set: Lose 50 lbs.
       

2. Now that you have your goals set, determine when you will achieve them by. Be realistic. Don’t say that by next week you will be making $500 unless you are already working on a perspective client. Below are the same goals I listed above with their specific achievement dates. Just for your knowledge in seeing the time frame, these goals were set approximately May 2, 2005.

   1. Financial- $125.00 for Anjonae’s preschool by 8-31-05

   2. Career-  Start coaching 4 students per week by 8-31-05 (I achieved this 6-13-05, so I added to this goal that by 8-31-05 I would have 8 coaching students. By 8-31-05, I had 13 coaching students.)

   3. Personal Goals- Lose 50 lbs by 12-31-05.

   4. Community Service or Contribution- Donate services to church for business book by 11-15-05 (I set this so far out because at that point, I knew I had a lot going on during the summer and would not have time to get this project moving.)

    

3. Now that you have established your goals and when you want to achieve them by, you need a plan of action. Take each goal and decide the steps you need to take to achieve them. Include any monetary expenses that will be involved, as you need to ensure that you have the money to achieve that goal. If you do not, then go back and change your achievement date to one that will allow you the time to earn the necessary money. Here are example plans of action. I did not include all of them, as I know you want to finish this book in a relatively reasonable time frame.

   1. Financial- $125.00 for Anjonae’s preschool by 8-31-05

      • Send out 100 postcards/month $40 on http://www.expresscopy.com (This total includes printing, addressing with a list you provide, stamps, and mailed.)

      • Make 20 follow-up calls (or 1 hour’s worth) per week, starting one week after postcards are mailed.

   2. Personal Goals- Lose 50 lbs by 12-31-05 (as of 6-31-05 I had lost 5 lbs-looking at that weight loss amount I will be adjusting my goal to 3-31-06)

      • Eat smaller portions and eat slower.

      • Eat breakfast (I never did this before).

      • Eat 1-2 small snacks during the day-no more than that!

      • Do not eat 2 ½ hours to 3 hours before bed.

      • Drink healthy drinks. No-sugar-added Kool-Aid and Diet A & W Root beer are my drinks of choice.

Congratulations! You now have your goals established. You will keep adding and adjusting your goals as you go. If you need to adjust your goals that are already set, go right ahead. It is very possible that you will come across hitches that will limit you from reaching your goal so you will need to make adjustments. Do not consider this failure, consider this life! You won't fail unless you don't try! Sometimes it takes us longer than we plan or want to reach a goal, and that is okay. As long as you continue to work toward that goal, and adjust them as needed.

One other thing I did was to put a picture of a house with mountains in the background and horses in the front on my goals. My ultimate goal (which was not listed above as I have many goals I need to reach to achieve my ultimate goal) is to be able to custom build a house with at least five acres of land. Since I live in Colorado near the mountains and absolutely love my mountains, I want to be sure no matter where I build my house, it is near the mountains and I can have horses! The date I have set for this to be done is 12-12-12. Make sure to have the big goals listed to! It is important to know where you will end up, and what all the other goals are working towards. Everyone has dreams of things they want to accomplish, so set your goals to help you achieve your dreams! 

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