I don’t know where I heard it, but I have never forgotten the saying, “If you aim for nothing, you will hit it every time.”
I love goal-setting. I love setting out to do something and then seeing it accomplished. Over the past several years I have seen myself really grow in my ability to set a goal and see it through. Don’t get me wrong, there were many a goals that I have set that I have never done anything with, nevertheless, I have reached many of them as well.
The best goal-setting exercise I have ever learned I got from Jason Nordlund. To this day I don’t know anyone better at this than him. He may not of made it up but since he taught it to me, he gets the credit.
1) Write down your top ten goals using the positive present tense.
2) If you could only achieve one goal, which would it be?
3) Write down ten ways to accomplish your #1 goal.
4) Prioritize the ten ways and from this create an action item list.
5) Write twenty ideas of how to perform your #1 priority to aid you in achieving your #1 goal. Then repeat for #2 priority, etc.
I know this can get exhausting, but push yourself to put as much on paper without thinking too much about whether it makes sense or not. When you are done with this exercise you will have 200 potential action items for your number 1 goal you want to accomplish. No more sitting at your desk wondering what to do next! You may want to utilize mind-mapping for this exercise as well. You can read about that in a previous blog.
Have a productive 2009!
