“Chris, I have so many goals and plans they just don’t work. All this is not practical I don’t need all this motivational thing (add your favorite expletive here).”
Some people would be thinking like this; but for the rest of us we need someone to support us in our dreams and goals, we wouldn’t mind a bit of advice and motivation. For latter kind of people I would like to add a few words of encouragement.
The First Step: Listing your Goals
If you are those who are starting out and trying to fulfill your dream or goals, this post is for you. I am not going to focus on goal setting but on moving to planning.
The first part of a good plan is understanding what goal to focus on. The only way you can start doing this is by preparing a list of your goals. Just by beginning to write them down.
What are your Top 3 Goals?
Now you can pick up just 3 from the list that you feel are the top of your list. These 3 Goals can be something that is very important and close to what you want to achieve.
Now break you goals into tasks and keep a success criteria for each of them. Keep a journal with a daily tracker on what tasks you performed and review them.
So if you want 3 new customers, One of your tasks would be having a list of prospects. The next task would be calling them and giving them a presentation etc.
The closer you are to your goals is determined by the tasks you fulfill. So what happens if you are not able to fulfill your goals. You did not succeed in spite of all the best efforts.
Rethink your Goals
It would mean that you either re-think your goals or your plans. You can check and see if your goals are realistic or whether you put in the right efforts. This feedback would help you further.
Then what stops us may be ourselves. We sabotage ourselves by not trying enough or by making excuses. If either of this is not the case may be you need another goal. It could be a right time for something else. Don’t limit yourself by limiting your thinking.
I think it is worth working on your goals. Go from just dream to a Work in Progress, because it is worthwhile.