Do you set goals?

A lot of my colleagues and subordinates have walked up to me and asked me what is goal setting, how to go about it, what are the advantages of doing so and how do we consistently do it. I personally believe that your success depends a lot on this crucial exercise as it helps turn your dreams and visions in reality through flawless execution.

Yet, according to a study by ThinkIQ.com, less than 15% of the population actually takes the time to write down their goals. If you are part of that less than 15%, which goals do you write down, e.g. which timelines, for which areas of your life?

The secret lies in setting yourself up for SUCCESS and not for failure (as it happens in ~95% of the cases, since the people are not committed enough to achieving the goals that they set for themselves).

Here are the SIX Keys to a successful Goal-setting -

1. Only set those goals that you are committed to achieve.
2. Set yourself up for success. So if you really want to lose 30 pounds, give yourself a year to do so rather than giving yourself time to do it in 3-4 months.
3. What also matters is that you set some interim milestones that you should achieve. Drawing a parallel from the above example, every 5 pounds loss could be an important milestone. Don't you think that this is more achievable and every time you hit it, it will make you more confident of achieving the final goal.
4. Model your success on others who have already achieved in their lives/careers etc. You can draw inspiration from them and follow their strategies to achieve what you have set out to achieve.
5. Get support from others. Take help from a friend who is equally committed and equally enthusiastic to the weight-loss cause. Talk to each other. Hold each other accoutable. This way, the more number of people you have on your team, the better are your chances of successfully achieving the goal set.
6. Chalk out an action plan... and make sure that you act on it. This can be done by taking help from a friend, colleague, spouse etc. Break-up your goal in smaller actions. Add some details to these actions. Set up the time lines by which you will complete each of these actions. depending on the priorities of each of the actions. The more actions you take, the more forward momentum you will develop towards the achievement of your goals.

I am enclosing a sample Goal setting format for your reference. Over last 2 years or so I have used to achieve various goals that I have set for myself - howmuchever trivial these goals seem to be.

The goal-setting example given is a simple and a very generic example. I want to spend at least 30 minutes with my wife on weekdays and more qualitative time (2-3 hours) on the weekends. I also want to take an annual vacation with my family once a year.

See the goal setting I have done for myself to arrive at these goals. Please do keep in mind that for some of the goals/actions, there won't be any dead line as these will be ongoing actions (like spending 30 mins with wife everyday). So do use your common sense to decide on thhe deadlines of the detailed actions.

Please feel free to use it for your benefit and pass it on to whoever needs it around you.

Among the secrets of making a goal compelling are to:

1. Make it personal and linked to what you value most.

2. Make it positive – what will you do rather than stop doing…?

3. Write in the present tense as if you have already achieved it.

4. Use your senses, how will things look, feel and sound when you have achieved your goal?

Happy Goal-setting and here's to "SUCCESS"!!!!