Why is setting goals important?
Goal setting is probably the most important thing you can do on a regular basis. Writing down your goals and reviewing them is critical to your success and if you haven’t started tracking your goals yet, I will show you the technique i use to set my goals.
Jim Rohn, the mentor of Tony Robins, said that success is working towards your goals and achieving them. He had a great analogy for success in one of his program. If you’re goal in 3 years is to sell everything, move to the backcountry, buy a house and live of the land. In 3 years from now, if we meet again and you moved to the backcountry, bought a house and you live off the land… than you would be widely successful. Success is simply setting goals and working towards them until they are achieved.
Re-Setting your goals
Most people have the wrong goals in mind. Why do I say that? Because they think they need 20 millions dollars in the bank account to be happy… but what for? Does having 20 millions in the bank account translate directly into more happiness or it’s what 20 millions can buy that will make you happy? With the money you can travel to places you always dreamed of. Finally quit your job and spend time doing things that you really enjoy like learning to play an instrument, work on a business idea that was haunting you for a long time or spend more time with your loved one.
Once you start digging, you will most likely find out that 20 millions dollars is not really the goal anymore. For me, it was the freedom of choosing what i want to do when i want to do it. Having no boss to tell me how i need to spend my time. Having the freedom to live anywhere i want. There’s a lot of shortcut you can use to achieve all those goals if you look outside the box.
For example, if you want to not do any more household, hiring a full time maid in the US can be expensive. But did you know you can get a full time maid for 50$/month in certain country? Moving to a tropical country like Vietnam or Thailand would be a very good alternative. I have a maid that come 3 times a week clean my house and can even cook food if i ask for under 40$/month. Can you imagine not having to broom the floor anymore? I haven’t clean my house for almost 2 years now… I couldn’t have done it if I stayed in Canada.
Look outside the box when planning your goals. How can you achieve the same results with much less efforts? How about owning a Lamborghini? thats 1 millions dollars right there, but do you know you can buy a used lamborghini. for 1/5 of the price! You still own a lamborghini and no one will ever know how much you paid for!
How about buying a vacation home in a tropical island? Well, how often are you gonna go there? 3-4 times a year? how about buying a time share instead. For a few thousand dollars a year you can have access to a vacation home anywhere! By the mountain or by the sea.
You want to retire early? How much money do you really need? Well that depends where you live again. For about 2000$/month you can live a very nice lifestyle in developing country like thailand, vietnam just to name the one I’m familiar with. Healthcare is dirt cheap here, people still spend years in school but earn a fraction of north-american wages. So now, you’re 50 000$/year you needed in US is down to about 24 000$/year! And you don’t have to work anymore!
For some people this could be an eye opener. They could already achieve some of their goals if they were looking outside the box. So re-set your goals, think how you can achieve them faster. Maybe you cannot move to another country but maybe you can!
So how do you set goals?
Start with 20 000 feet views. You need to have the big picture in mind first if you want to be able to zoom in and know what to do on a daily basis. In the book “the seven habits of highly effective people” by Stephen R. Covey, the first habit is to start with the end in mind. This apply to everything and particularly to goal setting.
Start with the end in mind… Your funerals
Imagine that it is your funerals. You lived a very long life and had a few childrens. They grew up and have family of their own now. You passed away and each of your children is ask to come to the front and give your eulogy. What would they say about you? That you were a role model? Always had time for them, always doing the right thing? Take a minute and think about what they would say. If it’s not what you want, then you know what some of your goals should be.
Now imagine that some of your close friends are ask to come upfront and talk about you, the person lying in the coffin. What would they say ? That you were a good friend, trustworthy. Always ready to help with a charity? Really think about it. Is it what you would like them to say?
Imagine now that one of your business partner is ask the same thing to come at the front and talk to all the people that matter in your life. What would they say? That you were an entrepreneurial person, fair and industrious?
This is a very good exercise and forces you to think farther than just the “I want to be rich” goal. How do you want your legacy to be after you passed away? Should you spend more quality time with your family? Now that you have your end purpose figured out, you can start to write down your goals.
Split your goals into 5 timeframe.
Start with the longer terms goals and work your way back. Write 3-5 goals by time frame.
- 20 years from now, what are 3-5 things you want to have achieve? (This is the long term terms goal. Where do you want to live, who do you want to be with? how much money in the bank Be as precise as possible?)
- 3 years (This is long terms but closer to today. Where do you want your business to be in the next 3 years? Those are projections. Remember to aim high)
- 1 year ( Mi-terms goals, taking those 3 years goals, what would you need to achieve by the end of the year to get you closer to realizing them)
- 3 months (Those are your short terms goals, Take your yearly goals and break them down into actionable chunk.)
- 1 months (This is when the wheels hit the pavement, breakdown the 3 months goals into smaller task for this month. Ex: write 8 blog post, post 8 videos on youtube, etc…)
Every day, write down 2-3 goals to achieve that day, only go to sleep when they are achieved. Repeat every morning.
Being rich is not a good goal. Making 50K/month, owning a yellow Lamborghini and having a vacation home in Colorado is much better. Be as precise as possible.
Don’t worry about getting it just right the first time, you will need to re-visit your goals often anyway. I’d suggest once a week, probably on sunday at the end of the week. You can review the past week and strategize for the upcoming one. Your 20 years goal should not change often but your 1 year goals and monthly goals might change when you receive new information.
How high should you aim?
Aim as big as you can. Don’t be afraid if you don’t know how you will achieve them. This is normal. You will first need to gather knowledge to achieve your goals. Read books, talk to people and join groups. The more your learn and do, the clearer the path will be. Small increment over a long period of time is the key to success.
How do you manage your goals on a daily basis
Every morning, write down 3 things you need to do. They need to be in line with your longer time frame goals and bring you closer to them. This is the most important thing, every morning, do not start any work until you are clear on the 2-3 things you need to get done that day.
Also, keep asking yourself questions like: Where can I learn what I need to know in order to achieve my goals? Who can I talk to that can help me achieve them? Is my current job helps me or hinders me in achieving my goals? If it hinders me, what line of work should I be into that will bring me closer to my goals?
Those are the type of questions you should ask yourself. Every day you will work at it, learn more and keep going. The path to achieving your goals will reveal itself as you work towards them.
Why should you set goals?
There is something magical about putting on paper what you want to achieve. You transform ideas into something real, something you can look at and comprehend. It will help you see the different steps and pieces needed to achieve your dreams.
All successful people write down their goals. Success is a formula and goal setting is the main ingredient. No one ever got pushed to the top of a mountain by the wind. You need to consciously plan and execute if you want to achieve worthy goals.
A word of caution here. If you don’t work on your own plan, you will fall into someone else plan. You can choose to be the captain of the ship or you can work on someone else’s ship, but if you choose the later, don’t complain when it arrives to destination.
Goal setting is the most powerful thing you can do to achieving your goals. Harness this force and work at it!
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