Transform Your Life – Goal Setting Guide

If you want to transform your life, then the first step is planning and writing down what your goals are for the year. What better time to do it than the start of the new year?

To get started, ask yourself:

“What do I want my life to look like 12 months from now?”

Here is an opportunity to have some fun, because you get to dream BIG and really stretch yourself.

What will get your juices flowing, get you leaping out of bed each day, and take you to where you want to be at the end of the year?

An important step in this process is the need to write your goals down. This is a step that is often overlooked or ignored as not necessary…

However, there is a great research study done by Dominican University that discovered that by simply writing your goals, you drastically increase the chances of accomplishing your goals… seriously!

So make sure you spend the time now, while you are still in the festive season, to write your goals down, and get them out of your head and onto paper.

Goals vs Resolutions

I want to make a distinction here between goals and resolutions…

A lot of people will have made resolutions on New Year’s Eve because that is what you do right?

The two most common resolutions are to lose weight and start doing exercise.

But there is a problem with resolutions…

Of those that make resolutions, the vast majority of people will be successful for the first week, but by the end of January, the numbers start to fall. By the end of six months, the number of people still successful with their resolution is negligible.

Studies have shown that only 8% of people who made a New Year’s resolution are consistently successful with it. The odds are not good.

The distinction I want to make is that resolutions can be a bit of fun, but considered, well thought out, and written down goals can transform your life.

Successful people make decisions and stick to them, take the action to make them happen, and have a single-minded desire to achieve their goals.

The Goal-Setting Trap

Now here is a trap with the goal-setting process…

Trying to achieve too much!

If you create goals that are too much for you or require you to change everything in your life, you are setting yourself up for failure.

And as we are creatures of habit, we want to set ourselves up from the beginning with good habits.

I spent the past two weeks working on a process I learned from Michael Hyatt to set your goals.

The process requires you to identify 7 to 10 goals that will drive your actions and result in you being where you want to be at the end of the year.

It is important that these goals cover a variety of aspects of your life, such as health, financial, vocational, avocational, intellectual, social, family, or emotional.

You don’t need to have one for each category, but it is good to have variety and balance in your life.

I have also seen an addition to Michael’s process that I think provides a key driver for success…

The addition is having a theme for your year.

What are one or two words that will describe your ambition for the year and be relevant in some way to each of your goals?

I really like this concept and will be working this week to finalize my theme. I have my 10 goals and there are consistencies in them that I am sure will flow to a one or two-word theme.

Goal Setting Guide

So here is a quick guide for setting your goals to transform your life.

1. Identify your goals
2. Write them down
3. Identify why your goals are important to you – what are your motivations?
4. Create a plan to review them regularly

I mentioned that successful people make decisions and stick to them. Well, the fourth step in this quick guide is crucial for your success.

You need to ensure you create a habit of reviewing your goals on a regular basis.

I will be using the process that Michael Hyatt teaches which is to review your goals briefly on a daily basis, then weekly reconnect with your motivations and quarterly review the goals.

The quarterly review is an opportunity to adjust and realign your goals based on the achievements you have made or where there is work to do to get back on track.

I’ve also included your motivations as an important step in this quick guide process.

You know how much I believe in knowing your WHY…

Well, each goal needs a few motivations. Why do you want the goal, and how will it transform your life?

The motivations are what will drive your performance and achievement, so don’t skip this step, it’s just as important as writing the goals down.

Conclusion

So there it is, a process to transform your life.

And the really good news, those that actually set goals are 10 times more likely to be successful in achieving their goals than those that don’t…

Let’s get the positive energy flowing by putting your goals out in the universe.

Leave me a comment below, let me know your theme or one of your goals, and set yourself up to transform your life.

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