My Favorite (Brian Tracy) Goal Setting Technique

Happy New Year!

How is the goal setting going?

If you are feeling a bit overwhelmed with setting goals in each area of your life, or if you are overwhelmed now that you have set goals in every area of your life and you are already wondering where you're going to get the time to do it all, then you're not alone.

I've been goal setting for years, and while I (and the rest of the world) may get pumped up by all the wonderful things I'm going to accomplish and all the changes I'm going to make, what I've learn is that there is only so much time. 

It's an old story, but if you want to know how much of the goal setting (and accomplishing) really goes, just drive by your local gym's parking lot during the first week of January and compare it to the first week in March. 

I once heard Brian Tracy talk about setting goals, and he recommended a technique that not only made a lot of sense, but that turns out to be so powerful, it is life changing...

He said what you do is make a list of your top ten goals for the year. Think about what's most important to you in the different areas of your life, and write down ten things. 

Next, prioritize that list so that the most important goal is number one. The way to determine which goal is number one is to ask yourself which of the ten would have the most impact on your life if you actually reached it.

Once you have your list prioritized, throw away the other nine goals and make a commitment to making that number one goal a reality in the coming twelve months. 

And once you've made that commitment, ask yourself what one action you can take today, right now, to begin reaching that goal. And once you have identified that, do it.

Before you go to sleep tonight, identify the one action you're going to take tomorrow, and then commit to taking it.

And then do this each and every day until you have accomplished that one most important goal.

When I heard this, my first thought was, "Yeah, but what about the other nine goals? What about balance and all that?" 

And that's when he explained that despite our best intentions, most goal setting starts strong, but by March we've given up on half of them, and by the summer most - if not all - have been abandoned. 

That's why identifying one goal, the most important and most impacting goal, is a better way to go. 

Think about how much your life will change (and the lives of your family members) if you reach your number one, most important goal.

If your goal is to become a top producer in your industry and double or triple your income, think about the impact that will have on your family! Think about buying that new home, or providing for your parents, or allowing your wife or spouse to stay home.

If your goal is to finally write that novel, think about how your life will change when you finally accomplish that this year! Think about the weight off your shoulders now that it is a reality rather than just another dream.

If your goal is to lose weight, get in shape, and get off your medication and live a longer, healthier life for yourself and your family, think about the long term rewards achieving that goal will bring you! (And think of the consequence if you don't.)

Whether or not you agree with Brian, I'm here to tell you that it's more impacting for you to hit the most important goal in your life than it is to set ten and not hit any of them...

And, hey, if you reach your number one goal by July, you can get to number two!

If you've set goals for years and not been very successful at following through, then why not take the pressure off yourself and try Brian's method? Take his 14 day goal setting challenge: 

In just 14 days, gain clarity on exactly what you want to achieve in every area of your life. Create a plan of action to start reaching your goals immediately from BrianTracy.com.

How bad would it be if you actually reached your most important goal in 2017?

Starting AND Finishing Your Projects

Do you often find yourself at the starting gate, but somehow never actually get started?

You have done ALL the due diligence you can do at this point, without breaking the bank. You have company you like, you have found your perfect URL, you have found the perfect hosting package, you feel like you are on a roll, then NOTHING. All that work and effort just fizzles out. 

 This is something that I am still guilty of, believe it or not it really grinds my gears!

There are so many great ideas that end up withering away because of a variety of reasons, it can be because of self-doubt maybe even procrastination.

If that sounds like you, then you need to introduce some active inertia into your life.

Active inertia is what happens when you commit to a project or an idea which will move along and PULL you along with it. In effect what happens is that the idea/project begins to drive itself, and takes you along for the ride.

How do you get active inertia?

It's not something that you can go out and get in the shops, you get it little by little, you will bring the project to life. 

Firstly, you make it real - some people feel that putting it in writing is the only way that you can do this effectively, personally I find that telling close friends and relatives does just that for me. I do this because I work better under a little bit of pressure, so telling people about my plans, gives it momentum that drags me along with it. 

Secondly, make it urgent - impose a real deadline on yourself, this is where I feel telling people helps, because it serves 2 purposes telling people makes you put a deadline on when you want things completed by, or at the very least be a way point to check for progress. 

Thirdly, you should make it important, from personal experience I have found that you CAN control your interest in any particular thing you are interested in. If you find ways to make your plans vital to your life, they will, vitalize your life. 

Finally, build in momentum. It is a lot more difficult to stop something once you have started it, it pays to think about your idea or project three maybe four steps ahead, because when you do this you will find that completing one task will just push you along to the next step in the process. 

Think about it like this, A line of dominoes is virtually impossible to stop once it has started toppling, but every domino has been put in place long before the first one was knocked over. Knocking over that first piece just carries that momentum onward till all the dominoes have collapsed. 

 If you start implementing these for steps then you should find that less and less projects or ideas will ever be left to wither and die. Using active inertia will see through the procrastination phase and see you through getting your ideas of the starting blocks, and drive you towards the finishing line every time.