The problem is not with making goals for the New Year. You can make goals on the first of January or the first of July, it doesn’t matter. The real problem is HOW you’re making your goals.
Because what matters is to KEEP them.
But why is it so hard to keep goal?
It’s because most people making goals are omitting two vital factors.
- They don’t make specific enough goals.
- They don’t do regularly check on their progress to make sure they’re still on track.
My goal for this article is to give you tips and advice in order to help you avoid these two pitfalls, and guide you through your goal making plans.
Hopefully, you can bookmark this post, and get back to it regularly.
You can use this information to help you with the progress of goals.
Step One – Set Specific Goals
One thing as sure as 2+2 = 4 is that there is no results possible (no good ones that is) with vagueness.
That’s the biggest problem that I see with goal making.
Taking the example of a commercial flight, for instance, they have their entire trip precisely tuned to a specific route.
To make sure that they keep on track, there have specific check points that the pilots needs to go through while flying in the air.
If they miss a check point, they know that they’ve gone off course, and in such case, they would need to readjust their course in order to get back on track.
Precise flight course is what makes your flight safe.
It’s what assures you that you will get to your planned destination, and that you won’t collide anywhere between point A and point B.
Now, tell me that being precise in your goal planning is not important!
So, do yourself a favor and do not make goals that are not as specific.
- Do not plan on losing weight. Plan on how much “exactly” you want to lose, and by when.
- Do not plan on going on some trip sometime. Plan exactly where and when you’re going.
- Do not plan on making lots of money. Plan exactly how much you want to make, by when and how.
- Do not plan on meeting the man or woman of your dreams. Write down all the qualities you want them to have. You can write those down over time, as you think of them. Be very specific about what you want in a partner.
- Do not plan on eating healthy. Make a list of what type of food you want to add to your diet, and a list of what food needs to go.
I could go on and on, but do you get my point here?
If not, I’m always an email away.
So, to recap, here. Do not just make goals, make specific goals.
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Step Two – Prioritize
If you have several goals (and you should), I’m sure they are not all equally important or all equally easy to attain.
That’s why you need to prioritize your goals.
The more specific your goals are, the easier it will be to prioritize them.
Which goal will be easier to accomplish first and why?
Write down the list of your goals, and decide what goal needs your attention now, and what goal you will focus on at a later time.
Start working on the smaller or most urgent goals now.
Step Three – Measure your Obstacles
If there is any obstacle between you and your goal, you should make a list of them too.
It’s always better to have your enemies in from of you, so you can confront them, rather than letting them sneaking on your back.
So face your obstacles now, and think about ways you will handle them.
Will you need someone’s help?
Does it require you to take a specific action?
Whatever it is that you will need to do to overcome your obstacles, needs to be identify as soon as possible and dealt with as much as possible as well.
Some might be easy and some might be pretty hard to deal with. Either way, get clear on that, and you will be able to move forward with your goal much better.
Writing down all obstacles will help you deal with them so much better, and you will feel empowered with ideas to overcome them.
Step Four – Make a list of your Resources
Make a list of the resources that are available for you to reach your goals.
It could be anything; people, technology, skills, contacts, friends, your own determination, etc.
Thing of every single details that could be a resource to you in order to attain your goals.
Compare your goals and the resources that you have to help you accomplish them.
Making a list of your resources you have to attain your goal is a very powerful step toward that goal, so don’t skip it.
Step Four – Imagine you Have Accomplished your Goal
A very important step about making goals that people who fail do not do, is imagining themselves once they have accomplished their goal.
Do not ever underestimate the power of imagination.
Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and Walt Disney, for example, all have created some of their most valuable work through imagination.
But what is imagination, really?
Imagination is visualization with feelings.
When I was a teenager, I started to imagine myself meeting the then number one movie star in France.
Did it work?
Yes, it most definitely did!
Not only I met him like 5 times including once in New York, but I ended up meeting quite a few more movie stars in my life time after that.
Not only during my few years of acting, but several times outside of that.
Have you ever found yourself in an elevator with Tom Cruise?
Well, I have.
Do I believe in coincidences?
What people call coincidence is actually only the result of what you’re attracting in your life, led by what you think about and focus on most of the time (even unconsciously).
This recipe MAKES your coincidences.
So, take this seriously, guys.
Take some time to visualize each and every one of your goal as if you had achieved them.
See how you will be, how you will feel, what you will do, how you will act, etc…Once that goal is accomplished.
What’s an easy way to do this?
If you can sit down or lay down 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes in the evening, meditating on your goals as if you had achieved them.
This exercise would be a tremendous boost towards accomplishing your goals.
My favorite attraction recipe is this:
Meditating + Visualizing + Daydreaming + Determination = Attracting.
It works for any goal you may have.
With that I’ve attracted…
Acting in theaters in Lyon, Paris and New York
Being in a commercial and appearing in two movies.
Crossing the path of movie stars.
Speaking 3 languages (soon to be 4).
Living in the US, and having dual citizenship.
I just want to make sure that you don’t think I’m bragging here. These are things that many people reading this and many of my acquaintances do not even know about me, but they’re PROOF that imagination, visualization, daydreaming and determination work to attract specific goals.
Did I always apply this wonderful recipe in my life?
No, and that’s why I’ve also got what I don’t want or like many times in my life as well.
Step Five – Check Points
Now, it’s time to do a few check points to make sure that you are keeping your goals on track.
Your check points will also help you to see if you have to give up some of your goals for the time being, or if you have to push forward on others.
Use those check points to figure out what you need to do in order to make sure that you are still working towards your goal.
It’s better to drop a goal completely for now and get back to it when you’re finally ready, than letting such goal clouding your head, or making your feel stressed out because you’re not doing what you should be doing at this point.
Just like the commercial flight will readjust its course if it goes astray from its check point, use this as an adjustment, or cleanup of your goals.
Recap
- Make ONLY specific goals
- Prioritize your goals
- Figure out any obstacle you’ll have to overcome to reach your goals
- Figure out what type of resources you have at your disposition to reach your goals
- Check out the progress of each goal, every so often, to make sure you’re still on track
Anything you want to add? Please, leave your thoughts, comments and insight below!
Hey dear friend!
Happy New Year! Great post especially for the new year 🙂
I love the part about measuring the obstacles. Before going into any planning, make sure you have a great idea on how and what your competition would be like. This will prepare you for day and even months to come!
Top notch and thanks for sharing!
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Hi Reginald,
Thank you for your encouraging words and I’m so glad you appreciated this information.
Very Happy New Year to you!
Hi Sylviane,
Well it’s hard to add anything to this list, I think you covered it all. All makes sense and somehow I find making only specific goals crucial.
I don’t know if these steps are ordered by importance but without very specific goals it’s very hard (or even impossible) to check their progress. So the very first step is decisive.
Oh one question, is it true Tom Cruise is that short 🙂
Thanks Sylviane for your insightful post as always and I like your new blog layout. Yes I was out of blogging for some time.
~ Dragan
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Hi Dragan,
Those goals are in chronological order and without number one down, all the other steps would be pretty much useless, indeed.
Yes, Tom Cruise is rather short. I’m 5.6 and I could look at him eye to eye, so is no more than 5.8 I would say.
It was 20 years ago. I was living in the Big Apple acting at night and baby sitting during the day. I was taking the kids to an art museum for children every week, and there he was with his adoptive daughter Isabella.
We took the same elevator and stopped at the same floor. As I was playing with the kids I was taking care of, so he was with his daughter. I never knew how many people recognized him, but if they did they acted like me, doing nothing at all 🙂 Just keeping busy with their own business and kids. People had to have recognizing him though. He was not even wearing any dark glasses or anything, plus when he opened his mouth talking to his daughter you could recognize the voice too.
A couple years later I also came across Harrison Ford 🙂 I tell ya, there’s no coincidences.
Thank you so much for coming. I appreciate your visit.
Hi Sylviane,
Thanks for sharing this with us. Out of the five bullets I do three of them. I need to take a look at the obstacles and find resources to help me.
I normally keep my goals to a minimum. I don’t like a long list of things because I tend to lose focus and get overwhelmed with the number of things to do. 🙂 I also plan on checking in every three months to see my progress.
I hope you’re having a great day! Stay warm :).
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I Corina,
I agree there’s no need to have too many goals. one to three goals at the time is good, and better accomplish few than make many and accomplish none.
Thank you for your input and have a wonderful day. Yes, it’s getting pretty cold all of a sudden 🙂 Keep what too.
Hi Sylviane,
This is a great post, i have often said that to live without a goal is living like a goat; your 5 points are awesome. Setting goals in life is what drives us in life, we must realize that life is not all about existing but living to the fullest.
May i also add here that it is very necessary that we have FAITH in God and in ourselves in setting and pursuing our goals in life. Maybe that is what you meant in step 4.
…. When you believe (have faith), all things are possible unto him that believes…. Mark 9v2 3
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Hi Emebu,
Yes, faith is very important in life, whatever we believe in. I noticed that people who don’t believe in a higher power tend to not believe too much in themselves. I known of few people like that.
Having goals is what help us get up in the morning.
Thank you for dropping by, and have a wonderful day.
P.S Remember my name is Sylviane, not Nuccio 🙂
Hey Sylviane, Happy New Year to you. Great list of tips for creating targets in your goals as apposed to just setting out to do something, I love it. The checkpoints are very interesting as I’ve never thought of doing that before to measure progress and to keep on track, this makes so much sense, because before I’d set a goal and end up achieving something else entirely lol.
Also in the past I’d set myself too much of a hefty goal as apposed to specific goals that I can actually reach, not this year though, I’ve certainly learned a thing or two from 2014, and this post just adds to it so thanks.
Thanks again and all the best for 2015 Sylviane.
– Fabrizio
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Hi Fabrizio,
I’m glad you enjoyed this list and have learned from the past how to better set goals.
That’s true, at times we can set a goal and end up with something totally different. That happened to me back in 2006, so I’ve learned that just setting a goal and leaving it in the air, so to speak, doesn’t work. We need to do those check points and rectify as we go.
Thank you so much for coming, and very happy New Year to you!
Happy New Year 2015!!!
A very good motivational post at the starting of the year. Liked it very much. Thanks for sharing!
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Glad you enjoyed, and thanks for coming.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, Sylviane! I may have said that last time but it takes a while for my brain to catch up with a new year 🙂 I’m sure I’ll be writing “2014” on checks for the next four months.
This is a great slant on resolutions and you said the most important thing at the very beginning – it doesn’t matter if you make them in January or July. If you want to change something, start now. No need to wait for a new day or year or anything.
There are so many opinions when it comes to goals, about how to set them and what to think. Some people say that you should make them small and realistic. Some people say you should think big. I think for me, it’s more about making progress toward your goals than achieving them precisely and I know that sounds a little strange but here’s why:
I may say “I want to lose 5 pounds by Tuesday.” Wouldn’t that be nice 🙂 But in the end what if I only lose 4? That is what discourages people so often. So why not set big, big goals, even if you never get there, and measure your progress along the way? You may even achieve those goals and beyond! But you won’t limit yourself to small things AND you won’t spend so much time worrying that you missed a mark. Plus you will achieve amazing things along the way. Maybe even things you never imagined in the first place.
That’s where checkpoints come in – to see where you’ve come and where you’re going.
I also like the idea of making notes of your obstacles and resources. It’s funny how when you start to really write these things down you get so much more clarity than if you just sat around thinking about them. I think the writers among us can certainly understand that!
So let’s get going… I have a few things to start writing down so I can get busy doing them 🙂
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Hi Carol,
It’s OK, happy New Year is still in the air.
I totally agree that setting goals doesn’t mean that you have to hit your head against the wall if you have not totally reach them by whatever date of fully complete them and so forth. As long as you’re coming along with your goal that’s perfectly fine. You are still moving, still progressing. It’s the making no goal at all that’s bad, because for sure you won’t go anywhere much 🙂
Yes, writing things down makes it so much clearer for our mind, it’s very important to write those things down. What obstacles do I have, and what resources do I have? Write them now nice and clear.
Thank you for your valuable insight.
Hi Sylviane,
Fantastic point!!! I generally make goals that are realistic yet challenge me. In order to do that though I know I have to have a plan.
* Strategies – the big picture of what I want
* Goals – specific and measurable around either time, quantity or other specific result
* Objectives – this is the task list, punch list, whatever you’re used to calling them. It’s the things I have to do every day, week, month or quarter to ensure I have something to measure in my goals.
I think people are generally desirous to have a better life, but I also think many have a negative mindset around being specific out of fear of either attaining what they want or failure (it could be both). But, the past results are 99% of the time because of their mindset and then lack of clarity and follow through.
If you you create the strategies, goals and objectives to get what you want then you will see this formula in action:
clarity (that’s having a plan) + focus (that’s knowing what to do or objectives) = results
I love your post, what a great read to start the new year!!!!
Happy New Year Syvliane!!!!
~ Don Purdum
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Hi Don,
I’m glad you enjoyed this post.
True that fear of success could go against attaining goals. Fear of success and fear of failure, indeed can be kind of the same at times. They kind of meet in some type of grey area, so to speak.
The mindset is everything. I don’t think that a negative mindset can attain any type of worth goal. A negative mindset never sees a glad half full, you know 🙂 And then with negative mindset comes fear. I’ve seen all of that in action for years. I know exactly how it works. It’s pretty sad too.
It’s essential to have a good strategy and a list to follow.
Thank you for your excellent feedback.
Hey Sylviane,
What an appropriate post here at the first of the new year. I know so many people have been making new goals so that they can achieve what they are eager to do this year. You are right though, so many people don’t actually have it all planned out how it’s going to be done just that they want to achieve certain things.
I did the weight loss thing last year and I mapped the entire thing out. I followed the plan and I achieved my goal. When I take a trip I start saving for it a year in advance and of course I’m a planner so I want to know how I’m getting there, where I’m staying, how I’ll get around and what I’m doing when I’m there. My business has been a little different though because at times when I’m mapping out what I want to achieve I’m not quite sure how to go about that yet. That’s why I love learning so much.
I think what you’ve shared though is spot on. If everyone were to take your advice and take those action steps then they would be able to achieve whatever they put their minds to. It doesn’t get much better than that right!
Thanks for this inspirational post to start off this new year. I hope I won’t have to revert back to your advice. 😉
Enjoy your weekend.
~Adrienne
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Hi Adrienne,
Nice to see you back. What do you mean revert? LOL!
I didn’t grow up learning how to make plans for sure, but when I do plan on something I usually complete or execute what I’ve planned. That’s how I’ve learned English from the kitchen table of my apartment in Paris and flew to New York. Now I’m learning Italian to fly to Italy. There’s just something about me 🙂 Every so often I’m ready to hop on a plan and see new horizons. Right now I also have become a bit homesick, and want to get closer. Really something I’ve been feeling ever so strongly, since my mom and Sophie have gone.
So, I hope you’re stating saving to come visit me then 🙂 I’m counting on that.
I know sometimes it’s not easy to plan our business moves. I know that I need to get better at that myself.
Thanks for coming Adrienne, and have a great week ahead!
This is such an interesting post, Sylviane, especially your step of listing obstacles. You’re the first person to recommend this. Most people advice against it, but I’m with you on the “best to know your enemies” strategy. This is the one thing missing from my goal-setting.
Being specific helps prevent the “be careful what you wish for” scenario too.
Do you know the Silva Method? It’s one of my resources in what I do and I should really use it more than I do. My problem is that when I use creative visualisation and things start happening that I want to, I get complacent, and stop visualising. I really need to believe that it’s not magic but a result that needs constant work.
I think if I was to add a 6th step to your brilliant list, it’s Believe You’re Worth What You Wish For.
Do you think that as our goals become reality we can adjust and/or add to them? Or is it best to make a new goal based on what results we got already?
Thanks so much for this post and thanks to Adrienne Smith for introducing you to me through her blog.
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Some nice tips here Sylviane.
I think what is important as well is to set realistic goals. A set of smaller goals to get you to one overall bigger goal is a good way to go.
And I always find, when I reach a goal, I like to congratulate myself. Make a song and a dance about it, because when you have reached a goal it should be celebrated.
It’s interesting what you say about imagining attaining your goals. I am a firm believer that exercises like these create a positive influence, and really can help keep a goal on course if you have already played out in your mind what it looked like when you have completed a goal.
Sharing this one out. Thanks Sylviane.
Richard
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Hi Richard,
I totally agree, reaching for smaller goals that lead to bigger ones is the way to go.
Yes, we always should celebrate accomplishments (writing songs? That’s cool), it’s very good for the soul, the energy we send out and all.
Of course, imagination does work. Athletes use it all the time. Imagination is creation, and that’s why it works so well.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this post and thank you for coming.
Hey Sylviane,
Great post.
Step 1 is completely true. You have to set specific goals for yourself or else you’ll never achieve what you set out to achieve.
The problem many people have is that they set a goal, but it’s either too vague or completely unreachable.
For example, they may say, I want to monetize my site this year.
Well, how are you going to to it? What steps are you going to take to achieve it? What method of monetization are you going to focus on? What realistic amount are you aiming for each month? Etc. You have to be specific.
I also like step 4. Reminds me of what I read in Think and Grow Rich. If you visualize and imagine it, it’ll start coming true.
Awesome post here, Sylviane.
– Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Yes, it’s very important to be specific when making goals. Vague goals are never accomplished.
Visualization work, indeed. I’ve attracted many things in my life through visualization.
Thank you for coming 🙂