Business Strategy Coach - How to Achieve Your Desires With a Goal Achievement System - Part 2

In part 1 of this article, I showed you how to properly set goals by being specific, giving yourself a deadline and making your goals positively oriented. I also showed you a technique where you actually visualize yourself after you've hit that goal and you imagine what it actually feels like. In part 2 of this article, I'm going to show you a step by step process to take that goal, and create a plan of action for achieving that goal. When you are creating this plan, remember this:

"You can't reach the top of the mountain in a giant leap-but b
So in essence, what we are about to do is take your mountain of a goal, and break it down into individual obtainable steps. For the sake of this exercise, we are going to continue with the example we used in part 1, which involved losing 30 pounds in 10 weeks. Remember the goal that you wrote down? This is our end all final achievement. We will call this our mission statement. Here is what we came up with last time, and the one that you wrote should be posted in plain view.

"Today is December 5, and I am 30 pounds lighter. I look a lot better, and I feel great. People have complimented me on how I look healthier and am a more enjoyable person to be around. I can now participate in activities I've always wanted to do but felt limited by my weight."

So how can we break this down? Well since we gave ourselves 10 weeks, the best way to me sounds like breaking this up into 10 obtainable milestones that we need to complete along the way. Hitting the 10th and final milestone would complete the mission. Now we need to set up each milestone accordingly. Please note, 30 pounds in 10 weeks can be a big stretch if losing those 30 pounds would mean giving you six-pack abs. I don't personally believe that this is obtainable to do so in a healthy manner. But for an individual who is much more overweight, it is very possible. I am using weight loss for the sake of this exercise. If your goal is weight loss, I recommend speaking to your physician about what is realistically possible for you (and then try to outdo what they say of course).

Since we are using weight loss as our mission, it is ok that we don't set our milestones equally because it is much easier to lose those first 10 pounds then it is the last 10 pounds. I would recommend this schedule. Weeks 1 & 2 lose 4 pounds a week. Weeks 3 - 8, lose 3 pounds a week. Weeks 9 & 10 lose 2 pounds a week.

Now did you notice something about these milestones? Pounds don't just disappear in chunks just because you made the number smaller. Completing a milestone may not be the same as leaping to the top of a mountain, but it is like leaping to the top of a hill. So, like what we did with our mission statement, we will continue to chunk down on our milestones until we can break them down into smaller more obtainable goals. I would recommend writing each milestone down on an index card on the top line (sticky notes work well too). On each index card, further break down your milestone into individually achievable goal. For example, on one card, you may list:

Week 1 Milestone: lose 4 pounds

Monday: run 1 mile

Tuesday: lift weights for half an hour

Wednesday: run 1 mile

Thursday: lift weights for half an hour

Friday: run 1.25 miles

Saturday: lift weights for half an hour

Sunday: day off (eat healthy!)

If you are really feeling diligent, you can break this down even further! You may want to list exactly what you eat on Monday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You may want to plan out a healthy sleeping schedule. Remember, the more specific and detailed you are, the more likely you are to achieve your desired outcome.

Do you remember hearing about the straight A high school students who flunked out of college? Do you know why? In high school, everything was planned out for them. They had English first period, Math second period, Chemistry third period and so forth. They followed a schedule that was strictly enforced, and they were able to thrive in that situation, even if it was to avoid the negative consequences of things like cutting class (this is away from motivation and we want to use towards motivation - we want to look great and feel healthy). However, once they got to college, they were given a lot more freedom, such as optional lectures and readings, and eventually they couldn't keep up because they lost that feeling of an automatic schedule, where everything is laid out for them. We can argue about there being many other reasons, but I'm not going to go there right now.

You may think that this involves a lot of work. But in reality, the amount of time spent on this activity is only a fraction of the amount of time spent on achieving your mission. If you spent 5 hours a week working on your mission, what's an extra half hour the first week? I'll give you a little hint to help start you off so write this down. Goal #1: write down your milestone schedule!

Remember, in order to have success, you must first plan to have success.

Business Strategy Coach - Driving to Your Goals..3 Steps to Get You Where You Want...

Every time you get in your car to go anywhere, you are working on achieving a goal. There is somewhere you want to be, so you take action to get there. The three major things that get you where you want to go when driving are a specific destination, directions for getting there, and a way to track your progress. You must also have these three things to achieve any goal.

1. Specific Destination

Before even getting into your car, you must know where you are going. Unless you have a specific destination, you're just moving the car and wasting gas. There isn't anything particularly wrong with this; some people enjoy just driving around and looking at the scenery. But if you want to get somewhere, you must know where you are going.

When setting your goals, you must know exactly what it is that you want. Get a clear picture of it in your mind. If it's a new job, picture yourself in that job. If it's more money, visualize that monthly bank statement. Imagine what you will feel like when you reach whatever it is you are striving for. Write it down, like you would write down the address of a house you are visiting for the first time.

2. Directions

If this is a destination you've been to before, you don't need directions. It's automatic, like tying your shoes or chewing your food. But what if it's somewhere you've never been before? How do you get there?

You ask. You ask someone who's been there before. You pull out a map. You check the Internet. The directions may not be perfect, and often they aren't. "It's either the second or third light, I can't remember which," is something often heard when getting driving directions. But you get the best directions you can.

Goal setting is the same. You get in touch with others who already have what you want. You read books, you listen to tapes, you attend seminars, or you hire a “results coach”. You get as much information as possible that will assist you in reaching your goal.

3. Tracking Your Progress

You know where you are going and you've got your directions, so now it's time to take some action! You hop in the car and you're off!

But wait! It wasn't the second or third light, it was the fourth! So what do you do when you realize you are off course? You check your map, you pull into the nearest gas station, or you make a phone call. You try to get back on track. But you don't give up! You don't turn around at the first closed road and go back home, saying "I didn't really want to get there anyway." If this were to happen, you'd never get anywhere you hadn't been before, and your life would be pretty limited. Even if you have to head all the way back home, you start again. Eventually, you get to that destination, and isn't it even more exciting when you get there after a difficult journey!

You may get sidetracked on your journey. If you get hungry, you stop for a bite. If you need to use the restroom, you stop to take care of that. But do you stay stopped? Do you sit in the restroom all day, wondering why you aren't where you want to be? No, you do what you need to do and continue on.

Don't quit on your goals, either. There may be setbacks, dead ends, even car accidents. But don't forget that you'll never get there if you don't keep taking action and moving towards your destination. When that prospect says no, it's not a failure; it's another mile under your belt. When nothing seems to happen for a long period of time, you're just getting closer to that next landmark. If you're not sure what to do next, don't be too embarrassed to stop and ask for those directions!

Business Strategy Coach - 7 Effective Ways to Set Your Goals In Motion Today

The 7 effective ways to set your goals in motion today:

1. Stop seeking approval from people.

You don’t need anyone’s permission to fulfill your dream. Trust yourself and give yourself permission to succeed. Having support from people whose opinion you value is a wonderful thing but it should not be the criterion for whether you begin acting on fulfilling your goals or not

If you really desire to turn your idea into reality, constantly floating it around and seeking the approval of people will waste your time and kill your dream. What will happen to your idea if you don’t get the approval of those whose permission you so desperately need? Nothing!

2. Don’t wait for perfection.

Waiting for a time when everything is perfect and in place will cause you to lose your enthusiasm and abandon your goal. Conditions may never be as perfect as you desire. You may never have all the money, time, or knowledge you desire to begin working on your goals.

You must take risks, learn and improve as you go along and then watch as everything begins to fall in place. If you have to wait for the perfect time to begin working on your goals you will be waiting a long time!

3. Create time for the goal.

Many people have dreams, ideas or goals, which remain unfulfilled because they are too busy doing everything else but work on the goal! If you have a goal to accomplish, you must be ready to invest your time, and resources to ensure that it succeeds.

Making excuses about lacking the time to work on goals that are important to you is a procrastination tactic, which will kill your dream before it has a chance to see the light of day. There is always time to work on what we love and consider important. Create that time and see your dreams begin to unfold!

4. Decide once and for all!

The process of goal accomplishment, like most things in life begins with a decision. You decide what you want to achieve and then you plan how you intend to achieve it.

If accomplishing your goal is important to you, your inability to make crucial decisions about what you should do, how you should do it and when you should do it, will waste your time and choke your dream. Make up your mind and stop second-guessing yourself. When your mind is made up nothing can stop you from making progress with fulfilling your goals.

5. Be bold and take the initiative.

Be bold! You are the one in charge of turning your dreams to reality. You need to be proactive and actively involved in the process of working on your goals to ensure you achieve them.

Just because you have shared your ideas with others does not necessarily mean that you are no longer responsible for turning them to reality. Don’t sit around waiting for others to make suggestions and guide your idea to reality. Don’t leave your dream entirely in the hands of others. Nobody cares about your dream like you do.

6. Invest in your dream.

No idea is self-funding. Don’t be deceived into thinking that people will invest or finance your idea just because it is brilliant. If you are lucky, someone may invest in it, but if you are not, you will have to invest your time, energy and finances towards activities that will fortify and fulfill your dream.

You may have to invest in the acquisition of knowledge or expertise that will help you achieve your goals. It would be a good idea to keep some money stashed away to finance your goal.

7. Do one thing at a time.

Commit yourself only to projects and activities which are connected to your main goal. Whatever you do should directly or indirectly add up to a move toward your main goal. Failure to do this will confuse, overwhelm, sidetrack, and drain your energy.

To get started on achieving your goals, you need to plan for it and make it a priority. If you keep crowding and cluttering your life with what does not matter, you many never, ever accomplish your goals.

Remember that you can’t do all things, but you can do one thing!