If you struggle with goal-setting, you're not alone. I am committed to setting goals, yet I sometimes battle with the process. I have learned that when I dread some aspects of setting goals, it's usually because I am not doing it right. How can you ensure that you're doing your very best to grow? The answer may surprise you.
If you have struggled with goal setting in the past, it's very likely that you have suffered from one or all of the following: Your goals are too small, too disconnected, or too private to actually propel you to where you want to go. There's not enough why power behind them, and there's too little accountability from others to allow you to reach them. Unwilling to set yourself up for another year of disappointment, you hesitate in setting goals altogether.
This simple framework to follow can help you move toward setting goals that you'll be excited to review and track.
1. Plan big
What do you want? Now, take it one step further. What do you really want? Most people are afraid to say what they really want. Instead, they cut their dreams to fractions of themselves, and in the process, kill any desire they may have had to actually pursue them.
Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach suggests setting 10X goals. Rather than aspire to make incremental improvements, think in terms of achieving 10 times your current output. Seem impossible? It should. Setting big goals forces you to think very differently and reach outside yourself to enlist the help of others. You simply cannot do it alone. Small goals will not propel you with enough "why power" to make meaningful improvement.
2. Connect