Goal-Setting Methods That Work!

To reach your goals and dreams with purpose and intentionality, it is vital to take time to do annual goal-setting. Over the years, I have developed goal-setting methods that work for me that bring me results. Many of the techniques I use are adopted from what I’ve learned from Stephen R. Covey and Tony Robbins. Using both their methods together have worked really well and I’ve noticed significant results year over year.

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To help in the process I keep a journal. By sitting down and taking the time to think and write about my goals, I am able to ask myself deeper questions about what I really want to achieve and bring to my life.

The strategy I use works. Before I started setting goals, I had no real direction. Even though I felt happy and content in my life, I was also restless and knew there was more. Needless to say, once I realized that I wasn’t getting where I thought I would be at certain points in my life, I realized I needed to take some initiative. Stephen R. Covey’s book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” was one of the first catalysts to that change.

Strategy for goal-setting methods that work

First, I start with listing my key life areas. Stephen R. Covey describes in “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” that we all have certain roles in our life (i.e.: spouse/partner, parent, professional, etc.). Similar to roles, I use key areas in my life. Some life area examples are: personal/self, career, financial, physical & mental health, family, relationships, home, and travel.

For each of these areas, I then examine how I feel about what I accomplished in the previous year, where I feel I am going, and how I want to progress. From there I ask myself why do I want this? Tony Robbins calls this your emotional driver – the main reason why you want something that will keep you moving forward. By this time, I have a pretty good understanding of how I see my progression and the things I need to do to get there. At that point, I write out my goals (or outcomes) for each life area and then map out how I will reach them.

When I first read “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” I started living with intention. I thought about where I wanted to be in the future, started setting goals and started taking action steps to get there. When I look back to where I was back then and where I am now, I notice that I have been able to self-direct my life to get me to where I am now. There were some diversions and different paths along the way, it took longer than I wanted, but I reached some of my major goals. I also knew that once I reached a certain goal it would then be a transition point to another level and I continue to move and progress in the direction I want to go.

A few years ago, I also discovered Tony Robbin’s goal-setting method called the RPM method. RPM stands for results-focused, purpose, and MAP. Check out this video that gives an introduction to the RPM. RPM is now an important part of my goal-setting toolbox.

GOAL SETTING METHODS THAT WORK: THE STEPS

Step 1: Define your main life areas or roles

Before you delve into the goal-setting process it is important to define your major life areas or roles. This is something Steven Covey’s describes in his book. He says to define your main life roles and then design your goals and weekly plans according to these roles. I chose to name different areas of my life but you can do whatever makes the most sense to you. Roles would be things such as a partner, parent, professional, etc. Areas of life would be things such as career, personal, health, etc. My life areas are: career, self/personal, health (physical and mental health), relationships, financial, home, and travel.

Step 2: Recap and where are you now?

For each life area, recap the past year/s, determine where you currently are, how you got there, and how you want to move forward. This recap will help give you an idea of everything you accomplished in the past year, if you met your previous year’s goals, and how far along you are in reaching your goals. It really helps to determine what you really want and how you want to progress.

I also suggest taking some time with this and write it down journal style. The first time you do this may be rather extensive. You may also find yourself reflecting back several years to more deeply understand how you got to where you are now.

Step 3: Why do you want to reach these goals?

This is a very powerful step to the goal setting process that I learned from Tony Robbins. He calls this your emotional driver. It is the P (Purpose) in RPM. This step in really digging deep into why I want to achieve something has enhanced my motivation in achieving many of my goals. Basically, you ask yourself, “Why do I want to achieve this? Why is it important to me?” By answering honestly and finding out what the deeper reason is driving you toward wanting to accomplish something will help keep you going. It gives your goals and dreams purpose and meaning.

Step 4: List 2-3 Goals (or Outcomes)

As you review your recap and emotional drivers in each life focus area you should be able to determine the milestones or goals you are aiming for. Write down no more than 2-3 milestones or goals you want to achieve in each life area.

This is the R (results) in the RPM. Tony also calls these outcomes and he highly emphasizes the importance of having clear outcomes in mind. When producing goals, they should be SMART goals. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound. A good article about SMART goals can be accessed here.

Step 5: Set smaller milestones: how will you get there?

From there, identify some milestones that will help mark the way to each specified goal/outcome for each of your key life areas/roles. Milestones are used in project-management and refer to specific points of a project when specific goals have been completed. This Asana article clearly describes project milestones: https://asana.com/resources/project-milestones. These milestones should be big enough to keep your eye on the bigger picture but they are not your ultimate goal/outcome. Instead, they will help keep you on track and measure your progress.

Also, milestones are not to-do items. Actual action steps and tasks to reach your milestones and goals/outcomes come next. Another big help is once your goals/outcomes and milestones are determined, a personal timeline will help maintain that longer vision. If you want to see how I put my timeline together, see this post.

Step 6: List your action steps

Now it’s time to list all the action items to get you where you need to go. This will be an ongoing list. Tony Robbins refers to this as the MAP – Massive Action Plan. Here you will write down everything that you can think of, all the details – everything. The action steps are then items that will translate to your weekly and monthly planning.

Level UP

Here are a few extra things you can do that will greatly benefit and help you in the process.

Revisit and review (weekly, monthly, and 6-month):

Revisit your goals often to consistently monitor your progress. Each month, review your goals and milestones and set smaller goals to help move you along. Then, each week write out those smaller action steps you want to take that week. You can do this as a to-do list or on your calendar. You can also use an organization platform or app. There are many different ones out there. If you want more help in weekly planning, Stephen Covey explains why weekly planning is important and you can find his method here.

A 6-month review can be a bit more intensive (almost like your year goal process). The six-month review gives you a chance to see what you accomplished so far and to determine if you need to change course or revise any goals. It will also help determine if your initial goals are realistic and if you might need to add any new goals that may have arisen.

Allow for flexibility:

Remember to remain flexible. Other life things and opportunities will pop up that you had not planned and may set you off course or in a different direction. That’s okay. That’s why having a clear personal mission and vision and knowing your values is important because they will continue to guide you in your truest direction. It is also why reviewing your goals often are helpful.

Keep a journal:

I also suggest using a goal journal. It allows you to really get deep into what you really want, brainstorm, and free-write. Plus it is all in one place to refer back to. From there, it is easy to transfer the main points and action steps into other tracking lists for reference.

Again, here are the steps of my goal-setting methods that work:

Define and list your key life areas or roles.
Determine where you currently are and how you got there.
What are your why’s?
List 2-3 main goals/outcomes.
List some smaller milestones.
Write a big list of smaller action steps.

Revisit your goals often and consistently monitor your progress. The key is to do this process every year. Bi-annually as well.

Remember, your goal setting system should be unique for you. You can follow some or all of the suggestions I have made in this post.

If you haven’t already, visit my blog posts on creating a personal mission and vision and a personal 1-year and 5-year timeline.

Also, to go deeper in your own self-reflection practice, visit my self-reflection series here.

Sage