Monday, December 10, 2012

Setting Effective Goals #3 - Focus Pocus!

From MotiveWeight.blogspot.ie

So far, you’ve captured your goals in writing, and committed to them publicly by sharing them with some appropriate people. But wait a minute - isn’t this what happens every year with New Year’s Resolutions? So why do so many people fail to meet those goals? Hmm, maybe we should cover a few more posts before January!
 
 
In the next post I’ll introduce you to my SMARTSS concept, but before that, you need to ensure your goals are focused. If you are trying to achieve too many things, you’re not going to make as much progress.
 
Go back to your goals list and filter it through these 4 questions:
 
  • What could I do to achieve this aim? 
    (all the crazy possibilities and ideas are listed here)
  • What can I do to achieve this aim?
    (out of the “could” list, what things do you have the time, money, expertise, support, ability to do? This will narrow the list a bit)
  • What should I do? 
    (which ideas on the “can” list make the most sense for your goals? Boil it down to a couple of options)
  • What will I do? 
    (make your final choice on what to plug into your goals and action list)
This is a powerful process of focusing your limited physical and mental energy on the right things for your goals. I’ll include a worked example of this in my free worksheet at the end of the series.
 
Want more? Scott Young (who completed a 4 year MIT course in only 1 year!) is a great example of how focus is a huge part of achieving your goals. In a great guest post on the Fluent in 3 Months website, he puts it this way: “Focus is a force multiplier for your effectiveness”.