“Without goals, and plans to reach them you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.”
Fitzhugh Dodson
The first step to goal excellence using the
s
martest Goal Formula ™ is to write a sentence or two that summarises your goal in specific terms.This is the first S. in the S.m.a.r.t.e.s.t. acronym.
Your goal needs to be SPECIFIC.
Think of it as the few words you will say to a friend or colleague at the coffee
machine or the water cooler in order that they very quickly understand what it is you want to achieve.
You should be able to do this relatively easily as in reality you are always explaining to people what it is that you want. However your aim here is to summarise your goal in as precise and specific a way as possible.
31 1. Always begin the summary of your goal with the words 'I AM'
Saying 'I am' is the first step to creating thoughts which eventually will become things.
The words 'I am ' are tremendously powerful and will be eventually taken by your subconscious mind to be true.
2. Always write your goal in the PRESENT TENSE.
State your goal as if it is happening right now.
When you phrase it in the future tense, as many people mistakenly do, you distance yourself from the goal. Saying 'I will work' is a lot less powerful than saying 'I am working'.
3. Always state your goal in POSITIVE TERMS
You must state your goal in terms of what you want, not what you don't want.
When you state what it is that you want this is what you focus on, and, providing that you take the necessary action, this is what you will bring into your life.
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By contrast when your goal is stated in terms of what it is that you do not want, you only bring more of that into your life too. Why? Because that is where your mind is focussed.
For example, if someone says “Don't think about the state of the economy”, the only way you can not think about it is of course to think about it! You have to focus on it first, so that you can then, not focus on it.
For this reason it is essential that your goal affirmation is always phrased in positive terms.
This is a simple but vital shift in phraseology but it makes all the difference in the world between achieving your goals and failing to achieve your goals.
Here are some examples of the type of negative goal affirmations you must avoid:
“I am no longer overweight...”
“I am no longer a smoker...”
“I don't get nervous giving presentations...”
“I don't work for company x any longer...”
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“I am weighing x kilos and fit into size X clothing”
“I am feeling really healthy. I eat a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and I go to the gym three times a week.”
“I am feeling confidant when I give presentations to my work colleagues and customers”
“I am working in 'X'- the top advertising agency in Manhattan.”
4. Make your goal affirmation as SPECIFIC as possible.
The majority of people have vague goals and as a result never achieve them. Instead your goal must be specific, that is - clear, tangible and measurable.
The way to make your goal affirmation specific is to define it in sensory specific language.
This means defining what you want in terms of what you will see, hear and feel. In this way your goal will become much more detailed and clear.
Include specifics such as who, what, where...
Where possible include numeric indicators such as amounts . For e.g. how much
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Here are some examples of vague goal affirmations:
I want to be rich
I want to be slim
I want to live in a big house.
Here are some examples of specific goal affirmations:
“I am earning $100,000 a year as CEO of my new toy business”
“I am weighing X kilos and fitting into size X clothes...”
“I am living in my brand new, 3 bedroomed apartment in Greenwich Village in New York.”
Clearly the more specific the detail, the better your goal statement.
When your goal is a big goal...
Sometimes your goal may be large and difficult to define. If that is the case, I suggest you ask yourself “What is stopping me achieving this goal”. This will reveal a number of sub goals to you which in turn will help you make your goals much more specific.
For e.g. You say 'I want to lose weight.' ( that's a vague, unclear, negatively stated goal. )
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Now ask yourself “What stops me?”
You may answer:
I don't do any exercise...
I don't know how to cook healthy food...
I don't have anyone to encourage me...
Now all you need to do is ask yourself “What do I want instead?”
When you answer this question in relation to each of the above obstacles you can then easily create positive relevant goals. For example:
Rather than “I don't do any exercise...” your goal might now be:
“I am walking four days a week for thirty minutes.”
Rather than “I don't know how to cook healthy food...” your goal might now be:
“I am cooking one healthy meal everyday from my new list of twenty healthy recipes”.
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might be:
“I visit weight watchers once a week and I enjoy the company of my positive and supportive new friends.”
You could put this altogether and say:
“I walk four days a week for 30 minutes, cook one healthy meal a day and belong to Weight watchers”.
Remember in life nothing ever happens in general. Everything happens specifically. The same is true about goals.
5. Think about the CONTEXT for your goal.
It's important that you think about 'where' and 'when' and 'with whom' you want your goal. Sometimes it is necessary to establish boundaries.
For example, you may have a goal to 'feel strong and assertive'. But your goal may not be to 'feel strong and assertive while you are at home , or with your friends.
You may want to feel that feeling only when you are at work with your boss. If that is the case then write that down as part of your goal sentence or ‘affirmation’ as it is often called.
37 6. Your goal must be highly MOTIVATING to you
Once you have summarised your goal ask yourself on a scale of one to ten how would you score how much you want this goal. The higher the score, the more likely you are to do whatever it takes to achieve it.
If your goal scores below 7 you may want to revise it completely. Ask yourself ‘ how could I summarise this goal in a way that I would score it a nine or ten’. Ten of course always being preferable.
7. Your goal affirmation should have a DEADLINE.
It is always helpful to include the date by which you will have achieved your goal in your goal affirmation. We will talk about this in more detail later.
“I am walking four days a week for thirty minutes by Dec 31st
“I am living in my brand new, 3 bedroomed apartment in Greenwich Village in New York by Dec 31st 2015.”
(Adding a date is also the first 'T' in the Smartest Goals Formula™ . As so many of you already know this, I am mentioning this in step one).
8. Add a phrase to the end of your goal affirmation that connects you to the wider world and removes the focus away from your ego!
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To do this life coach Michael Neill suggests you add one of the following phrases to your goal:
“...as a part of my wonderful life.”
“...and enjoy the process.”
“...for myself and others.”
“...for the highest good of all concerned.”
“...as a natural consequence of living my highest values.”
So for e.g.:
“I am earning $100,000 a year by Dec 31st 2012 as a part of my wonderful life.”
“I am weighing X kilos and fitting into size X clothes by April 2011 and enjoying the process.”
“I am running an evening class on meditation once a week by Sept 2011 for myself and others.”
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This guideline is optional. Many people however report that it makes all the difference in the world to them
When you bear these eight guidelines in mind you will easily create a terrific
summary of your goal and will be ready for step two of the Smartest goal formula™
Example - Wendy's 'weight loss' goal.
Wendy is forty two years of age. She wants to lose weight but has found it difficult. I am going to show you how she created an effective goal plan for herself using the Smartest Goals Formula™
She's been telling herself that she wants to lose weight for quite some time. It's not difficult to understand if that's what she's been saying why it hasn't happened for her.
Now though, things are different. She has created a Smart goal summary for herself. It's this.
“I am weighing 140lbs. I am wearing size 12 clothes. I am feeling healthy and I think I look fantastic.”
We will follow Wendy as she works through all the steps of the Smartest Goals Formula.
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Now select one of YOUR goals. In order to create a goal affirmation for your goal, write down a sentence or two that summarises it in specific terms.
Make sure you include the following criteria : starts with 'I ', is in the present tense, is positive, specific, in context and motivating
Think of ‘the who’... ‘the how’... ’the what’... ’the where’... ‘the with whom’...and ‘the when’.)
Review all of the goal statement criteria above to help you.
Eg I am (the who) happily playing 15 minutes (the how) on the piano (the what) at home (the where) four times a week by February 30th(the when).
Excellent! Once you have done this you have now completed the first step of the Smartest Goals Formula™
Your goals is now:
Specific
Tip
It's quite ok to just do your best here. Move on to step 2 of the formula. It will considerable refine your thinking. You can then come back and add to or revise your goal affirmation.
I often start with the next step, the ‘M’ of Smartest Goals and then do the ‘S’ as the second and not the first step. This is always fine too.
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