Simpleology Blog

Good Advice. Sports apparel giant Nike offers wise words for achieving your goals: "Just do it."

What is the magic of goal setting?

Is it simply writing down what you want and waiting for your goal to somehow magically come into being? Some self-proclaimed gurus would have you believe that's all there is to it. But there are countless examples of people who write down New Year's resolutions to lose weight or quit drinking who are back to their bad habits by January 15th.

So how about writing down your goal, and then breaking it into "mini goals"? Is that where the magic happens?

While breaking down big tasks into manageable ones certainly helps, it's probably not the only answer. There are many people who plan, plan, and plan but don't accomplish anything.

Or is goal setting magic not having a goal at all, but simply working hard your whole life? Well, there are those who work hard and put in long hours to build a fortune. Yet, there are others who work just as hard but still end up broke. Hmmm...

So if there is indeed a "magic" to setting and achieving our goals, what is it exactly?

Actually, it takes a combination of all the moves I just mentioned to make things happen.

Look at it this way...

Without the main goal, we have no direction. If we don't write down a main goal, efforts become scattered. It's like looking at a map to decide where you want to go and choosing all of the locations at the same time. It's simply easier to stay home.

Without breaking it down into mini-goals (I call these steps), we have no strategy. If we don't set mini goals we never learn how to achieve the main goal. Suppose your goal was to build a storage shed, but you don't plan your steps. Instead, you go to the store and buy all the wood for the shed--no tools, no nails, no foundation materials and no blueprints. What kind of storage shed can you expect from this? I wouldn't store my lawnmower in your shed if this was your plan.

Without work, we have no momentum. If we don't work we become like a Corvette without an engine. We have all the potential speed in the world. But without an engine or work, we go nowhere.

We need all three to get what we want.

Now, I have an exercise for you:

1. Write down your main goal or what you want in life.

2. Then, write down 10 steps that if you took them starting today would eventually lead to the achievement of your goals.

3. Start one of the steps today.

Don't be like the Corvette with the souped up GPS maps but no engine. Unleash all cylinders and race smart through each of the necessary steps.

Brad Isaac is a CIO and writes about goal setting at Persistence Unlimited.

Suggested Resource: Start the year right by signing up for Simpleology 101: The Simple Science of Getting What You Want. The Daily Time Praxis, which is one of the life-changing tools of the course, will help you pace yourself as you work to achieve your goals for 2009.