“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.” – Andrew Carnegie
As we get ready for 2020, goal setting is one of the most important things you can choose to do. It takes a few hours, yet most people will begin the new year without goals and a clear plan.
Stephen Covey states: “One must start with the end in mind.” Goal setting is the perfect way to begin to envision your desired outcome or target. Committing to your goals ensures you will have a year filled with growth, insights, and learning. Most importantly, it set you up to live life by your design rather than by default.
Over the past 16 years, my commitment has been to create each new year with clarity of vision. For me, that means my goal and plan must be completed by December 31st.
Enjoy the video as I walk you through my simple process for vision casting and goal setting. I trust you will be inspired to step into 2020 with clear goals and laser focus.
Below are five steps for goal setting as you prepare for 2020:
1- Sit in gratitude and take some time to celebrate your success.
Progress is only possible when you are clear on where you are starting. So before launching into writing your goals for 2020, take a moment and review 2019.
- What success did you have this year? Celebrate your success and take a moment to appreciate what you had to learn and overcome to achieve each success.
- What are you grateful for? Often when we sit in gratitude, we recognize and appreciate the smaller success. Those small, stepping stones or events that contributed to the larger success.
- How have you grown and what event or learning created that growth?
- Finally, take a moment and review any challenges you might have faced. What growth will be required to move you forward in 2020? Now that you are clear on where you are ending the year you are ready to plan 2020.
2- Cast a vision for 2020.
It’s time to begin with the end in mind. Find your favorite quiet spot, close your eyes and allow your mind to wander. Imagine it’s December 2020. Take a moment to visualize what you have accomplished and how it has impacted your life. These questions may assist you with your vision.
- What have I accomplished?
- What exciting things have I done?
- Where have I traveled to?
- How have I contributed to family, friends and community?
- Who have I become?
- What have I learned?
- What relationships have I invested in?
- What have I done for fun?
- What am I known for?
- What am I most proud of?
As you visualize the response to each of these questions, pay special attention to how you feel, your energy and the colors, smells and sounds you see and hear. Let your mind create with no limits. Enjoy!
3- Make a list of 100 goals.
Now that you have cast a vision worthy of your life it’s time to write your goals. I recommend writing one hundred goals. One hundred goals may seem daunting, however once you begin writing you will enjoy the task. I like to write ten goals in ten distinct areas of my life. Most often the ten goals I write in each section make up the stepping stones for a major target for each section. Below are the areas I most often select for my goal setting:
- Health and wellness
- Business or Employment
- Financial
- Relationships
- Spiritual
- Travel and recreation
- Personal
- Education and training
- Contribution
- Fun
4- Ensure your goals are specific and measurable.
Once you have written your goals, review them and ensure they are specific and measurable. Each goal must have a date you would like it completed and a measurement that clearly defines what a completed goal would look like. If your goal is to work out, a specific and measurable goal would read, “I work out 5 mornings per week at 7:30 am for 30 minutes.”
5- Develop an action plan for your main target in each section.
Remember if you fail to plan you plan to fail. Now that your goals are clearly defined, review your ten goals in each section and begin to develop an action plan. It is said that a goal without a clear plan is just a dream. I like to create four 90-day action plans each year. I then break my 90-day action plan in to a 30-day and weekly plan. My weekly plan is then brought to life by a clear daily action plan.
As you step into 2020, remember the wisdom of Napoleon Hill.
“Your mind would not fathom something unless it was possible.”