As the first article in our newly relaunched Development Zone, in association with Fidelity Adviser Solutions, Tony Fields, The Katalyst Coach, examines why we struggle to meet the goals we set ourselves, if we properly set them, and how we can take action to renew our focus and direction to achieve our personal and career goals.
When was the last time that you took a step back and looked at where are you heading? This sounds like such an obvious question, but you wouldn’t dream of jumping in a taxi and when the driver asks you for your destination, you say “take me anywhere you like”? Yet this is what so many of us do with our professional and personal lives.
It is estimated that only 3% of people have written down goals and a concrete plan to attain them. Why is it important to write down goals? Well, this is when things change from a mere wish (think New Year’s resolution) to a goal that you are committed to achieving.
Neuroscience can help explain the importance of writing down your goals if you actually want to achieve them. People who vividly describe or picture their goals are anywhere from 1.2 to 1.4 times more likely to successfully accomplish them than those who don’t.
Let’s consider why this makes such a big difference. Mark Murphy (CEO of Leadership IQ) explained in a Forbes article*, what happens on two different levels when we write down our goals. He discusses external storage and encoding, which I’ll summarise.
You could think of external storage as a bit like having a shopping list when you are doing your weekly food shopping. The fact that you have the information to hand, will give you a better chance of ticking off what you need to get. When going around the shopping aisles you will refer to the shopping list regularly.
Similarly, when you write down your goals, it is important not to lock them in a desk draw never to be seen again. But rather you need to have these goals readily available, and to revisit them often.
Encoding is essentially the process of storing information in our brain. Writing improves that encoding process. In other words, when we write down our goals, we have a much greater chance of remembering them and acting on them.
If we take this a step further. Maxwell Maltz the author behind the International Best Seller Psycho-Cybernetics, spoke about the human brain being engineered for success. You could liken this to a torpedo. A torpedo when it sets off has a clear target. When our brain has a clear target/goal, then it will look at what is needed to reach that target/accomplish the goal.
Taking action
If you haven’t taken a step back for some time, why don’t you spend 30 minutes this week considering your professional and personal goals?
Do this first thing in the day if you can before you have any distractions. If you do this exercise, it is very easy to identify what matters to you, rule out the things that are not a priority, and to set limitations on what is possible.
Don’t think about what might hold you back from achieving these goals; I will be discussing that in a future article. For now, just focus on what you want, what you would love to achieve, and what would give you an immense sense of pride?
Like many people, I have set myself goals along the way, but can I honestly say they were always written down? Not all the time. Also, when I did set goals, I used to find myself putting pressure on myself to achieve them. I have learnt over the past two years that this is counterproductive.
In the classic book Think and Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill) talks about the importance of having strong goals, or what he refers to as a ‘burning desire’. Napoleon Hill studied for 25 years the 500 most influential individuals globally. He included within this book the characteristics that all these individuals had in common. He then set out a six-step process for setting and accomplishing goals.
I have produced a free resource for those who don’t want to put this off any longer. For those who want to get things back on track, and to have renewed focus and direction. This includes the six-step process, which Napoleon Hill talks about. You can access this free download HERE.
Also, I have been invited to speak on 3 May at a Professional Paraplanner webinar focussed on goal setting. This will form one session of a 4-part series, to help those who want to make positive changes professionally and personally. You can register for the event HERE.
