For years goal setting has been a primary focal point for both individuals and organizations alike.  In both arenas, targets have been set, dreams have been developed, and ideas have been inspired.  Why is it that so many people have so much talent and yet, they seem to fall short of their goals, their dreams, and their desires? 

As a very successful salesman in the Auto industry, I found often times that I knew exactly what to do but I could never seem to get myself to follow through.  Or at least, follow through consistently.  I used to constantly be asking myself this one question over and over again, “Why don’t I just do X?”  The lack of understanding in the area of human influence is what I believe to be one of our greatest failures as educators.  While we are incredibly focused on what we have to DO in order to achieve our goals, most of us tend to forget that there are multiple things we already know we can do and yet, we still do not do them. 

Psychology has taught us that while we are so busy DOING things and trying to figure out what to do in order to achieve more, it’s WHO we are BEING that will ultimately determine our accomplishments.  What we do and how we behave or react is all based on WHO we are as individuals.  In other words, WHO we are BEING.  WHO we are being will determine what we DO and therefore achieve.  If we are to look out into the future and dream about accomplishments not yet achieved, we need to begin to understand the psychology we will need in order to achieve those results.  While the simple act of setting goals and having a clear picture or understanding of where you want to go is vital to future growth and success, it’s only a small part of what is necessary in order for us move in that direction.  As human beings, we must feel compelled to take action consistently.  The question then becomes, now that I know what I want to accomplish, what will compel me to take the consistent actions that are necessary to get there? 

Over the last 14 years, our organization has studied human influence and what really drives behavior.  In addition, what truly creates results for individuals and organizations alike?  Throughout this time, we have developed many processes for helping people to get more out of themselves than they ever did before.  When we focused on Goal Setting, we created one of the most extraordinary processes for assisting individuals in the advancement of their ideas and dreams.  The process is called a “Priority Pyramid”.  This process focuses more on the psychology that an individual MUST adopt in order to get what they want.  Simply having a goal is like getting in your car and driving off with an ultimate destination in mind but no road map to help you find your way. 

While most Goal Setting focuses on the End Result, it doesn’t focus on the Ultimate Outcome.  The End Result gets you to the next marker, but it doesn’t give you an Ultimate Direction (Outcome & Purpose).  By focusing on the psychology of achievement, you can get a clear understanding of what specific changes you will personally need to make in order to achieve more of what you want.

UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS:

In order to truly achieve extraordinary results in life and in business, we need to understand that goals are nothing more than markers along the highway of life.  If we are to produce greater results at an incredibly fast pace, we need to start focusing on why we wish to achieve all of our goals.  We call this the Ultimate Outcome or Purpose. 

1.  Focusing on the Outcome and Purpose of your life or your business is most important because it gives us the end result.     In other words, why do I want to achieve all of these goals?  If you don’t have an end result in mind, then how do you know the direction you’re heading in when setting your goals, is the direction you want to go in ultimately.  If you don’t know where you are going, you really don’t know what direction you need be heading or whether your efforts are getting you closer to what you want of having any type of impact at all.

2.  Once we are clear on what our Outcome and Purpose are, we need to clarify what the identity would be of the person that would actually live their life at that level.  Identity is how we see ourselves.  Who we believe we are and what we believe we are worth in any given moment.  Virtually every single person we have worked with over the last quarter century has discovered they define themselves very differently now, than the person they would need to see themselves as, in order to achieve the results they desire.

3.  Values are the ultimate motivators in human psychology and they determine what is MOST important in life to each of us.  What is most important tends to be at the center of our entire decision making, at least at the unconscious level.  When we understand what someone’s highest values are, we can predict their behavior in virtually any situation.  Values would be the equivalent to the programming of a computer.  If you understand the programs, you know how it will respond every time.  We need to determine if the values and the way in which we define them currently will support us in the attainment of our future endeavors.  If not, then we need to redefine our highest values and maybe even change the hierarchy itself.

4.  Rules are the psychological criteria each of us has set up which determines how we meet our needs (values).  In other words, “What has to happen in order for you to feel X?”  By asking this question, we get a clear picture of what has to happen in order for someone to meet their own needs.  Most people have conditioned themselves in a way that makes it extremely difficult to meet their own needs and incredibly easy for them to experience negative emotions.  Once we have identified the values someone MUST have in order to achieve the life they desire, they will need to make certain their rules for meeting those needs will also support them.  In most cases, they do not and therefore need to be restructured.

5.  Standards are next in line to resolve.  Our standards determine what we will accept of ourselves and what we are willing to settle for.  They determine what we will do and what we will not do.  Often times the difference in whether someone achieves their dreams or works all of their life and turns out to be mediocre is the difference in their personal standards.  The quality of someone’s life and the amount of success they achieve in business is a mirror reflection of the personal standards they either hold themselves too, or have been willing to settle for.  Will the current standards a person has for themselves allow them to achieve their dreams?  If not, then they must change them.

6.  Short-Term Goals are the next area to focus on.  As a person living with the above as their Ultimate Outcome and their Ultimate Purpose and who sees themselves with this new identity and who hold these as their highest values and meets their values (needs) with these as their rules and holds themselves to these types of standards; what would some of their short-term goals be?  Short-term goals can be defined however you would like.  In this case, we are referring to the next 3 -6 months.

7.  Long-Term Goals are the final area of focus.  What kinds of goals would the person listed above have for themselves?

Please take note that the goals are the last part of the process because they are the least important of the process.  You have to know where you are going before you make plans on where you are going to stop and visit along the way.  This workshop will provide you and your team with the road map they will need to succeed at a higher level. 

This process guarantees to be one of the most profound goal setting sessions you will ever experience.  From this session, you will gain more insight, more clarity, and more leverage to take action than through any other goal setting process you’ve ever been through.  The results promise to be amazing!!!