Chapter 5

GOAL SETTING

“View your goals simply as a list of tasks you will accomplish to realize your vision.”

You didn’t honestly think you were going to read a book about success and get away without having to focus on goal setting, did you? If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times, “If you want to be successful, you must have clearly defined goals”. In our society today, the word “goal” is loosely thrown about, and is consistently over-used, misused and misunderstood. It has almost as many different meanings as there are people on the planet. Goals are critical to great achievement, should be well defined and written, yet, when asked, most people will tell you they have not established any goals, or they have goals, but not in writing.

The first time someone asked me what my goals were (because I insisted I had some, just not written) myresponse went something like this, “Well …umm …uh…I …uh …well …I …umm …well …uh …I know whatI want.” Afterwards, I felt pretty embarrassed, but I gotthe message; I really didn’t know what I wanted, so Iwent to work on my goals right away. However, like most people, I didn’t have a good concept of what goals were, how to go about setting them, defining them, or how to achieve them. To me, the whole process was grueling, and for a number of years the mere mention of the word “goal” would send me running out of the room.

Keep it Simple

What I’ve learned is this: goal setting is easy once you understand the difference between a goal and a vision. Most people understand goals to be a list of wants, but as we discussed earlier, “wants” are what we use to create a clear vision. Your vision is what you want.  A goal is a task that, when completed, brings you closer to the realization of your vision (simply put – something you will do). Be careful not to confuse what you “can do” with what you “will do”. What you “can do” is an idea. What you “will do” is a goal.

A soccer coach who wants his team to become State Champions within three years has a vision for his team (to become State Champs). The coach must then, lay out a plan; a list of things to be done (goals to be achieved) that will support the fulfillment of his vision. For example:

In order to realize my vision I will:
1. Recruit and retain strong athletes
2. Increase player strength, speed and stamina
3. Increase player skill level
4. Strengthen team unity
5. Improve communication on the field
6. Develop effective defensive and offensive team
strategies

In this example, the coach has begun a list of goals.  Once the list is complete, the coach will need to make another list of tasks that support the achievement of each goal. For example:

Recruit and retain strong athletes
Attend other sports events to identify candidates for recruitment
Approach candidates to set meeting time to discuss their participation in soccer
Meet with candidates to share vision and outline benefits of participation
Support players’ needs both on and off the field
Introduce players to college coaches
Provide scholarship information
Take the team to see a Pro game

In this example the coach has generated a list of specific tasks to support the accomplishment of his first goal. That’s all there is to it. Goal setting is only as complicated as you make it. So remember to keep it simple.

Outline Your Success

Now it’s your turn to set some goals. View your goals simply as a list of tasks you will accomplish to realize your vision. Go back over your vision (chapter 3), then start by listing six main goals that will support the fulfillment of your vision. Ask yourself, “What does the realization of my vision depend on?” then list the top 6 answers:

1. ________________________________________

Next, write down three or four tasks you will accomplish to support the achievement of each goal. Ask yourself, “What does the achievement of this goal depend on?” When you finish this exercise, you will have an outline for success that will aid you in the development of your strategic plan (we will cover Strategic Planning a little later in the book). An outlining format I like to use is shown below. Any style will work; just remember to keep it simple.

Vision: (state your vision here)

Goals that will support the realization of my vision are:

1. Goal (first main goal here)
a) Task (necessary to achieve goal)
b) Task
c) Task
d) Task

3. Goal
a) Task
b) Task
c) Task
d) Task

George J. Morse
Email: george@coachmorse.com
http://www.coachmorse.com

All rights reserved, 2007, Success University | Copyright 2007 George J. Morse