How Winners set goals

“The setting of goals is the fuel in the furnace of achievement and success” – BRIAN TRACEY

Did you know that less than 10% of people have clear goals written down? It is no surprise that these top 10% of performers have a greater earning ability and are able to increase their earnings year on year.

There are two types of people, those in control of their future and those people who just go through life thinking that life keeps happening to them. I would say the split of these people would be the same 10% vs. 90%.

If you don’t have clearly defined goals, neither do most people and the last time we checked there wasn’t a class at school teaching you how to set goals and more importantly, achieve them.

There are many myths around goal setting. We find one of the biggest myths is that people tell us they have goals, however they aren’t written down. If your goals aren’t written down they are wishes and even a poor man on the street wishes to be rich. We have thousands of thoughts running through our minds every minute. How can they be clear and defined if they’re mixed up with our every day thoughts?

People also tell us they don’t need goals or that they make them up day to day, as they go – wrong, this is not goal setting and will not help you get ahead!

One common response when discussing goals is that life is unpredictable and things change so there is no point. Yes, we agree life can be unpredictable, however we prefer to try and control the controllable’s.

To set your goals you need to start with the long view, your destination. Lets start with quantifying what we want to have and what we want to be doing in 10 years. I will run through a goal setting exercise, keeping S.M.A.R.T in mind. S.M.A.R.T is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.

Example: In 10 years I will have 10 investment properties and to be running my own business. I want to be able to put my children in private school and want the option to not ”have” to work.

We now halve the time frame and work out where we need to be in 5 years, to be on track to be where we need to be in 10 years.

Example: In 5 years I will have 3 investment properties, as it’s easier to leverage equity to get the balance of the 7 in the remaining 5 years.

I will have needed to complete some courses and either set up a business or started my business plan.

We then reduce the time frame to 2 years. Where do I need to be in 2 years, so I am on target to hit my 5-year goals?

Example: In 2 years I must have bought my first investment property, be reading at least a book a month and be earning over $200,000 a year for investment purposes.

We now look to 1 year from now. Where do I need to be in 1 year, so I am on track to be where I must be in 2 years?

Example: In 1 year I will be developing my skills regularly. I will have saved $50,000 for a deposit on a house and be a top performer in my job opening the doors to promotion and increased earnings.

And the same goes for 6 months, then 3 & 1, all the way to this week and finally TODAY. What do you need to achieve today to get where you want to be in 6 months, so that you’re on target to hit your 1 and 2 year goals and smash yours 5 year goals and finally end up with 10 investment property’s and your own business and children in private school.

Obviously this is an example only, we all have different goals.

If you already have your own business, this the exercise works great with setting your companies future goals.

You need to know where you sit currently, where you want to go and then how you are going to get there – but do it by working backwards.

When you have clear and defined goals, you have your ‘WHY’ sorted. And your ‘WHY’ is what you go back to if you’re having a bad day.

Having a clear ‘WHY’ will help you bounce out of bed to take on the NO’s we hear each day. The why will help you become the top 10%.

If you do the same thing, you’ll get the same results.
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll have what you’ve always had.
Remember, you can be flexible with your goals. Things can change and so can your goals, but think of goals as sign posts showing you the way between two cities or your favourite holiday spot. They tell you to turn left and right, they let you know how much further you must drive. During your drive you can of course choose a different destination. If you CHOOSE not to have goals, it is like getting in your car and randomly driving around and hoping that you end up in a nice place.