Goals Don’t Make You Successful
Just because you have bigger goals than me doesn’t mean you will have more success than me. Why? Because goals don’t make you successful. To be successful you must achieve your goals.
This is what separates dreamers from achievers. Dreamers go to bed each night thinking about their goals. On the other hand, achievers go to bed each night thinking about processes to make progress.
Progress is the only path to achieve a goal. You can’t just write a goal down and forget about it or think you can just manifest it into existence. Setting goals without putting any thought into how to make progress towards accomplishing that goal is a recipe for failure. Therefore, goal planning is better than goal setting.
So, instead of planning to fail by failing to plan, use this three-step plan to make progress towards any goal you want to achieve.
1. Split Your Goal into Three Parts
Every time you set a goal, the first thing you want to do is split the goal into three parts. First, there is the outcome part of the goal. This is the part you want to achieve at the end.
Second, there is the performance part of the goal. This is the part that defines how you will measure and track the skill level you must reach to achieve the outcome you want.
Third and finally, there is the process part of your goal. This is the daily / weekly tasks you must complete to execute the process of making progress.
2. Plan Out Your Process and Performance Progression
A progression is the process of moving gradually towards a more advanced state. You don’t just go from the couch to running a marathon. You must learn to walk before you run, then you must run a mile before you run 5 miles, etc.
To break a goal down into a progression, focus on the processes of making progress. This thought pattern should break down the anatomy of the progression into three characteristics:
- Repeatable: The goal progression must center around a routine you can either do daily, weekly, or something in between
- Measurable: The goal progression must be one that you can measure and track the performance of a skill with precise numbers that lead to a visual representation of progress over time.
- Systematic: The goal progression must intertwine with an overall system of proven processes that create synergy (running three days a week + doing squats and lunges twice a week + 2 days of rest = process synergy).
3. Empower an Accountability Partner
If you are like most people, it’s difficult to hold yourself accountable to those things that don’t come naturally. So, when you make a promise to yourself and break it, no tears are shed and no sirens sound. Deadlines come and go like the wind.
This is the biggest reason why people quit after step 2. A goal is set, plans are made to make progress, then that’s the end. The fact is, when you are in pursuit of a goal empowering an accountability partner to kick you in the ass when you fall short of your progress milestones is a game changer.
Unfortunately, most youth and young adults are held accountable so often they learn to despise others holding them accountable as they get older. This is the sad, but hard truth. Everyone knows that the best way to get a child to learn discipline is to hold them accountable. However, it’s easy to ignore this truth when it comes to yourself.
For most, accountability is nothing short of criticism or shaming, even when done with gentle and loving intent. Viewing accountability with this mindset is a mistake.
To that end, I am the guy to do this for you. Together we will:
- Define your goals and split them into outcome, performance, and process goals.
- Develop a realistic plan for progress using process and performance progressions.
- Most importantly, hold you accountable to that plan with daily check-ins and weekly accountability calls.
For more information or to learn how to get started today, contact me here.