Begin with the end in mind

Setting goals, writing affirmation statements business plans, SWOT analysis etc are areas in our personal and business life that many of us tend to overlook or put aside. I believe that if you want to live a life where you achieve just about everything you set your mind to then there is a lot of power in writing these down and then getting people who you trust around you to hold you accountable.

How or where do you start? Well if i asked you to write down at least 4 things you truly desire in your personal and business life what would they be? Write these down and then picture yourself achieving them. Make sure the picture is vivid and real. The ability to visualise your achievements is crucial because at an unconscious level you make this real, you can feel it and you energise and focus yourself to achieve what it is you want.

Creating an action plan of how you will achieve these goals is the next step. Make sure you consider what may get in the way, how you will overcome roadblocks, how will you deal with people who don’t believe in you, have you got the strength to cut out negative people from your life and be completely single minded about what you want to achieve.

I write my goals down, place them on the shower wall and share them with people who I trust to hold me accountable.

Have time frames in place to achieve your goals by and when and as necessary tweak them.

Goals should be
Specific – you know exactly what it is that you want and your language should reflect this.
Measureable – you must be able to measure the progress towards achieving your goals
Achievable – you must be able to achieve your goal, even if it may be a stretch, taking into account your circumstances at the time
Realistic- take into account your current skill sets, resources you have access to and how these will impact on the outcome
Timely – you must set a time frame in which you want to achieve your goals by or it could take a lifetime

Remember you own your goals, they must be yours, the desire to achieve them must burn in you. I find that many of my goals align to my values around family, friends, career, relationships, health and fitness, spiritual and community as well as what I call me time.

Dr Stephen Covey say’s begin with the end in mind and I think that many of us from time to time forget this valuable lesson when writing our goals or business plans and we focus on the immediate or very short term.

Part of my affirmation statement is about my personal legend. What will I be remembered for when I am no longer on this planet? That is starting with the end in mind and a lot of my actions and goals to date align with this.