Article
One: Setting your goals for 2006? by Gaynor Lowndes
2005 has passed with ferocious speed. In fact each year seems to pass more quickly (I wonder if that’s an age thing?). My writings this year focussed more on success; motivation and individual performance than in any other year. The recruitment industry gets more and more competitive with each passing year and to stay ahead of your competitors takes skill, knowledge of the market and of your competitors as well as persistence sweetened with a great deal of optimism.
One of the keys to achieving everything that you want to achieve out of your life is to set goals. I like to set my yearly goals for next year after I have reviewed my performance for the current year
A goal is something that you want to achieve, to have or to be. It’s something that directs your life journey. To quote Cherie Carter-Scott
“Goals and visions are first cousins. Visions describe how you see yourself in the big picture. They are generally characterised by the silent echo of someday. Goals on the other hand are tangible. They are dated, specific and measurable. Goals are statements of calculatable results to be achieved. If Success is a Game, These are the rules. ”
Here is an example:
Vision: to live by the water
Goal: To live on the river by 2004.
How to set Goals
When setting goals, make sure your goals are SMART goals. Ensure that they are:
S Specific – you are able to describe exactly what you want to achieve.
M Measurable – you will know when you have achieved your goal and can monitor the steps along the way.
A Attainable – you own the goal, it is something that you want to achieve and will. Have the attitude of “if it is to be, it is up to me”.
R Realistic – make sure it is possible to do, no unrealistic “pipe dreams”, these will only de-motivate you. That’s not to say that you can’t achieve everything you desire; but remember that you have to walk before you can run so set yourself achievable baby steps towards your heart’s desire.
T Time limit – when you do want to achieve the goal by? Set a date.
Review your goals every day. 5 minutes spent reading over them each day will ensure that they are absorbed into your subconscious. Each time you read them, see them as already achieved. Allow yourself to really “feel” how you would feel if you had already achieved the goal.
Guidelines for Goal Setting
Commit now to spending ten minutes each day for the next four days setting goals. Keep them in a hardback journal.
As you work on the goal setting exercises, constantly ask yourself, “What would I want for my life if I knew I could have it any way I wanted it? What would I do if I knew I couldn’t fail?” to
quote Anthony Robbins
Essential to goal achievement is visualising your goals – visualise how you FEEL having achieved the goal. Reality is whatever you focus on, you move toward – focus on where you want to go. Make your goals work for you.
Split your goals into four areas:
1. Work/Career
2. Financial
3. Social/Family
4. Spiritual/me
For each goal area, list 3 or 4 things you would like to achieve in that area of your life in the next three months. Write the statement in the positive, as if you have already achieved it.
Then visualise how achieving each and every goal will make you feel. Review your goals each day along the way.
For example, a work/career goal may be to earn £10,000 in commission at the end of the quarter. That means, to achieve that goal, you must bill an extra £30,000 in fees (working on a 1/3 or 33.3% commission structure) after you have covered your costs. So whatever your minimum billings must be for the quarter, you need to add £30,000.
Now, break that goal into months, then weeks, then days. Then review your time management to work out what activities you need to focus on to reach your goal. Review your activities weekly to ensure that you are working towards your goal. If you haven’t enough jobs on to reach it, you need to spend more time business developing the next week to lift levels again. Try it – it really works. I used this method of goal setting to save the deposit for my first home in one quarter!
Make sure that you do spend time thinking about “spiritual/you” goals. For me, it can be as simple as having a facial each month or spending a minimum of one hour a day relaxing.
I really like Justin Herald’s Would you like attitude with that?
(www.justinherald.com). Justin says “Are you driving yourself to achieve your goals, or are you a passenger hoping that one day you will get there? You need to make a choice – which of these options will you take?”
You are who you believe you are
Understanding and accepting that you are whom you believe you are is essential to also understanding that you have the power to change any aspect of your life. I challenge you to make 2006 your most successful year!
Gaynor Lowndes, the Managing Director of The Recruitment Training Company, has over 18 years recruitment experience, gained in both Australia and the UK. This article is based on the chapter on goal setting from Gaynor’s highly successful book “The Art of Recruitment”. Visit
www.trtc.com.au to place your order.
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