The Leadership Principle of Goals “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”  Zig Ziglar

Goal setting is a powerful process.  It helps you determine your priorities, get organized, make big decisions, and realize your dreams.  It enables you to envision your ideal future and then develop a plan to make your dreams a reality.  The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in life. By knowing what you want to achieve, you’ll recognize where you need to concentrate your efforts. You’ll also quickly spot the distractions that would take you off of your course.

Goals are set on many different levels.  First, you have to decide what you want to be or achieve.  Once you have that figured out, you can strategize and break it down into a series of smaller goals you need to meet in order to achieve your dream. Things don’t just happen. You can dream of many possibilities and have desires, but you won’t reach them without a plan.   “A journey of 1000 miles starts with one step.”

Everything you do in life should be based on your goals. When goals are not established, it is easy for situations and drama to occupy your mind and waste your time.  When you shoot at nothing, you will be sure to hit it.  Top achievers in all fields set goals and put their focus on making a plan and working the plan.  “People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.”  (Earl Nightingale)

Establishing goals will benefit you in many ways:

1. You will be excited about your future because you will be able to measure the progress you are making towards living your dream.
2. Goals give you long-term vision and short-term motivation. You will see forward progress in what could have seemed to be a long, pointless grind.
3. You will increase your personal value and your confidence by having a specific objective and purpose.
4. Your self-esteem will build as you accomplish your goals. You will feel good about your achievements and that will propel you on to bigger things.
5. You will firmly hold on to your dreams and future and take control over your life. You will run your life rather than allowing life to run you.

If you are a person who sets and works towards their goals, you will have these traits:

• You will put your goals in writing. You will define certain duties attached to specific time segments.
• You will concentrate on your goals. You will use a daily to-do list to keep yourself focused on the target.
• You will measure your progress on a consistent basis.
• Your plans will be flexible. You will review your goals and make adjustments as needed.
• You will be ambitious and determined to achieve your goals. You realize that you must take action in order to be successful.

1. Write your goals down. Use positive language – say what you will do rather than what you will not do.
2. Define your goals with details such as cost, time frame and resources. To really give yourself the opportunity to succeed, you must recognize what will be required to meet your goal. There is a price to pay to make a dream come true. It is important to be as realistic as possible so you can honestly determine if you need to adjust your goals.
3. If you have several goals, give each a priority. This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by too many goals, and ensures you direct your attention to the most important ones.
4. Pace yourself. Specify what you will do in a week, a month and in a year. If you can lay out a practical way to achieve your goal, you will be more likely to accomplish it.
5. Create a daily to-do list of things that you will do today to help you meet your long term goal. In the planning phase of goal setting, your daily to do list may include reading books and gathering information on how to best meet your goal. This will help you to improve the quality and realism of your goal setting.
6. Stay focused on your goals by looking at and updating your to-do list on a daily basis. Review your long term plans frequently and modify them to reflect your changing priorities and experience.
7. When you have achieved a goal, take the time to enjoy the satisfaction of having done so. If the goal was a significant one, reward yourself appropriately.

1. When was the last time you wrote down a goal and accomplished it? How did that make you feel?
2. What would it take to turn some of your dreams into goals?
3. Who do you know that could make you accountable and give you the support and encouragement needed to reach your goals?
4. Which of the Steps To Follow will you commit to this week?

Evaluate yourself from 1 to 10	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Why did you give yourself this rating?
What benefits will you obtain by raising your rating?
What specific action can you put into practice to test the benefits of this principle?