12 tips for more effective goal setting

Average workers set average goals, achieve them, then coast.  Achieved goals are like yesterday’s newspapers: useful only for lining birdcages.

Top performers set new goals whenever they achieve old ones.

Here are 12 tips that may help you set and achieve your goals:

1. If it’s not in writing, it’s not a goal. An unwritten goal is a wish, a dream, a never-will-happen. The day you put your goal in writing is the day it becomes a commitment that may change your life.
2. If it’s not specific, it’s not a goal. Broad desires and lofty aims have no effect. Merely wanting to be a top salesperson or having the determination to become a top earner isn’t enough. Until you translate your vague wishes into concrete goals and plans, you aren’t going to make much process.
3. Goals must be believable. If you don’t believe you can achieve a goal, you won’t pay the price for it.
4. An effective goal is an exciting challenge. If your goal doesn’t push you beyond where you’ve been before — if it doesn’t demand your best and a bit more you didn’t realize you had in you — it isn’t going to change your ways and elevate your lifestyle.
5. Goals must be adjusted to new information. Set your goals quickly, and adjust them later if you’ve aimed too high or too low. Many of the goals that have the greatest positive influence are set in unfamiliar territory.  We may adjust our goals down if they become unbelievable — or up if they lose their challenge.
6. Dynamic goals guide our choices. If your goals are set up right, they’ll instantly show you the right way to go on most decisions.
7. Short-term goals shouldn’t take more than 90 days to reach. After you’ve worked with short-term goals for a while, you may find that a shorter or longer period works better for you. Setting short-term goals that take more than 90 days to achieve may result in a loss of interest before reaching them.
8. Maintain a balance between long-term and short-term goals. If your goals are all long-term, you’ll have difficulty keeping your motivation up because all your payoffs are far away. And too many short-term goals may undermine long-term results.
9. Set goals in all areas of your life, not just your career. It’s usually a good idea to set goals for health, exercise, sports and for your personal and family life. Goal setting is too valuable to reserve only for career objectives.
10. Your goals must harmonize. If your goals fight each other, you lose. Whenever you detect a conflict, set priorities that will eliminate the conflict. Use your goals to eliminate frustration, not to create it.
11. Review goals regularly. New goals may rise out of old ones you’ve met. Try to set future goals that are beyond your present capacity and you may achieve them with the skill, confidence and resources you’ve won achieving your present goals.
12. Set activity goals, not just production goals. If all your goals are production goals, you may set yourself up for a slump. It’s usually better to set activity goals. For instance: How many prospects will you see today? How many presentations will you give? How many rejections will you go looking for? Activity goals will help you avoid slumps during challenging times.

Adapted from How to Master the Art of Selling by Tom Hopkins, Sales Consultant and President of Tom Hopkins, Inc., Scottsdale, AZ.