Goal setting is known to be one of the greatest indicators of future success.
We have all experienced or heard stories about people writing goals down in a journal or on a scrap piece of paper and finding the paper years or decades later and seeing that many or all the goals that were written down and long ago forgotten were brought into reality.
I've read studies showing that out of an entire graduating class only 5% will have written goals and decades later these goal setters represent 95% of the wealth from that class.
I have certainly experienced the first scenario.
Years ago, Marie and I had set some ambitious goals for practice growth, buying a house, and debt reduction.
These were 5 to 10 year goals, so they were written down in our journals and then left on a library shelf to percolate.
As our journals filled and new ones where started, the goals written in the old journals sat in the dark.
One year over the Christmas holidays we decided to read our old journals and reflect back on what had been happening in our lives over the years.
This is when we discovered our old goal sheets neatly tucked away and 90% completed.
Scientists and psychologists believe that this is the work of the subconscious mind.
The
conscious mind along with the
prompting of the Holy Spirit reveals the goals, and then the subconscious mind sets to work on achieving them.
Setting and achieving goals is exciting and provides a compelling future for life itself.
A
goal that excites promises a journey to a place you have never been before, and provides the motivation and drive to take action and embark on the journey.
This all sounds awesome you say, but what about the goals that I set and
didn't achieve?
I wrote them down, created an action plan, and even did my first few action steps.
I then put the plan under my pillow and slept on it every night and nothing happened!
Missing goals is a common occurrence.
Missed goals can be very disempowering, to the point where many people refuse to set goals because they don't want to be disappointed.
I want you to ponder a couple of things:
Why do we miss goals and what should we do if we miss them?
First let's start with
why do we miss?
There are a number of legitimate and common reasons we miss goals.
1. The goal was overly ambitious.
We often will overestimate how much we can achieve in the short term and underestimate how much we can achieve in the long term.
I get calls all the time from doctors in crisis that need an immediate turn around in their misfortune.
They need to add 200 patient visits to their week and $20k to their month and they need to do it today.
They are looking for a miracle that is not going to happen.
However, setting that goal to be achieved over the next 12 months is ambitious but definitely doable.
Unfortunately, there are typically many internal things (heart and head) that need to change in order to achieve those goals.
2. There is too much fear and it is going to cause too much pain to really go for the goals.
Achieving goals requires action and action requires stepping into fear.
The desire to achieve the goal must out-weigh the fear of staying paralyzed and standing still in the comfort zone.
The goal has to be compelling, exciting, creative, and it has to be yours.
God will reveal it or you will dream it and He will confirm it. You know it's real if it keeps coming up and it burns a hole in your heart.
With this kind of goal you have a much higher tolerance for training in the pain and stepping into fear. You have to be willing to pay the price.
3. Even with the best of goals you still need courage.
Courage can be defined as taking action in the face of fear.
Going for a goal will always require courage.
In the book of Joshua the Israelites have been told by God that they will occupy the Promised Land, that they will cross over the Jordan River into a land of milk and honey.
A great land with great potential. They as a people were to take an action step and cross the Jordan in flood season and then walk into the land that was promised them.
Problem was, there were giants in the land and they would need to go to battle to claim that land.
Look how often Joshua and the Israelites are reminded that they will need to be courageous.
Joshua 1:6,7 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. Be strong and very courageous."
Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."
Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you."
So it is for us. We need to be courageous in order to reach our goals. There is no way around it. You must go through your fear.
What do you do if you missed your goals?
So here we are on the other side. You set some good goals, you stepped into fear, you were courageous, and you still missed.
What you do now is the most critical move of your career.
You must look at your goal critically and use the negative feedback from missing the goal to reset it into the right direction.
More than likely there are a few things that would have helped you hit your goals.
More action, more consistent action, more accurate action, and more time.
Most of the time it just takes more time and more action.
Right now there is a Warrior that just opened a new office starting from zero. He opened in the middle of November and his goal is to hit 100 new patients by the end of December.
He has a plan, he knows how to do it, and he is taking action.
He should be over 150 patient visits per week by Christmas and meeting overhead by January.
If he misses his goal he knows that he just needs to take more action and a bit more time.
The reason why looking at missed goals correctly is so important is because it is just a missed goal.
You missed a goal. You are not a 'goal misser'. There is a great chasm of difference here.
You missing a goal lets you move on and reset.
You taking on the identity of a 'goal misser' paralyzes you from making future goals and taking future risk.
You can take a glance in your rearview mirror and analyze where and why you missed and what you need to do different in 2016.
Then you have to look ahead through the front windshield and live Full Out today towards a compelling future!
Coach Yurij
Warrior Coaching
Comment
On Friday, December 18, 2015, Peter Williams said:
On Thursday, December 10, 2015, Leo Quan said:
Thanks for the insight on resetting oneself after a missed goal. Just add more action, more consistent action, more accurate action, and more time. It's in my daily reminders!
On Monday, December 7, 2015, Stephen Lippitt said:
On Sunday, December 6, 2015, Steve Landry said:
On Thursday, December 3, 2015, Dr. Mark Foullong said:
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