A study from Harvard Business School found that
==> 70% of the population do not have goals
==> 25% do have goals but don't write them down
==> Only 5% of the population have written goals.
Yet...
* 42% of people feel that 'life is a treadmill and they can't get off' (Stephen Covey)
* 66% of people are dissatisfied with some aspect of their career (Executive and Professional Register)
...however, only 5% of the population have written goals to change their situation.
Why do so many people spend their lives
doing something they don't like?
Don't be one of those people who complains about life but yet doesn't do anything about it.
To become more resilient to stress and pressure you need to have goals that are written down with a practical action plan.
You have to take your goals out of your head and place them on paper.
A study conducted at Yale University in 1953 asked over 1000 business students 'Who has clear specific financial goals and a written plan of action?'
Less than 3% did.
The compelling part of this study occurred 20 years later, in 1973, where the same group of people (of those still living and contactable) were interviewed. The 3% who set financial goals, back in 1953, with a written action plan were worth more, in financial terms, than the other 97% combined who never set their goals or action plan down on paper.
When are most people's goals set? Midnight December 31st.
When are most goals forgotten about? January 2nd.
Why?
The bigger challenge is, once you have written down your goals is being able to stick to them when you are under pressure.
I have seen people who can preach all these slogans of acceptance, 'go with flow' and the importance of being positive - but when they get stressed and are under lots of pressure, all their good ideas get forgotten and they become aggitated, tense and exhausted.
That's because they may understand the strategies - but they haven't lived the strategies.
Setting a goal is only one part of the picture. Sticking to a goal is the important part, and unless you are aware of your distractions, time bandits, weaknesses and shortcomings, then this year is bound to be as stressful, if not more, than last year.
With bigger workloads, and less time, I believe that motivation is influenced more by way we manage pressure than any other factor.
ACTION STEPS:
Make sure your goals are 'G.R.E.A.T'
=> Get Clarity: Know exactly what you want to achieve in the year, month, week and day.
=> Real consequences and rewards: Motivate yourself by having a reason to do it - like a
reward of some kind for reaching your goal. For example, you could: take yourself out to
lunch to a nice place, go out for a movie, take the night off and sit in the bath, etc. Be a
little creative. Also, give yourself a reason to prevent you from not achieving your goal. For
example, work an extra hour tonight, force yourself to eat [pick a food you dislike] for
breakfast tomorrow. Create some discomfort in your life to keep you on track.
=> Evaluate & Measure your goals: For each of your goals include the benchmark of
success, which answers the question what do I have to achieve, accomplish, experience or
physically have which indicates that this goal is complete?'. You must know, beyond any
shadow of doubt, the benchmark that tells you if you have succeeded, or not, in reaching
your goal.
=> Achievable but challenging: A goal should challenge your comfort zone, but not to the
point where the gap between you and the goal is so big that it feels impossible to get
there.
=> Time measured. Create a time frame that the goal needs to be completed by. Never
leave it up in the air saying 'About a month' or 'it depends on a few factors'. No! Create a
time frame, otherwise the end point will constantly slip away. You cannot manage
pressure if you don't know where to direct your energy towards. Make sure that
your time frames are not creating stress in your life by pushing you to achieve something
within an impossible time frame.
