Is your goal too big?

Have you ever set a big goal only to be disappointed when it didn’t turn out? If so, you’re not alone! This happens to everyone who has ever set a huge goal.

One of my mentors, Jack Canfield, recommends people set a Big Hairy Audacious Goal aka BHAG. : ) Jack, as you may know, is one of the top Success Trainers in the world and I had a opportunity to train with him as well as write a chapter in one of his books. The reason he recommends people create a BHAG is to stretch themselves and to get out of their comfort zone. All good things!

However, if you attempt this without the right strategies and support in place, you’re probably setting yourself up for disappointment and failure.

Recent research done by the Department of Psychology at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany showed that “Setting high and specific goals is one of the best-established management tools to increase performance and motivation…[However] participants who failed the high and specific goal showed a decrease in affect, self-esteem, and motivation compared to participants who attained that goal.”

So, does this mean you shouldn’t set a BHAG for yourself and your business? Of course not! However, it does mean that you need to make sure you’ve got some strategies in place first!

Today I want to share 5 key Success Strategies to help you achieve your big goals – both personal and professional!

Strategy 1:

Make sure your BHAG is in alignment with where you want to take yourself and your business. If you’re trying to achieve a goal because you think you “should” or because someone else thinks you “should”, you’ll either be miserable and fail or be miserable while you’re achieving it.

Strategy 2:

My favorite Success Principle is Chunk It Down! Famous American author Mark Twain is quoted as saying, “The secret to getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks, and then start on the first one.” Best advice ever!

Strategy 3:

Celebrate successes along the way! World class coach Dan Sullivan and organization psychologist Dr. Benjamin Hardy in their bestselling book, “The Gap and The Gain” talk about the common major pitfall of focusing on the distance you still have to go to achieve your goal instead of celebrating how far you’ve come. One thing I recommend to my Success Mindset Coaching clients is to keep a daily success journal. Everything counts!

Strategy 4:

Tell a friend! Research done by Dr. Gail Matthews showed that over a 4-week period, people who thought about, wrote down and shared their goals with a friend, achieved 64% of their goals compared to those who didn’t. Plus, those who did a weekly progress report to a friend achieved 76% of their goals!

The take away here is that if you do all this, you will significantly increase your chances of success! Just make sure your friend is on the same wavelength as you. That means that it’s probably best not to include a family member, partner or spouse – unless you have a similar mindset.

Strategy 5:

It’s OK to renegotiate the terms of the goal or change it all together! For example, if your goal deadline is coming up but you know you won’t be able to achieve it by then, reset the deadline. A number of years ago when I was doing my online training to become a Canfield Success Principles Trainer I had set June 1^st as my completion date. However, as that date approached I knew that I wasn’t going to make it. So, I renegotiated the completion date to July 15^th and made it my single focus. I didn’t consider myself a failure because I missed my initial completion date. By resetting the date and clearing up my schedule so I could be more focused, I set myself up for success!

Similarly, you may be part way through and realize that you’re on the wrong path or the timing is wrong. Life happens! And, it’s OK if you have to change your BHAG altogether.

YOUR BEST SELF MINUTE: IS YOUR GOAL TOO BIG?

Is your goal too big?

However, if you attempt this without the right strategies and support in place, you’re probably setting yourself up for disappointment and failure.