Turning the Invisible into the Visible: Goal Achievement

You walk into the gym and tell me you want to achieve an athletic goal. 

Maybe you want to make the professional tennis tour....or your high school team.

                             or become a world-class runner.....or win a local 5k. 

Today that goal is in some far away place that you cannot see, feel or touch.  At best, it is invisible. 

This blog post will show you how to get started on turning the invisible into the visible. 

Do not worry: this is not going to be a motivational talk by “Matt Foley! some guy who lives in a van down by the river!” (Chris Farley reference)-just some very practical tips to help you achieve your goals

I have used these ideas with many people pursuing different goals, and they can really form a great foundation for success.  They seem to give your goals "roots" and help you achieve almost any goal.

Here are five action steps to turn today's invisible goal into tomorrow's visible reality:

1.    Make sure the goal is a SMART goal and commit it to paper. 

SMART= Specific, Measurable, Attainable. Realistic and Time-Deadlined. 

A goal of making the professional tennis tour by July 2012 would be specific, measureable and time-deadlined.  Whether it is realistic and attainable depends on the individual.  Becoming the “greatest tennis player who has ever lived “ is not probably not measureable, attainable or time-deadlined.

2.    Move your focus away from the challenge of achieving the goal to the payoff of achieving the goal on a daily basis. 

Your first thought may be of the challenge of reaching the goal-maybe you have to go the gym daily or make some dietary changes. Intellectually, you know you want to achieve the goal, but you are focusing on the discomfort of the challenge.

I went through this when training for a marathon.  I ran the marathon in February which meant I had to train through the winter months. 

Whenever I did not feel like running due to the weather, I would “transport” myself to the day of the race and ask myself how I would feel if I did not adequately prepare? 

The answer was always the same: if I trained for months, spent all the time and money to travel to the race and then showed up unprepared, I would feel miserable.  

If I was prepared, I thought would feel satisfied and proud regardless of my time. 

During my training, I shifted my focus from the discomfort of running in bad weather to the comfort of achieving my goal. 

I went to the race prepared and ran a good race.  After the race, I felt proud of the effort I exerted during the training and during the race.  I was transformed in some ways by the discipline and structure of the training. 

3.     Write down three ways achieving your goal will make you feel better. 

One reason goals are not accomplished is due to conflict between our intellect and our emotion. We know intellectually our lives would be better if we achieved the goal but emotionally it may appear to be too much work.  

In conflicts between intellect and emotion, I will bet on emotion almost every time.  

To achieve your goal, you have to get emotion working for you rather than against you.   

Maybe your goal is a life-long dream and achieving it will bring a great sense of satisfaction and self-esteem. 

Maybe your Dad played the same sport and you have always wanted to follow the trail he blazed back in the day.  Maybe you just think it would be super-cool to achieve your goal.   

For this action step, simply list how your life would be better if you achieved your goal.  These reasons do not have to be  super “serious” or life-transforming so have some fun with this.  This list should be emotional rather than intellectual.  "I would feel great" is better than "My coach told me to do it." Provide as much detail as you can.

Achieving our goals is just more fun than not achieving them.  So just list three reasons and do not worry that they are not “good enough” reasons. 

4.    Write down three ways achieving your goals will help someone else. 

This can be the key to success for many people.  For some personalities, intensely pursuing a goal can feel “selfish”. If you can find ways your achievement helps others, this feeling can be seriously lessened. 

Would you be setting a great example for a young relative?  Would you make a parent proud? Would success allow you to help someone else financially? 

Do not censor your thoughts here.  Just list three things that come to mind.  You can add more when you think of them later.

5.    Place 1-4 above somewhere you will have to see them everyday and deliberately read through them. 

This should take no more than a couple of minutes.  Ideally, read this information several times per day.   People who achieve goals keep them prioritized.  Reading them daily can keep your goals in the forefront of your mind and increase your chances of success.

In a later blog, I will discuss how to create an action structure and support system which are two other very important elements of goal achievement. 

By taking the five steps above, you have taken big steps towards turning the invisible into the visible and achieving your goals.

 

 

Posted Aug 28, 2011 by Jeff Blair.
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