INTRODUCTION
Today, we shall be concluding our management discussion series on the topic ‘Goal Setting and Prioritisation” as we look at why goals fail, the benefits of setting goals, and our take-home code. The Take-Home Code “SEER” is our recommended management strategy for setting goals and going all the way to bring them to fruition.
WHY GOALS FAIL
A goal fails if;
• It was not written down.
• The outcome is not clear.
• The goal was unrealistic or not specific enough.
• The goal is not believable, or little commitment exists.
• You keep changing or switching goals with the weather.
• The goal is not translated into a realistic plan that includes measurements, timelines, and resources.
THE BENEFITS OF SETTING GOALS
These include;
• Clear goals increase your confidence
• Develop your competence
• Boost your level of motivation
• Saves you from stress and anxiety
• Makes you concentrate better
• Makes you perform better
• Makes you happier
TAKE HOME-CODE – SEER
S- SET your mind on the goal – Be convinced about it and where you are going, have a clear picture. Sleep and wake up with it. Be excited about it. Be intoxicated about it, be proud of it. Always talk about it.
E- EXPECT your goals to be tested by storms, weather, time, criticism, failure, frustrations, unfavorable government policies, unfriendly environment, abuses by close friends, neglect by family members, etc
E –Regularly EVALUATE every step and align it with your goal. Regularly measure your performance, appraise yourself, your systems, and your methods/strategies, and make changes if necessary. Do not reduce the size of your vision, but always adjust your strategy (if need be).
R – RESOLVE to celebrate every success along the way; celebrate little success, give yourself a treat, and motivate your staff. That gives you confidence, makes you refreshed, and excited to forge ahead.
CONCLUSION
• Stop the blame game, you are responsible for your failure –Jim Rohn
• Ninety percent of all failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses – George Washington
According to Jack Canfield, E + R = O i.e. Event + Response = Outcomes. “We stop ourselves to excel in life thinking limiting thoughts and engage in self-defeating behaviours, we defend our self-destructive habit (such as drinking and smoking) with indefensible logic, we ignore useful feedback, fail to continuously educate ourselves and learn new skills, waste time on trivial aspects of life, engage in idle gossip, eat unhealthy foods, fail to exercise, spend more money than we make, fail, to tell the truth, don’t ask for what we want and then wonder why our lives don’t work. But this is what most people do. They place the blame for everything that is not the way they want it on outside events and circumstances, they have an excuse for everything forgetting that every outcome you experience in whether it is success or failure, wealth or poverty, health or illness, intimacy or estrangement, joy or frustration is the result of event or events in your life”.
Therefore, to succeed in this highly competitive world, you need to take cognizance of the following;
• Your thought (Have clear goals, know what you are doing, how you are doing it, and when you are doing it)
• Images you visualize – Have a mental picture of where you are going. Write down your goals and set measurable variables to assess your level of performance and
• The actions you take – Don’t be distracted. Focus on the goal. When the shaking comes, focus on it. When trials come, focus on it. Respond, don’t react. In all situations, be compelled to forge ahead by the size of your goals and commitment to them. Even when you seemingly fail, forge ahead. At the end of it all, success shall be yours if you don’t quit.
The End
Sunday Ade Bello (SAB) is a multi-talented and an analytically inspired management trainer, writer and examiner. He is the CEO of WorkLife Training Professionals, Lagos.
