A Goal Setting Technique That Works
Most professional athletes go through rigorous training regimens that include goal setting and visualization. Why? Because they know it works.
I had a good reminder of this recently during a 45 minute conversation at our local Barnes & Noble with Phil Weber, the assistant coach for the successful Phoenix Suns basketball team. His positive attitude and stories about motivating the Sun’s team members blew me away. His warmth and generosity to spend almost 45 minutes with me showed me this man was genuine,and that he knew quite a bit about goal setting. This man clearly understands when and why goal setting works… and why it doesn’t.
After he began quoting some of the wisdom contained in Og Mandino’s book, “The Greatest Salesman in the World” I knew it was time for me to re-read the book and study the principles contained within. The book is a must-read for any goal-oriented person, and not just sales people. The wisdom about goal setting applies equally to everyone and anyone - especially me!
There are ten scrolls which contain priceless wisdom that has been handed down by philosophers for thousands of years.
The first scroll is about “forming good habits and becoming a slave to them so that you can succeed in life.” After reading this scroll for almost thirty days, I felt a change in myself. It has made me think long and hard about the habits I have developed over the years that have not served me. Although I ask myself hundreds of times what makes me play out the same negative scenarios over and over, knowing that I have a choice to change my behaviors, I realize that self-pity and pockets of low self-esteem still plague me.
I also know that many of my coaching clients struggle with the same behaviors. So how can I change my own old habits and help my clients at the same time? After studying the first scroll I knew the answer lies in our willingness to do the work needed to change these habits. For most of us, it is easier to stick with the old then feel the discomfort and fear involved in changing to a new habit.
And yet, Mandino tells us the only way we can change our unwanted habits is by replacing them with a good habit. There’s a very good reason that Mandino talks about habits in his first scroll. The primary reason people set, but never achieve their goals is because they almost immediately start doing the same things they’ve always done.
That is, people generally approach a new situation by using the same failed techniques they’ve used in the past. Unless you can replace the old habit with a new habit at the start, you will continue to get the same results, regardless of your resolve when setting new goals.
I know this is where affirmations and visualization can be of great help. Visualizing new behaviors while repeating affirmations for at least thirty days will create a good habit. I know this can sound silly, but it has repeatedly worked well for me and my clients.
In the wonderful book, “The Mind and the Brain,” the author describes his work with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive) patients. He describes using “mindfulness” techniques to essentially rewire the neural pathways of the patient’s brain. By visualizing a new behavior and repeating that behavior over a period of days, the new (less obsessive) behavior becomes the new habit.
Here’s how you might use a similar technique to set your goal setting off on the right track and achieve your goals more quickly:
1. Establish your goals using your favorite goal setting approach.
2. Make a list of all the OLD habits that might stop you from achieving your goals (procrastination, analysis paralysis, etc.)
3. Re-write these old habits into new, effective habits that will help you achieve your goals.
4. Convert these into affirmations, such as “I analyze only as much as necessary, then act with confidence.”
5. Every day for the next 30 days spend at least 5 minutes visualizing yourself having successfully achieved your goals as you read your affirmations.
6. Go immediately into action toward your goals.
I guarantee that this process will work for you with whatever method of goal setting you choose to use.