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GOAL SETTING for TOP ACHIEVERS

How to Set Clear Goals and Get the Outcome You Want

– Every Time

You may be like some of the people we work with who set

their goals, do really well and then something stops them at

the last minute. Or perhaps you achieve your goals and then

lose focus as soon as you get there.

By following the process on the next few pages you’ll learn to set realistic and achievable goals and

you’ll achieve them when and how you want to.

There are 4 key steps to manifesting and achieving successful outcomes.

1 The first step is to SET A CLEAR GOAL

2 The second step is BELIEF AND VISUALISATION

3 The third step is EMBODIMENT or FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT!

4 The fourth step is to TAKE ACTION

STEP 1 – SET A CLEAR GOAL

Think about a goal that you really want to achieve. Before we go through the process, make sure it’s

your goal and you want to achieve it FOR YOU rather than your partner or your friends or your boss.

OK, when you’ve got a goal you need to write it down to get it clear in your head.

The key to writing a goal is that it follows the SMART principles.

S – Specific – What precisely do you want to achieve?

M – Measurable – What will have to happen for you to know you’ve achieved it?

A – As if now – Write it in the present tense as if you’ve already achieved it.

R – Realistic – Is it truly realistic? Can you achieve it? Has anyone else achieved this?

T – Time bound – When will you achieve it? Is the timescale realistic?

So, write down your goal on a piece of paper now. It must meet all of the above SMART criteria, so

here’s an example of what your goal might look like if you were planning to reach a financial target

at work so that you can buy a new car.

It’s 9th

November 2010 and I’m sitting at the traffic lights whilst test driving this

beautiful Aston Martin. I feel a sense of deep satisfaction sitting here right now.

It’s nice that people stop and stare as I pull round the corner in this amazing car,

the engine sounds so unique! What’s most satisfying is that I know I set a clear

financial target at work and I achieved it; I believed in myself and I made it

happen. My bonus has been paid into my bank account and it’s ready for

spending! I know this is the start of things to come – watch out world, here I

come.

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Now, take that goal you’ve just written and put that piece of paper

somewhere that you will see it every single day. Somewhere that it

will inspire you every single day.

Is there any thoughts lurking at the back of your mind which are

causing you to doubt whether you’re going to achieve that goal? If

so, write them down so you can look at them logically. In no time, when you see them in black and

white you’ll realise that you can overcome any of these limiting thoughts, because that’s all they are

– limiting thoughts.

Against each limiting thought, write down an occasion (or several) when you overcame any of these

doubts in the past, thus proving these thoughts are ridiculous and unnecessary. Repeat this exercise

until you know that you can achieve this goal.

STEP 2 – BELIEF AND VISUALISATION

So, think about your specific goal now. How will you know when you have actually achieved it? Let’s

take the example we used above about the Aston Martin.

• Will you be looking at your online bank account and seeing that large bonus in your

account?

• Will you be looking at the signed contract that enabled you to hit your financial target?

• Will you be picking up the phone to call the garage to book a test drive?

• Will you be driving out of the garage owning your new car?

• Will you be getting a pat on the back from your boss?

• Will you be making a call to your boss to say you’ve hit target?

• Will you be taking your partner or friends out to dinner to celebrate?

• Or will it be something else? Or perhaps it will be a combination of the above.

Think about how you’ll know when you’ve achieved your goal and write down a list of things you’ll

see, hear and feel. With that list, create yourself a visualisation to work with. Play with it, explore it

and enjoy it.

So, now, when you think about achieving your goal, do you have a picture? Good.

So, going into that picture now and looking through your own eyes, what can you see? What can

you hear? What can you feel? What else can you see, hear and feel? Are you excited? Are you

relaxed? What thoughts are going through your mind? What can you hear people saying to you or

about you?

Now really build the intensity of that picture and those feelings. Do whatever you need to do to

really build those feelings and make the visualisation as powerful and real as possible for you.

Maybe you could change the contrast or the colour or the size of the picture to change the dynamic.

Now, step out of the picture and see yourself in the image.

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If you want to take it a step further, you can use

affirmations. Affirmations or mantras can be a powerful

way to re-enforce your belief in your capability, allowing

you to trust that you will succeed in achieving your goal.

An affirmation is a statement that brings you nearer to

your goal. So, to create your affirmations, design

statements that you find powerful and inspiring in relation

to your goal.

If we take the example of the Aston Martin you might look at the using something along the

following lines:

• My thoughts and actions lead me toward my desires.

• Wealth is pouring into my life.

• I possess an abundance of creativity and energy.

• At every turn opportunity appears before me.

• I am a magnet to all the things I dream of and desire.

• I am a money magnet!

• I receive an unmatchable supply of abundance every single day.

• I deserve total success and happiness.

• I am always in the right place at the right time.

• My possibilities are endless.

• Everything I touch returns riches to me.

Once you’ve decided on your affirmations it would be a good idea to write a list and keep it

somewhere you can repeat them every day. Perhaps you could put them inside your wardrobe door

or next to the mirror in the bathroom. It’s important that you really believe these affirmations

when you say them. Believe them fully and wholeheartedly.

STEP 3 - EMBODIMENT

In order to manifest your goal you have to live your life as if you’re already 100% certain that it is

happening.

So, think about how you’ll act when you’re 100% sure you’re going to achieve your goal on the date

you’ve set. How will you act?

Taking the same Aston Martin example again, you might be doing some of the following:

• Planning where you’re going to take the car out.

• Setting up a new savings account to transfer some of your bonus into.

• Looking into the best way to sell or part-exchange your old car.

• Getting in brochures for the car to check out pricing and payment terms.

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• Look at some other cars to ensure you’re making the right choice?

• Prepare teams at work for the incoming business.

You get the idea. Think about achieving your goal and act as if it’s 100% certain it’s going to happen.

Practice this every single day and enjoy yourself!

STEP 4 - TAKE ACTION

So, you’ve created your visualisation, you’ve written your goal, you’ve selected your affirmations

and you’re already living as if you’ve got it. Now you need to take action.

• Be practical – write down a plan of action for how you’re going to achieve the goal. Write

down every possible activity you could do to get you nearer your goal. Then decide how

viable each of those activities is and prioritise them. You may want to take advice from

people around you at work or home to help you formulate the best plan.

• Plan your time. You will only succeed if you make time to focus on and achieve your goal.

Be realistic on how much time you need to spend focusing on the goal, to achieve it in the

time frame you’ve set.

• Be open to new opportunities. Listen to everything before you say no. You’ll be surprised

how new opportunities present themselves to you once you start to focus on what you

want.

• Work on your goal EVERY SINGLE DAY. Make it a habit. The objective is to get to the stage

where it feels odd if you’re not doing something every day to work on your goal.

• Just do it! Don’t overcomplicate the process; just do something to move you closer to the

goal every single day.

Happy manifesting; this is just the very beginning.

We do a great deal of work on goal setting in the ABNLP Certified NLP Practitioner Course.

We also work with timeline therapy to release any negative emotions or limiting decisions

which could be preventing you from achieving your goals.

For more information on training or this process please contact us on

info@firedragoncoaching.com