Clear goals in 60 minutes

ACTSol Blogger Author

I think that most people would agree that the people who have goals are more successful than those who do not have any.

Clear goals in 60 minutes

I think that most people would agree that the people who have goals are more successful than those who do not have any. 

I often talk about leadership and management. Leadership is about doing the right things while management is about doing things right. Often when we study time management, we study efficiency (doing things right) and assume that we have the effectiveness (leadership) solved. 

In any time management system, the first step should be to work on goals and as such, I use the following 60 Minute Goal Setting Exercise. 

 Step 1: In a blank piece of paper write down at the top “values” and then spend 10 to 15 minutes writing down everything that you value. There is a great website: www.stevepavlina.com/ that has a list of several hundred values that can help your mind to think in the right direction. After some time, stop doing this and move to Step 2. 

Step 2: In a blank piece of paper write down at the top “lifetime goals”. This is where you can dream; for example, what places would you like to visit; what experiences would you like to have; what would you like to accomplish within your lifetime. This might include traveling to Australia; getting a university degree; living in an X square foot house, etc. There are no rules to this brainstorming – simply make a list. 

Many a times I have done this goal setting exercise and I tend to use the same list of lifetime goals and add to the list each time I do the exercise. 

Step 3: at the top of a blank piece of paper write down what you would do if you had six months to live. This part of the exercise really came home to me this week when one of my close friends died at 36 years old. Some of us may have only six months to live; however, we may not know it yet. List everything that you would do if you have only six months to live. The purpose of this exercise is that I found that it works well for me as it brings the truly important into focus. Often, I found things that I would do if I had only six months to live that are not listed on my lifetime goals. 

Step 4: at the top of a blank piece of paper write down your goals for this year. you will find this step much easier than the others, after doing the first three steps. These are the goals to focus on NOW. 

It’s just an hour exercise. An hour spent clarifying your goals can save your hundreds of hours. 

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Categories: Goal Setting Series