When I write my own personal goals, I base them on Benjamin Franklin’s model.
“Early to bed, Early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
Over the next three chapters, we will build a healthy goal, a wealthy goal, and a wise goal.
Since Mr. Franklin started with health, we will too. This is an example. You are welcome to use the goal, or you are welcome to come up with your own.
When it comes to a healthy goal, a typical New Year’s resolution might look like this:
This year, I am finally going to lose the weight I have been trying to lose.
That is a start. And, it is a good start. However, we will improve our chances of hitting this goal if we write it down.
Our chances of hitting this goal will improve even more if we make the goal more specific.
Why are we setting this healthy goal? Let’s add a reason to the goal.
This year, I am finally going to lose the weight I have been trying to lose. I am going to lose weight so I can run around in the backyard playing tag with my kids/grandkids.
The goal is now more specific. The goal contains a reason.
We can improve this goal a bit more by removing any negativity from the goal.
I am finally going to lose the weight sounds negative. It sounds as though we have tried and failed many times. We are probably expecting to fail again. Let’s remove finally.
This year, I am going to lose the weight I have been trying to lose. I am going to lose the weight so I can actually run around in the backyard playing tag with my kids/grandkids.
Next, we will strengthen the language. We will change I’m going to lose the weight to I will lose the weight. I will lose weight is a stronger goal.
This year, I will lose the weight I have been trying to lose. I will lose weight so I can run around in the backyard playing tag with my kids/grandkids.
We can get even more specific. Instead of I will lose the weight I have been trying to lose, let’s make the goal more specific, I will lose 15 pounds.
Remember, the more specific the goal, the higher our chances of hitting the goal.
Now, our goal looks like this:
This year, I will lose 15 pounds. I will lose 15 pounds so I can run around in the backyard playing tag with my kids/grandkids.
This goal is more specific than our original goal. We can still improve the goal.
Let’s change this year to by December 31st.
By December 31st of this year, I will lose 15 pounds. I will lose 15 pounds so I can actually run around in the backyard playing tag with my kids/grandkids.
We now have a super specific goal.
Which goal do you think has a better chance?
Here is our original goal:
This year, I am finally going to lose the weight I have been trying to lose.
Here is our modified, specific goal:
By December 31st of this year, I will lose 15 pounds. I will lose 15 pounds so I can actually run around in the backyard playing tag with my kids/grandkids.
The second goal is stronger. Initially, our goal was vague. Now, our goal is ultra-specific.
By taking the time to gain clarity here, our chances of hitting this goal skyrocket. You can do this with any goal. Start with a general goal. Then, drill down until your goal is specific.
Ask yourself questions like, “Why do I want to hit this goal?” “When do I want to hit this goal?” “What do I need to do to hit this goal?”
Keep asking yourself questions until you have a crystal clear goal.
