Stewart Welch - Creating Accountability for Success

How can I Achieve my Goals?

It’s that time of year when people all across the globe reflect on what changes they are going to commit to for improving their life in the coming year. While people set their goals with the best of intentions, most fail to stick to the promises they make themselves because they are not good goal-setters. Use these 5 steps to create massive achievement:

Create clear, written, measurable goals. Many people believe that having a goal clear in their mind is enough. It’s not. This is what I call a ‘dream’. When you take a mental picture of what you want and articulate it in the form of writing, something magical happens and the brain automatically begins a process of solving the problem of how to get where you want to go as compared to where you are. The written word helps to create clarity. You must also include measurability. Measurability is the ability for you and someone else to know if you accomplished your goal.
Create a giant ‘Why’ for each goal. Setting goals creates a certain amount of excitement. But that excitement begins to wane as the hard work of implementation begins…unless you have a really big ‘Why?’ As you are writing your goal, include a section on why achievement is imperative for you.
Review your goals daily. Writing a goal and never reviewing it rarely results in high achievement. It only takes a couple of minutes each day to review your goals. This simple habit ‘re-boots’ your brain to maintain its focus. As part of this process, make sure that your daily activities are consistent with your goals.
Track your progress. Each goal should be broken down into ‘mini-goals’ or ‘actions’ that allow you to measure your progress towards the big goal. The best results tend to come from weekly measurements. For example, for each goal set a mini-goal for the week; schedule time directly into your calendar for completing the task related to that goal; then, at the end of the week, determine your progress. Create mini-rewards for accomplishing the weekly activities you set for yourself.
Create accountability. To achieve massive results, you are going to need an accountability partner. It’s one thing to fail when nobody (but you) knows. The more people that know about your goals, the more leverage you will create for yourself. Consider creating a Success Accountability Group of three to five people who are all committed to massive achievement and are willing to support each other. This can be as easy as a group email once a week. Step one: share your goals with your accountability partners as well as the ‘Why’ you must accomplish each goal. Step two: list the activities you intend to accomplish during the coming week. Step three: report whether you completed those activities and set your activity goals for the upcoming week. If an accountability partner begins to falter, you hold him or her accountable. Support him or her in re-committing to his or her goal.

You can achieve anything you choose if you are motivated enough. Think big; write it down; create a ‘Why’ that is bigger than you; review goals daily; track your progress; get support from others.

If you’d like a goal planning worksheet, email me at stewart.welch@welchgroup.com.