How to Fully Utilize the Power of Goal Setting

What connection is there between your mission and the goals that you are pursuing today?  If there is none, you are probably under utilizing the power of goal setting.  Goal setting is a tool that is designed not just to get you whatever you want in life but, rather, to get you what you need to achieve your mission.

1.        Tie your goals to your mission
Your mission represents is your ultimate goal in life.  Whatever goal you set in life should be in line with your mission.  Unless you do this, you may spend a lifetime chasing after goals that take you nowhere.

2.        Set goals that are progressive
Your goals should successively contribute to the attainment of your ultimate goal – your mission.  The journey towards your ultimate goal should be like walking up a staircase. Just as each step should be joined to the one before it and the one after it, your goals for this year should be joined to last year's goals and next year's goals.  That way you are assured of going somewhere with your life.

3.        Move from setting goals to setting strategic objectives
Goals keep your focus on what you want to do within a given timeframe.  Strategic objectives, however, shift your focus to the end to what you intend to achieve through your goal.  Focusing on the end is more energizing than focusing on the means.

Get more than just an exciting experience out of your goals – achieve your life mission in the process.  To do so, align your goals to your mission, have your goals progressively lead you towards your mission and shift your focus from what you have to do to what you want to achieve through what you have to do. That is how you fully utilize the power of goal setting.