Alan r davey aims management training gift 2 of 10

2011
th
Aims 10 Anniversary

Gift Two

Ten Minute
Goal Setting
Tune Up

Aims Training & Development Ltd G2 Page 2 of 9
Goal Setting Tune Up 2011

Something ‘Old ‘– Something New

This is our personal gift to you – something intended to help you add value
both to your own life and to the Organisation for which you work.
We offer it to say a personal ‘Thank You’ for the support you have given us
and the interest you have shown in Aims Training & Development’s
services.
This is the second of a collection of 10 gifts we will give throughout
2011/2 to mark both our 10 t h year in business.(something ‘old’) and the
introduction of a New Concept in Personal Development and Management &
Leadership Training planned for later this year (something new) .
We will be very happy to extend these Gifts to any of your Colleagues or
anyone you know if you feel they will be useful to them . We only ask that
they help uscomply with the anti -spam requirements by visiting our website
www.aimstraining.com and joining the free Aims Business Club by
completing and submitting the form on our Home Page.
Finally, I would like to thank you once again for your time, support and
interest, and as always, make it a Great Day!

Alan Davey
PS
I thought you might like to know what other subjects the gifts will cover
1. Time Management
2. Goal Setting (attached)
3. Communicating clearly & with Influence
4. Enhancing Personal Assertiveness
5. Overcoming the Worry Habit
6. Managing Stress
7. Self Motivation
8. Building Great Relationships
9. Problem Solving
10. Adding Value to every Action

Aims Training & Development Ltd email info@aims-training.com
Sign up for Free Downloads via www.aimstraining.com


Copyright

© Copyright Alan Roy Davey– All Rights Reserved
Published by Aims Training & Development Ltd
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The purchaser is authorised to use the information in this publication for the purchaser’s use only.
Requests for permission or for further information concerning copyright should be forwarded to

Aims Training & Development Ltd.
The Coaching House
17 Chatsworth Drive,
Wellingborough,
Northamptonshire,
NN8 5FD,
England,

Tel: 01933 401561
Email alan.davey@aims-training.com

Legal Notices

Aims Training & Development Ltd is registered in the UK at
The Coaching House
17 Chatsworth Drive,
Wellingborough,
Northamptonshire,
England, UK.
NN8 5FD
Company Registration no. 4646954 England.
Usage

Users/Purchasers should be aware that whilst all attempts have been made to verify information provided in this publication,
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Aims Ten Minute Goal Setting Tune Up

Why ten minutes?
1. Because ten minutes is long enough to review/improve goal setting skills
2. Because it can be done whilst taking a typical length tea/coffee break

What is Goal Setting?
Goal Setting is the process by which we identify opportunities to enhance our life and
performance in specific areas, redefine those opportunities as specific challenges then
state an outcome and commit to taking specific actions to achieve that outcome by a
particular time. It is a natural and essential adjunct to effective Time Management.

What benefits does more Effective Goal Setting deliver?
Increased Life and Job Satisfaction, enhanced Prestige, and greater confidence
because;
 We take greater control of our life and increase the quality of our life
 We reduce frustration based negative stress caused by low achievement
 We increase our personal value by enhancing our knowledge, skills, experience
and confidence
 We increase our personal security by increasing our personal value
 We increase our ability to contribute more to whatever we do
 We create more opportunities to satisfy more rewarding goals

Suggested Ten Minute Tune Up Process
Read the text from start to finish without pausing or considering any element – but mark
what seems particularly relevant or interesting to you so you can return to this when you
have more time to reread it and decide how you will use the insight or information.
The fastest way to absorb information is to see the context first and concentrate on
detail later.

Why is excellent Goal Setting important?
First, because our current performance and our future situation relate directly to the
actions we take; and the Actions we take are determined by what we wish to achieve –
our goals. People who set themselves Goals get more done more effectively.
Second, because every Action we take is the result of one or more decisions we make;
and each decision is the outcome of a thought process directed toward achieving a
desired outcome (or Goal). Therefore, our goals, define what we think about and do.
Excellent Goal Setting enables us to direct our thoughts, time, energy and talents to
achieving what we actually want to achieve – most sensibly the aspects of our life that
most matter to us and provide the greatest current and future security and pleasure.



Background

Human Beings are autonomous. Once we move beyond the basic actions such as
breathing, sneezing, shivering, sweating, etc., we are responsible for everything we
choose to do and the outcomes we create. Our right to feel good when we succeed is
balanced by our obligation to accept responsibility when we fail to achieve.
There are numerous reasons why some people cope with life better than others and
why some people are more successful than others; however clear thinking and clarity of
intention combined with personal commitment to take appropriate action are key factors
that determine any individual’s ability to cope and to be successful.
Obviously, people who focus their mind on what they want to do or what they need to do
- and then do it - are more likely to achieve their objectives. This succession of setting
and achieving goals will contribute to their overall success in whatever they choose to
do. It is sensible to have a number of Goals for the various aspects of our life
The logic and value of setting and pursuing goals is obvious but is often ignored
because our complicated minds tend consider that anything which is not complex and
sophisticated is of low value. Conversely, many people think the goal setting process
itself is too time consuming and complicated.
In fact, Goal setting is intrinsically simple and requires that we understand just four key
points;
What The Desired Outcome What is our Goal or Objective?
Why The Motivation Why is this Outcome significant to us?
How The Essential Actions How will we achieve the outcome?
When The Timescale When must we start and finish?

When we clearly identify what we need or want, why this is important, what we must do
in order to achieve our goals and how quickly we can realistically achieve this we
 generate a dynamic that enables us to achieve more because we have a clearly
defined purpose – we know what we wish to achieve and how to do this
 curtail the negative effects caused by wasting our time, effort and resources
doing less productive or unproductive activities that do not help us to make
progress - and may even lead us further away from our desired situation
Goal setting may be formally structured and written down in some form, or it may be
completely informal – simply an idea in our mind. The presentation does not matter as
much as the substance (although documenting the process can provide a useful prompt
and make it easier to communicate the goal to other people when necessary.)
Many people apply a popular Goal Setting methodology that uses the acronym SMART
Specific Goals must be clearly specified to avoid confusion
Measurable The outcome must be measurable to prove it has been achieved
Achievable It is pointless and demotivating to set truly impossible goals
Relevant The outcome must be relevant to the desired situation
Time Limited The Goal must be achieved by a specific and relevant time
However, as we will see, whilst the SMART methodology is a well established and
effective guide, it omits two vital elements which can substantially improve outcomes.



1. Clarifying The Desired Outcome What do we want to achieve?

The main purpose of Goal Setting is to achieve objectives, and the secondary purpose
is to provoke thought processes which help us do this as effectively as possible. These
thought processes may cause us to modify our stated goal in one of five ways;
1. We may abandon the idea completely as being impractical or not worth the effort
2. We may reduce our intention because we realise the original was too ambitious
3. We may create a series of sub-goals to make it easier to achieve the main objective
4. We may enlarge the intention because we realise more is possible or desirable
5. We may decide to pursue an entirely different Goal and start the process again
When we clarify the desired outcome we should do just that and nothing more. Simply
decide What we want to achieve and make a mental or a written note of precisely what
changes will have taken place when this goal is achieved. (The changes will often
relate to both a revised situation and to our perception of ourself.)

2. Establishing The Motivation Why is this Outcome significant to us?

Goal achievement involves creating change so the second step is to visualise the
situation we will see and experience once this change is achieved and note how we feel
about it. Once more, the note can be mental or written – it is the substance that matters,
not the presentation.
Then we quickly assess Why we feel the way we do. This will reveal our motivation -
the factor which controls whether or not we will pursue or achieve our Goal.
Identifying motivation is the first element not included in the SMART methodology.
True, SMART requires an explanation of the Relevance of achieving the Goal but
relevance is a logical consideration whilst motivation is an emotional condition – and
logic and emotion do not necessarily align particularly well.
Human Beings sometimes pursue logical courses which conflict with their emotions or
beliefs – often because they perceive it is their ‘duty’ to follow a particular course of
action. This approach may create negative stress and cause them, consciously or
otherwise, to limit the effort they apply or to abandon the course as soon as possible.
Also, we often pursue an emotional course which is not at all logical. We adopt quite
whimsical likes, dislikes and preferences, we struggle to follow a seemingly ‘impossible’
dream, fall in love with an ‘unsuitable’ person, persist in doing something which is
clearly causing us harm or distress – and we do it because we are emotionally
motivated to do so.
Identifying a motivational driver is simple – Human Beings are driven to avoid perceived
pain and to desire perceived pleasure, and when we consciously understand what is
driving us we can use this to achieve our Goals irrespective of whether this is based
upon logic or emotion.
Once again, all this is quite obvious but it is so simple its value is often disregarded.



3. Establishing Essential Actions How will we achieve the outcome?

Now we need to decide How we will achieve our Goal.
We stated earlier that there is a dual purpose to Goal Setting;
1. To achieve objectives
2. To provoke thought processes which help us do this as effectively as possible.
Ideally, the two purposes will combine and will identify a clear process that leads directly
to a successful outcome.
Sometimes, however, it is necessary to begin a process and make some progress
before it is possible to identify all the problems one must overcome; and then our
enhanced hindsight may indicate that the original plan was flawed and that a different
approach would have been more effective.
However, even when this happens and our original approach is proved wrong we are
always closer to achieving the Goal than before we undertook any action because the
process we instigated has provided us with new insights and a more accurate
perspective.
Unfortunately, when the first course of action proves ineffective many people feel they
have failed and they abandon all further action rather than seek an alternative approach
to achieving their desired goal. Clearly, this is more likely to happen when motivation is
low.

In most instances the How is relatively obvious but when this is not the case or when
the Goal is such that it demands more complex action or even a series of actions the
following process can help focus our thoughts on finding a suitable approach to take.
This process breaks the Goal down into components and is based upon two facts
1. The Desired Outcome will always describe a Change to the Current Situation
2. Every Effect has a Cause

We begin (1) by describing the current situation (the situation which must be changed)
and then (2) note the Negative Effects this situation produces.
We then (3) describe the desired situation and (4) note the Positive Benefits this will
produce.
The next step (5) is to establish what causes the Negative Effects to occur. In doing
this we thoroughly analyse the present situation.
Finally (6), we establish what must change (Corrective Action) to eliminate the causes
and deliver the Positive benefits we require. This establishes the foundation for
deciding how to achieve the outcome we desire – and establishes the Essential Actions.
This process is, in effect, a problem solving model and it is illustrated on the following
page in a table format and by using a stock control problem as an example. The fourth
column is blank as you may with to complete the exercise by deciding what the Desired
Goal is, what Benefits this will deliver, what Essential Actions must be undertaken to
achieve the stated Goal, and if we require one or more Sub-Goals.



Step 1 Computer stock records do not Step 3
Describe the accurately reflect the stock held Describe the
Current Desired
Situation Situation/Outcome
Step 2 We commit to orders we cannot Step 4
List the fulfil List the Benefits
Negative Poor Customer Service this will produce
Effects this Lost Orders
situation Increased carriage costs
produces Customer Service team, Stores &
Purchasing Dept waste time
Reduced Motivation
Lost profit
Step 5 1. Stock adjustments not being Step 6 (Essential Actions)
List what processed immediately stock is State what must
Causes the introduced or withdrawn change and what
Negative 2. Poor communication between Corrective Action
Effects to Warehouse, Production and is required
occur Sales Departments
3. Insufficient trained personnel

This process is effective for relatively complex situations as shown above and for much
simpler situations.

4. Establishing The Timescale When must we Start and Finish?

Timescales are often obvious, and the old maxim that states ‘If it’s worth doing do it
Now!’ is possibly more relevant in today’s high pressure fast changing world than it was
decades ago when the saying was coined.
However, high pressure usually means there is a need to prioritise and to undertake the
most urgent activities before embarking upon something that is important but not so
urgent. (Please see Gift One – Ten Minute Time Management Tune Up for more
information.)
Clearly, applying timescales to Goal Setting will always involve a combination of
Urgency and Opportunity. It is obvious that if it is important to achieve the Desired
Outcome urgently we need to start sooner rather than later; and if it is less urgent and
can wait we can delay the start - BUT it is still advisable to make a note of the proposed
start date and commit to starting on that date or the intention to pursue the Goal will
probably be postponed as other pressures impose themselves.
Sometimes, when a Goal is complex or the Essential Actions must be achieved over a
longer period it becomes necessary to establish the latest possible Start Date by
adopting a ‘reverse engineering’ approach. We simply take the desired completion
date, assess how long is required to complete the Essential Actions and work out the
latest date we can start if we are to finish on time.



Summary
 Goal Setting helps us to enhance our life and performance in specific areas
 It helps us take greater control of our life and increase the quality of our life
 As adult Human Beings we are responsible for our own circumstances
 Personal Goal Setting actually reduces negative stress
 Methodology is What, Why, How and When?
 SMART is a good guide
 Motivation is avoiding perceived pain and pursuing perceived pleasure
 A Desired Outcome will always describe a Change to the Current Situation
 Every Effect has one or more Causes
 Break big Goals down into Sub-goals
 If the first approach does not achieve what you want, try a different approach
Our ten minutes is up
Effective Goal Setting is a huge subject and there is a lot more we could cover if we had
enough Time – but this is simply a ‘tune up’ exercise and we have used the Ten
Minutes we allocated.
If you would like to know more about Effective Goal Setting techniques and how these
can change your life please contact us via info@aims-training.com and state Goal
Setting as the Subject.
We strongly recommend you complete the following Review and Action Plan because
putting thoughts into writing improves their clarity and increases the probability of both
remembering them and of actually taking value adding action.

Review and Action Plan
What have I learned or remembered because I read the Goal Setting Tune Up?

What ACTION will I adopt as a result of this input?

What Benefits will these changes deliver?


Alan r davey aims management training gift 2 of 10

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