Setting Goals for 2011

A New Look At Setting Goals for 2011

I have never been good at setting goals. That’s not strictly true… I am good at setting them – I understand the principles involved – I’m just not that great at achieving them.

I have read books about goal setting, covered them in workshops, and know about making them SMART; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.

I even go into great lengths in formulating them, scheduling them into my day planner, writing them up and posting them all over the house. But no matter how much I do this I still don’t seem to be able to reach them by the appointed hour or even tick them off as accomplished.

So it is with this history that I approach the task of goal setting for 2011 with a little dread.

I know goals are important. They create momentum allowing us to see where you are going and how far you have come. However for me they are a double edged sword – a source of great joy or a sense of grim failure.

For many years I used to think that it was just me – that I was somehow lacking – and this is why my goal setting efforts came to naught.

Then I read something that made me go uh-huh! Maybe I had been looking at goals the wrong way? Granted, it is the generally accepted view but perhaps I need to look at the thing differently?

It was nothing much really – just someone else’s blog post about not wasting time with goals in 2011. The premise behind the idea is that many goals we may set for ourselves, especially regarding online business, is beyond our control.

Goals vs Objects of Desire

What if it is not about the goal? What if the problem is about commitment?

When you think about it goals can be beyond our control. For instance if I was to make some goals about what I want most in life

Working from home full time.
Totally debt free.
Independently wealthy.
Living on and managing a farm stay.

Are these goals possible or realistic?

They are dreams for sure and my gut goes squishy every time I think about them but they are more like objects of desire than “Goals”. Goals are the steps of achievement that bring you closer to your object of desire.

So I have identified some Objects of Desire, how do I set the path to achieve them?

Identifying the Goal Path to the Object of Your Desire

The backwards planning method is a great way to break down large goals (objects of desire) into smaller steps (goals). Just start at the end and think of the step just before it and keep doing this until you have identified your first step.

Take one of my objects of desire from above

Desire: Work from home

Goal: Replace my work for pay income

**Rinse & Repeat previous steps
Step 15: Sell lots of product
Step 14: Get traffic
Step 13: Get no. 1 on Google
Step 12: Build back-links
Step 11: Search engine optimise webpages
Step 10: Create own product
Step 9: Sell “X” affiliate products
Step 8: Get traffic
Step 7: Get no. 1 on Google
Step 6: Build back-links
Step 5: Search engine optimize webpages
Step 4: Build a site
Step 3: Create content
Step 2: Select a niche
Step 1: Research a topic

Goal Setting Vs Commitment

A lot of what we set for ourselves as online business goals is beyond our control…

#1 on Google – at Google’s discretion
Visitors to website… at the visitor’s discretion
Sell products… again at the visitor’s discretion

A Commitment has a direct relationship to a goal but must be something I have control over. So what can I commit to do each day to achieve these goals? What is within my control?

Write a blog post
Write an article and submit it to an article directory
Create back links to my site
Search engine optimize webpages

A good way to look at it is for every goal/step, identify what commitments you need to make to achieve it. If after a while what you are committed to doing is not achieving the goal, commit to do something else towards the goal. You haven’t failed to reach your goal, you have just refocused your energies toward achieving it.

So why not commit to identifying your object of desire, the goals to realize it, the commitments to achieve them and commit do at least one thing every day to grow your online work from home business.

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