Goals and Goal-Setting

1
|
Goals and Goal-Setting
Maximising Your Potential
MTL Course Topics
MAXIMISING YOUR
POTENTIAL

2
|
MTL Course Topics
The Course Topics series from Manage Train Learn is a large collection of topics that will help you as a learner
to quickly and easily master a range of skills in your everyday working life and life outside work. If you are a
trainer, they are perfect for adding to your classroom courses and online learning plans.
COURSE TOPICS FROM MTL
The written content in this Slide Topic belongs exclusively to Manage Train Learn and may only be reprinted
either by attribution to Manage Train Learn or with the express written permission of Manage Train Learn.
They are designed as a series of numbered
slides. As with all programmes on Slide
Topics, these slides are fully editable and
can be used in your own programmes,
royalty-free. Your only limitation is that
you may not re-publish or sell these slides
as your own.
Copyright Manage Train Learn 2020
onwards.
Attribution: All images are from sources
which do not require attribution and may
be used for commercial uses. Sources
include pixabay, unsplash, and freepik.
These images may also be those which are
in the public domain, out of copyright, for
fair use, or allowed under a Creative
Commons license.

3
|
MTL Course Topics
ARE YOU READY?
OK, LET’S START!

4
|
MTL Course Topics
INTRODUCTION
Goal-setting is the one activity that sets apart self-
developers from those who survive or just get by. Goal-
setting enables us to create the future we want to happen
rather than live the future that others want to happen. In
goal-setting, we take charge. When goals are based on our
strengths, we set ourselves up to achieve great things. By
using the power of positive thinking, and the innate abilities
that we all have, such as persistence and determination, we
realise that all things become possible.

5
|
MTL Course Topics
WHY SET GOALS?
Goal-setting is the one activity that distinguishes self-
developers from those who just survive and get by. By
committing ourselves to future goals, we galvanise our
energies and focus our thoughts.
Goal-setting is central to maximising our potential because
it...
1. describes the end result of our efforts
2. motivates us
3. provides a means for measuring our progress
4. feeds our goal-oriented brains
5. results in personal satisfaction
6. offers us a way to compete with others
7. provides us with a reward for our efforts
8. puts us in control of our futures.
Goal-setting tells us what the score will be. Now we can get
on and enjoy the game.

6
|
MTL Course Topics
GOALS AND PROVERBS
It has always been recognized that there is a link between
the goals you set and the goals you get. Proverbs and
sayings, from different cultures, old and new, confirm this.
1. When we desire something badly, we usually find a way
to get it.
2. What goes around, comes around.
3. The thought is father to the deed.
4. Everything is created twice: once in our heads, and then
in our acts.
5. What you see is what you get.
6. Garbage in, garbage out.
7. The Buddhist law of karma: like attracts like.
8. Beware of what you want for you will surely get it.
9. What is now proved was once only imagined.
10. Great thinking precedes great achievement.

7
|
MTL Course Topics
HOW TO SET GOALS
To be certain of achieving your goals, you need to set them
correctly.
There are 12 important principles in goal-setting:
1. write down your goals
2. base your goals on your strengths
3. dream the biggest dreams you can then...
4. go to work on turning them into daily habits
5. pitch each goal to the right level of challenge
6. get focused and passionate about the goals
7. express the goals in behavioural terms
8. see, hear and feel the goals
9. check they're ecologically right
10. harmonize them with the rest of your life
11. stay flexible
12. decide on your time-frame.

8
|
MTL Course Topics
WRITE YOUR GOALS DOWN
When you put your goals down in writing, you not only
force yourself to clarify them, you also commit yourself to
them.
Written goals give you a clearly expressed target which then
becomes your way of measuring your progress.
You can carry out a written goal-setting exercise at any time,
perhaps writing out your goals on one sheet of A4 and
tucking it away in your personal diary or papers. It should
not be left to gather dust but should be read and reviewed
regularly.
To add power to written goals, you can include the reason
for the goal eg My goal is to become fitter, so that I will feel
healthier, be less stressed at work and enjoy my hobbies
more.
Written goals have a way of transforming wishes into wants,
can'ts into cans, dreams into plans, and plans into reality.
Don't just think it. Ink it!

9
|
MTL Course Topics
127 GOALS IN A LIFETIME
In “Chicken Soup For The Soul”, Jack Canfield and Mark
Victor Hansen told the story of a 15-year-old boy called John
Goddard, who in the 1920’s wrote down a list of goals that
he wanted to achieve in his lifetime.
They included: exploring the River Nile, climbing the world’s
highest mountains, following a career in medicine, playing
Clair de Lune on the piano, marrying and having children,
owning a cheetah, learning 3 foreign languages, visiting the
birthplaces of both his grandfathers in Denmark and
England, running a mile in 5 minutes, and riding a horse in a
Rose Bowl Parade.
John wrote down 127 goals and when the 21st century
dawned, he achieved his 109th goal – which was to live to
see the 21st century. How did he achieve so many of his
goals? By writing them down as a way of giving commitment
to his dreams.

10
|
MTL Course Topics
BUILD ON STRENGTHS
One of the best ways to precede a goal-setting session is to
carry out a personal SWOT analysis. This is your way of
assessing and writing down your strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats.
1. Strengths are the things you are good at and enjoy
doing. Strengths-based goals provide their own
motivation.
2. Weaknesses are the things that you have to do, but
either dislike doing or make slow progress in.
3. Opportunities are the external circumstances you
expect to arise or can create which will aid you in
moving towards your goals.
4. Threats are those external circumstances that are
unlikely to help you and may set you back.
While we must keep an eye on weaknesses and threats, our
goals should be built around strengths and opportunities.

11
|
MTL Course Topics
DREAM BIG
One of the limiting factors in goal-setting is the self-imposed
restriction that our goals ought not to be too big. We often
feel we must conform to modest targets because anything
more smacks of arrogance, pride and big-headedness.
Yet, all the evidence of those who have set big dreams
suggests that we can all achieve more than we set
ourselves.
As David Schwartz says in his book, "The Magic of Thinking
Big", big goals attract big resources like a magnet.
So, when you estimate what you can do, raise your
expectations by 20%. We can all do far more than we think.
"The more you can dream, the more you can do." (Michael
Korda)

12
|
MTL Course Topics
A TOUCH OF PRAGMATISM
There is nothing wrong in thinking big when you set your
goals. But you need to remember that a goal and a dream
are not always the same thing.
In his book, "Straight From the Gut", Chairman and CEO of
General Electric, Jack Welch recalls a meeting with the top
people from his nuclear engineering division.
For over an hour, the executives laid out their goals to sell
three nuclear reactors a year in the United States.
At the end, Welch thanked his executives but said that, no
matter how well-intentioned, it was no more than a dream
to expect the USA to buy nuclear reactors again. A more
realistic and pragmatic goal would be to perhaps service
existing nuclear facilities.
Today, GE are top in their category of servicing nuclear
plants. They don't invest in reactors any more.

13
|
MTL Course Topics
DAILY TARGETS
While there is nothing wrong in dreaming big dreams, it is
foolish to believe that dreams alone will get you to your
goals.
Once you have set your dreams (or visions of where you
want to be) you then need to set in place the means to
bring them about.
You need to think about how the dream can be translated
into near-term goals, medium-term goals and long-term
goals, not just in one area but in many. The dream links
goals across time and across different areas, uniting the
practical with the visionary.
"I mastered the mechanisms of life the better to bend it to
the will of the dream... With hammer and nails, paint, soap,
money, typewriter, cookbook, douche bags, I created a
dream." (Anais Nin)

14
|
MTL Course Topics
PASSION AND FOCUS
The combination of focus and passion is an unstoppable
one.
The Renaissance artist Michelangelo produced some of the
greatest works of art the world has seen. These include the
statue of St Peter in the Vatican and the ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel of St Peter, much of which was completed on his
back.
Michelangelo had such an overwhelming passion for the
project he was working on that he could shut out all other
concerns until the present vision was all that he had left.
"Whatever you ardently and constantly desire, you always
obtain." (Napoleon)

15
|
MTL Course Topics
PITCH EACH GOAL
Bob Kriegel devised a model called the "Three Zone Model "
to show where we should pitch our goals.
1. When our goals are too easy, they fall into the drop
zone: they don't test us or provide any motivation, so
they get dropped.
2. When they are too difficult, they provide little ongoing
success, so they dishearten us and also get dropped.
3. Only in the challenging zone, where goals are set just
beyond our present reach is there the pull of a
challenge.
"Your goal should be just out of reach but not out of sight."
(Denis Waitley and Reni Witt)

16
|
MTL Course Topics
IMAGINATION BEATS WILL
When your will, your rational left-brained self, comes into
conflict with your imagination, your creative right-brained
self, your imagination wins every time.
Mark Victor Hansen tells the story of the child who was
frightened of monsters under her bed. To calm the little girl
down, Hansen suggests it's better to appeal to the little girl's
imagination than her reason.
So, instead of saying something like, "Don't be silly, there
are no monsters there", say something like, "Don't worry,
sweetheart, our monsters are the kind that look after kids".
Like children, we often imagine the worst. If we want to
achieve our goals, we need to imagine ourselves
succeeding. Such thoughts send out an energy that attracts
complementary thoughts from people who can help us
achieve what we want.

17
|
MTL Course Topics
KICKING FOR GOAL
Jonny Wilkinson is one of the most prolific goal-scorers in
rugby union. His tally for the England team is 1090 points
more than anyone else has ever achieved. Wilkinson scored
the winning drop-goal that secured England the World Cup
in 2003 scoring in the last minute of extra time.
When he takes a conversion kick, he uses his powers of
visualisation as much as his skill.
He says, "I use the seam of the ball as a target, the ball
leaning slightly to the left. Then I go back and visualise the
line of my kick, dead straight between the ball and the
middle of the posts. That line is fixed in my mind like
concrete. Then a few steps to the side. I see the path of the
ball in my mind, then a deep focus, imagining all the power
going through my leg. You try to be in total control of the
path of the ball, kick up and through it."

18
|
MTL Course Topics
SET BEHAVIOURAL GOALS
When we set goals for ourselves, they should be expressed
in behavioural terms, rather than in terms of status, rewards
or position. Behaviour is something that is fully within our
power; status, rewards and position are not.
Not: Billy wants to play for United when he leaves school.
But: Billy wants to be a top-class goal-scorer when he leaves
school.
Formulating goals in behavioural terms also means we
present a strong model of behaviour to our brains. We see
it, hear it and feel it. The brain, not knowing the difference
between real and imagined experiences, seeks to act in
accordance with the presented behavioural image. When a
discrepancy occurs between real and imagined behaviour,
the brain tries to close the gap.

19
|
MTL Course Topics
EXPERIENCE THE GOAL
Jean is supervisor of an Accounts office. She finds it hard to
get on with her new boss, Jim. At their weekly meetings, she
fails to make her points with confidence, stumbles over her
words, feels her face redden and shifts uncomfortably in her
seat.
Worrying about why she behaves this way has made no
difference so Jean decides to try goal-setting.
She sits down and pictures to herself the Jean she'd like to
be at the meetings: confident, relaxed and calm. She plays
the image over and over in her mind, practising her
movements, her responses, her words and how she feels.
In time, Jean has a clear picture of how she wants to be and
at the next meeting, tries to put some of the actions into
practice. She's on her way to reaching her goal.

20
|
MTL Course Topics
THINK FROM YOUR GOALS
In the 1950's, success philosopher Neville Goddard taught
that you should not think "of" your goals, but "from" them.
The reason was as follows.
If you spend a lot of time thinking about your yet-to-be-
accomplished goals, it is easy to overwhelm yourself. Every
time you think about what's still to be achieved, you realize
how far you have to go, what effort you need to put in, what
obstacles you need to overcome, and what distractions may
put you off-course.
However, when you think that your goal is inevitable and
that, indeed, you already have it, that certainty gives you a
new identity and you simply act in accordance with what
you believe about yourself. By consciously setting your
mental thermostat to "goal achieved", you are bound to
reach it because you will act in accordance with who you
believe you are.

21
|
MTL Course Topics
RIGHT GOALS
Whenever we set goals, we have the choice between goals
that are right for us to pursue and those that are unworthy
of our time and effort.
Right goals have the following characteristics:
1. They are expressed in positive terms, not negative ones.
Not: I want to stop smoking;
But: I want to enjoy breathing clean air all day long.
2. They benefit others as well as ourselves.
Not: I want to be a millionaire;
But: I want to provide such a good service to others that
they will pay me for doing it.
3. They are worthwhile in terms of end results.
4. They are based on principles which are more important
than the goal itself eg service, fairness, honesty, integrity.

22
|
MTL Course Topics
HARMONIZE YOUR GOALS
Whilst focusing on goals is a sure way to move towards
them focusing on some goals at the cost of neglecting
others is a way to achieve hollow victories. It is like the man
who worked so hard to provide for his family that he
neglected them in the process and ended up losing them
from his life in separation and divorce.
Some of the other areas that need to be considered when
you set goals in, say, your work life are the effects on home,
marriage, health, social life, leisure activities, spiritual life.
When we manage to harmonize or align goals in one area
with those in another, we find that motivating forces in one
area actually help those in other areas at the same time. As
psychologists put it, they become "ecologically worthwhile".

23
|
MTL Course Topics
STAYING FLEXIBLE
Although plans and timetables are needed when setting
goals, they should only ever be used as aids not as absolute
conditions. Aim to avoid anything which makes you
inflexible.
1. Do not announce your goals to others, unless you know
them well and trust them as friends. When you publicly
tie your colours to the mast, you may raise others'
expectations which rebound on you as pressures.
2. Do not commit yourself to achieving your goals in one
way only. If you do, you may miss opportunities along
the way. This is how you can stumble across unexpected
discoveries on the way to your goal.
3. Do not stick to one deadline. By staying flexible, you
allow yourself to finish earlier if you can.

24
|
MTL Course Topics
DECIDE ON TIME FRAMES
There is a sharp divide between those who believe that
goals must have fixed time frames and those who believe
they shouldn’t.
In Favour. The advocates of fixed time deadlines for goals
argue that without time frames goals may not be achieved.
In their view, goals are easier to manage when they are
planned according to dates and schedules. A fixed date for
goal-achievement also allows us to measure how well we're
doing.
Against. Those against putting time frames beside goals
argue that deadlines are an external pressure which takes
some of our options out of our hands. Pressure on us to
achieve may increase our stress. Alternatively, long time
frames may lull us into a false sense of security with the
result that we delay and procrastinate.

25
|
MTL Course Topics
THAT’S
IT!
WELL DONE!

26
|
MTL Course Topics
THANK YOU
This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn

Goals and Goal-Setting

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Goals and Goal-Setting

Similar to Goals and Goal-Setting (20)

More from Manage Train Learn

More from Manage Train Learn (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (8)

Goals and Goal-Setting