Brian Tracy’s Goal Setting and Achieving Formula

Goal-setting and time management are essential tools for achieving success in life. Recently, I read a book by Brian Tracy on these topics that totally revolutionized my life. I highly recommend reading the book and studying from other material by Brian Tracy as well.

The following exercises were taken from Brian Tracy’s awesome book, Master Your Time, Master Your Life: The Breakthrough System to Get More Results, Faster, in Every Area of Your Life.

Before I cover his goals formula, a good place to start is to complete his personal strategic planning exercise. This will lead up to the goals formula nicely. Enjoy!

Reflection

1. Who am I?

2. What do I really want to do with my life?

3. What do I really, really want to do with my life?

4. What do I really, really, really want to do with my life?

Personal Strategic Planning Focuses on 4 Basic Questions

1. Where am I now in life?

• What have you accomplished so far?
• How much are you worth financially?
• What kind of family life do you have?
• What is your level of health and fitness?

2. How did I get to where I am today?

• What were the choices you made in the past to create your present life?
• What has been most responsible for your success to date?
• What has been the reason for your setbacks?

3. Where do I want to go in the future?

• Imagine a perfect future.
• Project forward five years and imagine that your life was excellent in every way.
• How would it be different from your life today?

4. How could I get from where I am to where I want to be?

• What are all the different things that you could do, starting today, to create your perfect future?

The Goal Setting & Achieving Formula

Step 1. Decide exactly what you want. Be specific. Your goals should be so clear that you could explain it to a six year old child, and a six year old child could turn around and explain them to another six year old child. In addition, the child should be able to tell you how close you are to your goals because they’re so clear and simple.

Step 2. Write it down. Only 3% of adults have written goals. And it seems that everyone else works for them. They earn on average ten times as much as people without written goals. Once you’ve written down your goal, make it measurable. Attach a number to it so that someone else could tell you how close you are to achieving it. There’s a rule that says if you want to be successful, put a measure on every goal and activity. But if you want to be rich, put a financial measure on every goal and activity.

Step 3. Set a deadline. Decide exactly when you want to achieve a particular goal. If it’s a longer term goal, break it down into years, months, weeks, and even days.

Step 4. Make a list of everything that you can think of that you could possibly do to achieve the goal. As you think of new things you could do or learn or people whom you could talk to, write them on your list. Keep writing until you can’t think of anything else.

Step 5. Organize your list by sequence. Create a checklist, ordering your tasks starting with what you have to do first to achieve your goal, then to what you have to do second, and all the way down to the final step you will need to achieve that goal. You can also organize your list by priority. What is the most important item on your list? What is the second most important item?

Step 6. Take action on your plan. Do something. Do anything. But get going. Take the first step, and the good news is that you can always see the first step. You always know what to do to get started.

Step 7. Do something every day that moves you toward your most important goal. Seven days a week, 365 days a year, do something, small or large, that moves you one step forward towards your goal. This activates the momentum principle of success.

Goals to Hit Within 12 Months

Come up with 10 goals that you will accomplish in the next year. They can be 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 6 month, or even 12 month goals. Use the “3 P’s” – Personal, Positive, and Present Tense. For example – “I earn $100,000 by January 1^st, 2018.” Don’t write “I will.” That is future tense. The subconscious mind only understands present tense.

14-Day Goal Setting Challenge

On Brian Tracy’s website, you can also sign up for his Free 14-Day Goal Setting Challenge. Click here to check it out. Remember that goal-setting and time management are essential habits for success.

Brian Tracy is one of, if not the best in the business regarding these skills. Make this a part of your life, and watch your levels of success and fulfillment rise to greater and greater heights.