No matter who you are or what you do, you will have goals. There is a principle called the four P's, which can help you to tighten up and tweak these goals you may be working on. So, grab a piece of paper and write down what the goal is. Now let's try the 4 P's...
Is this goal too far in the future or too
close that it is going to happen anyway? For instance, if my goal is to haveenough money to retire (and I am only 30), that might seem quite far away, so saving £10k this year might be a more
present goal.
What does the goal mean to you
personally? The strongest motivator as to why we ever do anything or implement any behaviour change is for the personal benefit. Even if it is to giveto charity, the strongest reason for doing so will be how it makes you feel. Don't get confused about this being selfish –
what is good for me is good for we!
If you were asked to
not think about a pink elephant, what are you thinking about now? So, if you were to set a goal to 'not' dosomething you are automatically thinking about 'that' thing. So, can you re-frame the goal in a positive way? An example would
be, ‘I don't want to go bankrupt’ (that may be a motivator) could be transformed to, ‘I will have enough money to live
the lifestyle that I desire’.
This P requires some reality (not too much) to analyse if the goal is actually possible. For instance, to be a Formula1 driver at 75 years’ old might be quite a stretch (given an F1 driver's average age and history, and so on). Growing a business from £100k to £2.5m in six months might also set you up for disappointment. Your goal should stretch you but also be contextually possible.
To put this into practice, it has been
a long-running (no pun intended) goal of mine to run the London Marathon, andI am fortunate enough to have got a place for this year. Running 26.2 miles may not be everyone’s idea of a great goal but here are my four P's in action:
• Present: It is definitely close but there's to enough time to train and set myself a challenge. It is not too far away
that I may lose motivation.
• Personal: It would mean a lot to me personally, not only for me but the feelings that I will get from making my wife and children proud will be epic!
• Positive: I am raising money for a charity, I am getting fitter, my diet has improved, and I am looking at all the benefits. This goal is positively framed!
• Possible: My goal is just to run the London Marathon, not run the race within a certain time. I see thousands of people every year finish the race, so I believe it is possible for me.
Good luck with all of your goal setting adventures!
