Setting Goals — the Meta Skill — a 12 Step Guide
Pick a destination & build a launchpad before trying to take off
Humans are intensely goal-driven creatures, it's built right into our basic biology. The ability to set & work towards goals effectively is a meta-skill— along with ‘the ability to learn effectively’ — together these skills will help & enable you to have & achieve whatever you set your mind to.
..But What’s the goal?
In ‘Start with Why’, Simon Sinek explains his concept of the ‘Golden Circle’, and how fulfilled people and successful organizations particularly are able to inspire others and successfully differentiate themselves by starting with their ‘why’.
Sinek is not alone in this belief; these ideas have been around for thousands years — Aristotle, for example, linked human flourishing (eudaimonia) directly to purpose (telos). The Japanese have ikigai (‘A reason to get up in the morning’) whilst the French have raison d’être (‘justification for existing’).
To carry any real weight, our goals must spring from purpose, from ‘the why’ — and so depend largely on who we are as people — what is it that you value most?
Our goals depend largely on who we are as people — what is it that you value most?
How & What — a 12 Step Guide
Once you have a goal (or more than one), your journey towards achieving it needs to be mapped out, otherwise it would be a dream, not a goal.
It’s useful to have a somewhat methodological and continuously-improving process for this, as it will ensure you don’t leave anything out, and can spend the most time on actually achieving your goals effectively.
I recently read a book by Brian Tracy named — wouldn’t you know it — “Goals”.
The book revolves around the importance of goal setting and describes Tracy’s 12 step process (see below) for better setting and achieving goals.
I found the book to be extremely valuable — the steps are easy & straightforward to apply, lots of examples are given, and the book is packed with relevant quotes from various famous figures. Being somewhat of a pragmatic person myself, I also appreciated the ease with which I could put the content into practice.
The below infographic illustrates Tracy’s 12 step process. For a more detailed explanation and guides, see the book or a more in-depth summary.
Putting this into Action
I will be putting together another article on how I have used the 12 steps in my life, which I will then link from this post — for those interested!
Graphics have been created by me on Canva unless otherwise stated. Thanks for reading, and hope it was somewhat useful!
References
- Tracy, B. (2012). Goals!. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
- Sinek, S. (2011). Start with why. Penguin Books.
- degrees.snu.edu. (n.d.). The Importance of Goal Setting for Adult Students. [online] Available at: https://degrees.snu.edu/blog/the-importance-of-goal-setting-for-adult-students.
- Rangel, A. and Hare, T. (2010). Neural computations associated with goal-directed choice. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, [online] 20(2), pp.262–270. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20338744/ [Accessed 18 Oct. 2021].
- Chaffey, D. (2019). Creating a value proposition with the Golden Circle Model. [online] Smart Insights. Available at: https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/online-value-proposition/start-with-why-creating-a-value-proposition-with-the-golden-circle-model/.
- Wax, D. (2008). The Science of Setting Goals (And How It Affects Your Brain). [online] Lifehack. Available at: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/the-science-of-setting-goals.html.
- The Nature Institute. (n.d.). Goal Directed Activity in Life. [online] Available at: https://www.natureinstitute.org/article/e-s-russell/goal-directed-activity-in-life [Accessed 19 Oct. 2021].
- www.mckinsey.com. (n.d.). How effective goal-setting motivates employees | McKinsey & Company. [online] Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-organization-blog/how-effective-goal-setting-motivates-employees.
- Rescorla RA, Wagner AR. A theory of Pavlovian conditioning: Variations in the effectiveness of reinforcement and nonreinforcement. Classical Conditioning II Current Research and Theory. 1972;2:64–99. [Google Scholar]
