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“The most important thing about having goals is having ONE!” -Albert Geoffrey

Assuming you read my last post (Goal Setting for Dummies Part One – a Top Gun Analogy), you know I have struggled with a vicious cycle of setting tons of goals, following through with some but not ALL of them, and then getting down on myself for failing (again) to live up to the personal “rules” and high standards I set for myself…but then I would find myself jumping right back in to the same old habit of doing it to myself all over again. I knew this pattern SUCKED and I needed to change it but I had a difficult time finding and sticking with something that worked. But then I came across an old post from Leo at Zen Habits that inspired me to review and restructure the way I set goals for myself… In “Really Simple Goal Setting,” Leo iterates the importance of whittling all the numerous (and sometimes overlapping) goals you may have down to the ONE main goal that will most improve the quality of your life. I won’t go into detail about why honing in on one target is so important if you truly want to reach your goals or how Top Gun (one of the greatest movies of all-time) plays a role in this, but suffice it to say I had an epiphany of sorts. For a better understanding, shoot over to Goal Setting for Dummies Part One – a Top Gun Analogy.

Since adopting the strategies outlined below, I have not only experienced greater productivity in all areas of my life, I have also made giant strides in accomplishing my ONE main goal. Furthermore, I haven’t been waking up with that sense of anxiety or that feeling of being overwhelmed with all the things I felt I “needed” to do on any given day. Here’s how I revamped my “goals.”

Step One: Collect all the goals, rules, and standards that you set for yourself (whether they are written down or just in your head) and brain dump them into a list on a piece of paper. Do it…Seriously…Do it NOW.

Step Two: Identify the ONE goal, the ONE rule, or the ONE value that, if accomplished, would most improve the quality of your life. If you KNEW you could accomplish just ONE thing, which of the items on your list would most dramatically affect your life for the better? Write that ONE goal on an index card.

Step Three: Physically rip, tear, set fire to, or destroy the rest of your list Whatever it takes for you to physically and emotionally free up the space that your half-baked goals, rules, or standards have been occupying in your mind.

All this clutter is like that group of asshole “acquaintances” who were kind of “invited” to the party at your house who do nothing but hover around the keg drinking all your beer while screaming at every girl who walks by to do a keg stand. They make everyone feel just a tinge of awkwardness and then they puke all over your garage…yeah, they don’t really do anything to make your party better so kick them the hell out of there.

Step Four: Now that you have your ONE goal written down, turn it into a 5-6 word mnemonic mantra. If your ONE goal is to have a $15,000 net income month than make your mantra something like, “$15,000 dolla make-a me holla!” Yes, this is a little corny, stupid, and lame…but that’s the point. It’s a mnemonic device that acts as your “trigger” to action. Make it meaningful and make it fun. But limit it to 5-6 words at the most.

Step Five: Focus on your NEED to move forward with your one goal only and release the NEED to accomplish any of the other goals, rules, or standards that were on your list. This is a lot like step three but there is an important distinction – there are other things that you will work towards accomplishing in your life, other areas where you will direct your actions. That’s fine…but you have to remove the NEED to do all those things. The only NEED should be moving forward on your one main goal, the rest of your “to-dos” will take a back seat.

I can’t belabor this point enough – by removing the need to accomplish all the other things I had previously stacked up on my to-do list or in my goal sheets, I have freed myself up to fully and creatively attack my one main goal while still having the energy to get other things done. But I no longer feel like I HAVE to get those other things done. Removing the need to get those things done has actually freed me up to GET those things done. You dig?

I don’t know if this process will help you. Every person is different, everybody processes and relates to information differently. I can only let you know what it has done for me. I’ve made huge steps forward in my online business, I’ve been more productive in other areas of my life, and I’m less stressed out and anxious about all the “stuff” I HAVE to get done. I finally feel like I have removed some of the friction that was holding me back. And I have to say…it’s a great feeling

Paul

P.S. I would love your feedback. Please drop a comment if either of these last two posts have helped you with YOUR goals in any way. Or even if you are extremely proud that I FINALLY wrote a post that made it under 1,000 words…I’d love to hear from you either way. And Leo, if you are reading this, thanks for all the great advice at ZenHabits…

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