Zig Ziglar Goal Setting

The other day I listened to Zig Ziglar’s Audio book called; How To Be A Winner. Zig truly is the sales & motivation master. His insights are inspiring and if followed and executed, they will truly help you lead a successful life.

On this particular CD, he gave a few outstanding tips on goals which I’d like to share. Entrepreneurs by nature are generally goal oriented. Not all entrepreneurs will formally write out their goals, but they generally have them. Often those goals are financially based. Nearly always they are performance based. For example, this month I'll sell x amount of new units. Or, this week I will introduce my service to 10 new prospects.

Ultimately, creating the goal properly is essential. Zig outlined 6 steps for creating a goal, as well as 4 characteristics of goals. They are:

6 steps of creating goals

1. Identify your goal. What do you want to accomplish?
2. Set a deadline for reaching your goal
3. Make a list of obstacles that must be overcome to reach your goal.
4. Identify people who can help you overcome those obstacles.
5. Makes a list of all skills you have and those you need to obtain in order to achieve your goals
6. Develop a plan to achieve this goal.

Also, there are specific characteristics that each goal must possess. This will help you set the correct type of goal.

Characteristics of a Goal

1. To be effective, the goal must effect change
2. You must have big goals as well as long term goals
3. If you don’t have daily objectives you qualify as a dreamer and not as a doer. Daily action toward goal achievement is essential! Zig added, The difference between great and near great is the awareness that making it big means working every day to your long term objectives.
4. Goals must be specific, not vague or general. If you want to reach your goal you must be able to see touch & smell it.

Goals don't have to be complicated or overly lofty. I've found the most effective goals are simple, achievable, yet will stretch you slightly outside of your comfort zone.

I encourage you to follow these goal setting tips. Try it right now. Create a goal for something you'd like to achieve in the next week. Then, leave a comment to this blog post and tell us how you did.

Always remember, Whether you think you can or think you can’t you are generally right!