How Bad do you want it?
The Power of Setting Goals
The Harvard MBA program is
extremely competitive, and today admits approximately 15% of applicants.
In the 60′s the acceptance rate was about 30%, down to 25% in the 70s, and has
fluctuated between 10-15% ever since. Students who make it past the
application process are typically standouts, and already fairly successful by
most traditional definitions – they have an undergraduate degree, typically
three to five years of work experience and were considered suitable for
acceptance into the Harvard Business School.
The average Harvard MBA graduate starts at $115K with a $20K
signing bonus. Nonetheless, some graduates of the Harvard MBA program end
up being MUCH more successful than others in the long run.
So, Why
Do 3% of Harvard MBAs Make Ten Times as Much as the Other 97% Combined ?
The answer is a simple question: “Have you set clear, written
goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” In 1979,
interviewers asked new graduates from the Harvard’s MBA Program and found that
:
§ 84% had
no specific goals at all
§ 13% had
goals but they were not committed to paper
§ 3% had
clear, written goals and plans to accomplish them
In
1989, the interviewers again interviewed the graduates of that class. You
can guess the results:
§ The 13%
of the class who had goals were earning, on average, twice as much as
the 84 percent who had no goals at all.
§ Even
more staggering – the three percent who had clear, written goals were earning,
on average, ten times as much as the other 97 percent put together.
"Goals allow you to control the
direction of change in your favor."
Brian Tracy
"There is no
achievement without goals."Robert J. McKaine
Goals in writting
are dreams with deadlines. -Brian Tracy
"If you don't know where you are
going, you might wind up
someplace else." -Yogi
Berra
So How
do I write effective Goals?
1.
Know
what you want – You got to
know what you want in life. Only through turning off the many distracters in
today’s lifestyle such as the internet, cell phones, and the television can we
truly sit down and think about what it is we truly want. You need to write in
detail what it is you want. Clarity in this aspect is POWER. VISUALIZE what you
want and BE SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE!
2.
Know
why you want to achieve that goal – What is it that you’re going to get out of taking action
towards and achieving this goal? Think of the outcome. Come up with as many
reasons as you can as to why you want this goal. This will provide PASSION and
PURPOSE in your life. VISUALIZE why you want that goal and AGAIN BE AS SPECIFIC
AS POSSIBLE!
3.
Break
it into smaller goals – Once you find
out what it is you want, break it down into smaller, more achievable goals.
This will take a larger goal and help make it more attainable. Completing your
smaller goals will keep you motivated, inspired, and passionate toward your
final goal.
4.
Set
a deadline – Setting
deadlines forces people to take action, especially for procrastinators. Many
people put off doing things, however, whenever a deadline is set, it helps
people to move to action. Setting deadlines also helps you evaluate where you
should be and help you with the later steps.
5.
Plan
how you are going to achieve this goal – You need a plan on how your going to achieve your goals.
This will act as a daily guide, which will fire your passion. An example goal
could be to lose 15 pounds by March, one step in your plan could be get to the
gym 3 days/week.
6.
Create
positive affirmations – Write out a
sentence or two of how you would feel having achieved that goal. For example,
if your goal is to lose 10 pounds by March and one of the reasons is because it
will give you more energy, your positive affirmation could be “Now that I have
so much more energy in life, I can keep up and play with my kids more.”
7.
HANDWRITE
it down – This is
important, do not overlook it. You need to handwrite your goal down on paper.
Handwrite the goal, why, how, and when you are going to achieve that goal. This
should not be a problem since you should have your computer, television, and
cell phone off.
