I remember, it was decades ago I was attending our weekly meeting. This was the opportunity for the manager to vent his frustrations, complain to those who were there about the ones who weren’t and generally de-motivate us for the week. Perhaps you have had a similar experience.

Occasionally, we’d get relief when an outside speaker would come and talk to us. I say occasionally because listening to some of them was like watching paint dry. Yet still, every now and then we’d find a good one. One day a speaker spoke of something you’ve heard many times I’m sure; the importance and the power of setting goals. You know the old ‘a man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder’ analogy. “Goals give you direction,” the speaker said as I listened intently. Goals help you stay on track and help you measure your progress. “Written goals,” he said are the difference between success and mediocrity. As a new person it certainly made sense to me.

When the speaker left there was the meeting after the meeting. Most the experienced people scoffed at the speaker’s suggestions. “He’s telling you that by making a list you’ll succeed,” they laughed. “He’s saying you’ll improve your focus,” they giggled. Not knowing any better I laughed along with them. Misery sure loves Company doesn’t it?

Sad, but true, it was many years later that I experienced the power of setting goals. The reality is the vast majority of people do not set goals. This happens for a variety of reasons. Many don’t know where to start or how to do it. Many more I believe don’t understand how our minds work and the impact of writing specific, measurable goals.

People with positive well adjusted attitudes are focused on their goals. Written goals create the environment for change. In order to make real, long lasting change you need to do some programming or perhaps re­programming. I don’t want to get too technical here but let’s examine how your mind works before discussing goal setting techniques.

Your mind has three distinct parts. Your conscious mind takes in thousands of experiences every day. There are so many of these influences and images you see. How life has changed. You are bombarded by various media wherever you go. These images and experiences pass through your conscious mind are stored in your sub-conscious mind.

Your sub-conscious can not distinguish between right and wrong, good or bad. Like a computer it simply stores data. These experiences form your perception of truth or reality. These experiences may be repeated over and over again. If a child is continually told he or she is a loser, over time this becomes the truth or the self-image of the child. You may have had a bad experience giving a speech at school. Over the years, thinking of the experience and recalling the discomfort leads you to re-live it again and again in your mind. As a result, you believe you are a poor speaker and when an opportunity to speak presents itself you may head in the opposite direction. These experiences stored in your sub-conscious mind are there forever. What is in your sub-conscious, to a large degree, controls your actions.

Another part your mind is your creative sub-conscious. Its job is to seek balance or homeostasis. When what you are doing consciously matches how you see yourself in your sub-conscious mind, the creative sub-conscious works for you. It will give you energy and drive to reach you goal. On the other hand when what you do consciously does not match with your sub­conscious mind, the creative sub-conscious works against you and your focus is soon eroded. Imagine that you are projecting an image onto a screen. In order to change the projected image you must change the image you are projecting. Change is an inside job!

Many people become frustrated when they try to apply conscious willpower to make lasting change. Although they may succeed for a short period, they soon find themselves retreating back to old habits. Many have discovered that willpower alone is not enough. You need to change your internal picture to change your external results. There is good news! You can change your internal picture in your sub-conscious mind with goal setting and other attitudes. This will make the creative sub-conscious work for you as you move towards your goals.

In the articles that follow, you will be presented with techniques you can apply daily to change your internal picture and ultimately change your external results. When your goals are written, you can use additional approaches to focus on and accelerate your goals. In order to benefit from goal setting, the first step is to write goals effectively. You want to program your sub-conscious mind with a new reality as you move forward.

There are five key components in the process of setting goals and it’s best to get it right the first time. Remember the acronym SMART and that each letter has an important purpose.

The S in Smart is specific. Your mind is a missile seeking device. It does not understand generalities. You want to be as clear as possible when you write your goals. Setting a sales goal and writing, ‘I will improve sales in the first quarter,’ is ineffective. This goal is not specific and does not program the sub-conscious effectively. Your sub-conscious needs a specific target. It is more effective to write, ‘I will sell a percentage or so many sales units in the first quarter of the year.’ Similarly, writing a goal that you will lose weight in the first quarter will not work for you. You need to give your mind specific targets in this case; the exact amount of pounds or inches lost is more effective. Your mind is a missile seeking device and you want to program it exactly to hit your targets. When you visualize your goals you want a clear and specific picture.

The M in SMART is measurable. When you set your goal it gives you a foundation from which you can measure your progress. Will your sales goal be measured by volume or sales units? How will you know that you are making progress? If your goal is weight loss, will you measure progress in terms of pounds, clothes size or inches lost? You need to determine how you’ll measure your goals to stay on track. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. You want your goals to be measurable.

The A in SMART is attainable. This is where common sense is best applied. Writing a goal, ‘to triple sales in the first quarter,’ will in most cases set you up to fail. Writing a goal, ‘to drop 30 pounds in three weeks,’ is unhealthy and can make you ill. Writing a goal, ‘to run a marathon next month,’ when you haven’t run in ten years doesn’t make sense. Set goals that are attainable taking as many variables into account as possible.

The R in SMART is relevant. Your goals need to be relevant. Your sub­conscious mind is a powerful force so you want to be careful what you ask for. If your sales goal is achieved, can your company support the increased volume and maintain service standards? Do you need to lose the weight? We have young women and men all over North America losing pounds they don’t need to. Some sadly die as a result. Their goal is not relevant. It’s important that your goals are relevant.

Finally, the T in SMART is tracking your goals in relation to time. Will you measure your progress daily, weekly or monthly? When you pre-determine your form of time measurement it will increase you focus and help you stay on track. Once again, whatever you measure will get better and whatever you don’t measure will usually get worse.

What is this power of writing goals ? Like most principles of success it is simple. Have you ever had this happen to you? You need to do the grocery shopping, so you write out a long list of the foods you need to buy. When you get to the store, you can’t find the list you wrote. You go into the store anyway. As you walk down the aisles, you’re surprised by how many items you can remember. You only wrote the list once. When you write a goal you imprint the goal. Write it down! Write it down! Write it down! There is tremendous power in the written word.

I met a nice lady at a seminar I was presenting in San Diego, California. One of the best parts of my work is the interesting people I meet along the way. This charming woman was no exception. At the lunch break we sat together and the conversation flowed from one subject to another. She lit up when she told me of a hot date she was looking forward to on the Friday of that week. Then, with great enthusiasm she spoke of the list she had made. She had written a list for what she was wearing on this date. She was taking great care to make sure all the accessories would match. You know the routine guys, the dress, the shoes, the purse, the jewellery and so on.

Isn’t it strange to you that people will make lists for the food they want to buy or the clothes they are going to wear? They make travel lists, camping lists and many other lists. Often these same people won’t make a list for their lives? This is your life. This is not a dress rehearsal. Think of your goals. Now write it down, write it down, and write it down! Writing down your goals will change your life as well as others around you. Remind yourself 3 times a day for the next 21 days by asking yourself a simple yet profound question. Am I setting SMART goals?