Goal setting is essential to being successful. Without it, you can miss business-building opportunities and be overwhelmed by the myriad tasks facing you every day. Here are six steps to effective goal setting:

  1. Write your goal in the form of an affirmation. List your goal as though you’ve already accomplished it. For example, if your goal is to make 20 calls per day, and you’ve currently made two, consider writing: “I make 20 calls per day.” Adopt a positive frame of mind and visualize yourself completing your goal.
  2. Agree on a date of accomplishment. Be reasonable and realistic. Choose a date you want to have the goal accomplished, but understand that after fleshing out the goal during the next few steps, you might need to alter your initial projection.
  3. List the benefits of completing your goal and the obstacles to achieving it. Visualize completing the goal. What are the newfound benefits? Do other people benefit from this goal? Does it set you up for future benefits? What are the consequences of achieving your goal? What sacrifices will you make? Now, place your benefits and challenges on opposite sides of an imaginary scale. Do the benefits outweigh the challenges? Is this goal truly worth pursuing? If so, move to the next step. If not, reconsider this particular goal.
  4. Surround yourself with people who can help. Recruit the people who will help guide and encourage you. Avoid people who would be jealous of your ability to succeed.
  5. List new skills you need to accomplish the goal. This helps you measure how long it will take you to obtain your goal. It also forces you to contemplate personal weaknesses that you must strengthen to pursue your goal.
  6. Write the plan. By answering the previous questions, you’ve collected the information you need to create a plan that will become a goal-setting roadmap. People most frequently map their plans chronologically. Use a pencil — it’s OK to erase and rearrange the steps in your plan.