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9 Steps to Goal Setting For Guaranteed Success [Ralph Waldo Emerson]
You may be wondering what Ralph Waldo Emerson and steps to goal setting have in common? Emerson was an American essayist, philosopher and a leader of transcendentalist movement who lived in 1800s. His work influenced thinkers and writers that followed him.
Transcendentalist philosophy believed that people are at their best when they are truly independent. This fierce independence leads to living best life possible. Typically, Emerson inspires very theoretical discussions. Let us then take these theoretical teachings and attempt to apply them to a very pragmatic approach for goal setting.
Emerson wrote a series of essays that allows us to do a deep dive into his work. So, without further ado, let us dive into his Essays to find the common link between his work and the steps to goal setting to transend the mundane to live the best life possible.
Transcendetalism?
Transcendentalism is a belief in an inherent goodness of people and nature. In short, most people strive to do good, it is typically the society that corrupts them.
Transcendentalists believed that genius resides in each person individually. The goal then is to find that genius within and live in accordance with it.
The reason it is important to understand this philosophy is that it will permeate throughout the following steps to goal setting.
Why is it important to set goals?
Goal setting empowers you to create the life that you want. By using goals you become the deciding actor in your life, not a passive participant. There is an old saying, “if you don’t plan your life, someone else will do it for you.”
Therefore, if you want to stay at the helm, set your own goals. Only through identifying your goals and reaching them can you truly live YOUR best life possible.
When there is no vision, people perish. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Goal setting helps you transform your inner desires into the outer world.
Setting goals is not a difficult process. Whether they are smaller goals or life goals, short-term goals or long-term goals, they are important to help you discover your genius.
Emerson stated that when there is no vision, people perish. Given the amount of weight he gave to individuality, you may reword this to state, if you don’t set goals you are at risk of losing yourself. You risk living out someone else’s dream, not your own. Your individuality may perish.
Benefits of Goal Setting
- Help you discover yourself
- Keep you in the driver seat of your life
- Give you focus
- Allow you to measure progress
- Provide the necessary motivation to move forward
What is a goal-setting process?
It is important to note, that many of us are very good at identifying specific goals we want to reach. Especially around the beginning of a new year. The good news is that we set goals and new year resolutions, the bad news is that most of us fail to achieve them. According to a study by the University of Scranton, only 8% of people who set goals at the beginning of the year accomplish them. Meaning out of 100 people who decided to pursue a goal, only 8 will achieve their goals.
What is important to understand is that these 8 people are not super humans, they just know something the rest do not. To quote Edwards Deming “Blame the process, not the people.”
An effective goal setting process is the key to reaching a goal. It involves building a strategy to help you stick to achieving these goals. It’s identifying where you are now and where you want to be in the future. Let us then jump straight into the steps to goal setting to develop a goal setting process.
Steps to Goal Setting
Overview of the 9 Steps to Goal Setting
3 Find Congruence and Do an Ecology Check
4 Create a Visualization Board
5 Convert Big Goals into SMART Goals
6 Build an Action Plan to Meet These Goals
7 Map out a Timeline and Set Deadlines
9 Check In On Your Progress Regularly
1 Conduct a Self-Assessment
Every man is unique. … Shakspeare will never be made by the study of Shakspeare. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Before starting your goal-setting process find your genius. Take time to assess your core values, interests, strengths, and areas of opportunity.
You will not be able to find your genius if you spend time imitating others.
Every person is a unique individual with very unique driving factors, therefore, when you begin the process to set goals, the first step is to identify what areas of your life you want to work on.
Know yourself and become familiar with your personal satisfaction in all areas of your own life.
Life balance wheel is a great exercise in conducting a self-assessment. It gives you a starting point identifying areas of your life you should focus on.
You will look at different areas of your life and identify your personal satisfaction with that specific area. It focuses on personal life for personal goals and professional life for career goals.
Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
The beauty of this exercise is it cannot be wrong. You only need to trust yourself and figure out your own level of satisfaction in your individual goals.
Self-trust is the first secret of success. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Life Balance Wheel Exercise
The types of goals covered in this exercise are: professional and financial goals, relationships and family time, your own goals of physical health, spiritual and emotional goals, social and environmental, intellectual and hobbies.
For more information about the life balance wheel you can reference the How to Use Life Balance Wheel.
Stop and download the FREE life balance wheel exercise now before proceeding any further. The exercise will take you a few minutes, it is an easy way to identify what goals will make the biggest impact on your overall life satisfaction.
Define What You Want
After the review of the life balance wheel you will see what areas of your life you need to focus on.
The second step is to begin to set goals related to that life area. Your new goal can be professional or personal, whatever it is, give careful consideration to the life balance satisfaction. i.e. If you are fully satisfied with your professional life, but you are neglecting your physical health, your next goal should be aimed at your physical health.
Back to Steps to Goal Setting
2 Dream Big and Set Big Goals
Once you identify what areas of your life you want to focus on, next step is to set goals. Now is the time to think big.
The power which resides in him is new in nature, & none but he know what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson throughout his writings always points to the most important thing to remember. The power that resides in you is new in nature, there is truly no one like you, and only you know what you are capable of. However, you will never discover your abilities if you do not try.
Do that which is assigned you, & you cannot hope too much or dare too much. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
He goes further to state that you cannot hope too much or dare too much. Set big goals do not let your own fear hinder you from your genius.
A good rule of thumb is, if you are afraid to try it, then its probably the right course of action for you.
Always do what you are afraid to do – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Dare to dream
We aim above the mark to hit the mark – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Dare to dream, dare to push ahead, dare to live your life according to your own definition.
The man that stands by himself, the universe stands by him also. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Another way to reword this is, once you decide that your pursuit is truly yours, and you go after it, you will not be alone. The universe will conspire to help you. A similar rendering of this quote is, “once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”
Questions to Ask
The following questions can help you think through the goal setting process.
- What things matter to you the most?
- When are you energized the most?
- Who do you want to be?
- How do you want to be remembered?
Back to Steps to Goal Setting
3 Find Congruence and Do an Ecology Check
Once you have decided on your goal(s) the next step is to determine how each goal will fit with your core values, priorities, and with any other goals that you’re currently working on.
If you set more than one goal, now is the time to prioritize your goals and determine which one will be most impactful.
For everything that is given something is taken. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Every goal you set comes with a set of consequences. Achieving new goals will take time and energy. Therefore, prioritize your most impactful goals first.
Your life is unique and uniquely yours, you are also a part of a greater society. Actions you take have impacts on people around you. Whatever goal you are planning on pursuing, be aware of the impact, positive or negative.
Know what impact the pursuit of the goal will have on family members and people around you. Discuss your goals with your loved ones to ensure that
Questions to Ask for Ecology Check
The following questions can help you think through ecology check. If you answer no to any of the questions, stop and reconsider pursuing the goal.
- Is the new goal aligned with your core values?
- Is this truly your goal?
- Is this goal in conflict with your other goals?
- Is this goal fair to everyone concerned?
- Can you see yourself reaching the goal?
- Can you commit to finishing the goal?
Questions to Ask for Congruence
Next think through the questions of ‘Why’ you want to pursue the goal. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs can help identify the ‘Why’. These five needs are: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, self-actualization. Answering the following can assist with the ‘why’ identification.
Achieving this goal will ….
- … make me healthier – Physiological
- … give me peace of mind – Safety
- … improve my relationships – Love and belonging
- … make me wealthier – Esteem
- … make me happier Self – actualization
Back to Steps to Goal Setting
4 Create a Visualization Board
Use visual aids to remember your important goals. A picture is worth a thousand words, and our memory is fickle at best. Having a visual reminder of your goals will help you stay motivated.
A man is what he thinks about all day long. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
The visualization board with your goals displayed can be referenced on daily basis. Emerson said that you are what you think about all day long. If you want to achieve your goals, you can set your day right by focusing your thoughts on your goals.
Creating a visualization board should be fun and uncomplicated. Print out images or cut them out of magazines and paste them in a journal.
If you prefer a digital medium, then create a board on Pinterest or any other app of your choosing. The key is to create one and reference it daily for reminder and inspiration.
Back to Steps to Goal Setting
5 Convert Big Goals into SMART Goals
Now that you know what your big goals are and how they will impact your life, you can begin to convert them into SMART goals.
SMART goal setting will help you bring your big dreams into reality. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound.
You can download our FREE goal setting template that will take you through these steps. Or you can purchase the Effluo Quarterly Goal Planner to take advantage of the full benefits of goal achievement.
Specific Goal
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Specificity is very important in goal setting as it brings clarity to the goal. At this stage you want to describe WHAT you want to complete and WHY you want to complete it. Writing this information down shows your commitment to the goal. This clarity on what you want to achieve will help you with completing the next steps.
To reference Emerson, ensure that the goal you are trying to reach is truly your goal and not something that was imposed on you by the society.
Measurable Goal
The key to the specificity of the goal is knowing your ‘Why’ and ensuring that the goal you are trying to complete is truly your goal. Knowing the ‘Why’ will give you the motivation to complete the goal.
The great moments of history are the facilities of performance through the strength of ideas, – Ralph Waldo Emerson
To paraphrase the quote, all great moments of history were achieved by taking an idea and putting it to action.
To act upon something, you need to know what you are acting on. Measurable goals give you that knowledge.
Measurable goals let you know exactly what it means to have the goal achieved. In other words, if you do not have clarity on the outcome, you will not know when you have reached the goal. Good goals are quantifiable goals.
To make the goal measurable define what it means to have the goal completed. Another name for this is, goal completion criteria. Be specific in your description.
Imagine yourself reaching the goal, what does that mean to you. What milestones would you have reached to attain the goal. Write down your goal completion criteria. This will serve as a reminder of whether or not you have reached your goal.
The listed milestones will make it an actionable goal and a quantifiable goal. These milestones will also assist you in measuring your progress towards achievement.
These milestones are the ‘facilities of performance’ through which the big goals will make the great moments of your life.
Attainable Goals
Do not be too timid and squeamish about your Taking Actions. All life is an experience. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Big goals and dreams should stretch your limits, push you to do things you didn’t think you could do. However, they shouldn’t be impossible. You need to be able to see yourself reaching this goal.
Attainability of the goal can be measured through the ecology check that you have already completed. If you haven’t yet done so, complete your ecology check. Ensure that the goal is not in conflict with your other goals and is fair to everyone concerned. Look at your timing, decide on the right time to complete the goal.
Realistic goals give you a realistic chance of achieving them. However, do not let fear and timidity stand in the way of your dreams. Do not substitute achievable goals for challenging goals, keep challenging yourself.
Relevant Goal
Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life’s cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you have only an extraneous half posession. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
A relevant goal is one that is important to you and will make a difference in your life.
This is where the work you have completed on congruence check comes into play. Understand what area of your life or what need the goal will fulfill. Will it make you healthier, happier, improve your relationships, or give you a peace of mind.
Time-Bound Goal
Finally the goal should have a specific time frame for completion. Having a sense of urgency will push you forward and propel you towards success. To add the specified time limit decide how long it will take you to reach the goal and set specific dates for start and end date.
This step is also important in prioritization of the goals. You will know exactly what you will complete when and this will help you prioritize your goals in order of importance.
Back to Steps to Goal Setting
6 Build an Action Plan to Meet These Goals
Step by step we scale this mysterious ladder; the steps are actions, the new prospect is power. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
At this point you have prioritized you goals and converted your big goals into SMART goals. You have identified milestones that define the completion of the goal. Next step is it create a plan of action. Create a list of specific steps you need to take to reach the identified milestones.
Breaking goals down into smaller tasks and actionable steps makes the big goal seem easier to accomplish and less intimidating.
The specific actions that need to be performed can be broken into tiny details or at a very high level. It is easy to get carried away and begin listing all the small things that need to be accomplished.
Effective way to break bigger goals into specific actions is to think in increments of time and effort. When breaking the large goal into important tasks think of what you can accomplish in a specific time interval.
Life is always full of surprises. This is a reason why working is smaller time increments is important. At the end of each three-week interval you can reassess your timeline and speed it up or slow it down as your life demands. Stay agile and remember always to adjust your steps, don’t give up on your goals.
Effluo goal planner uses the three week time intervals in their action plan. The three-week increment is just the right amount of time to begin creating a habit and enough time to complete the necessary steps. You can test different time intervals, i.e. two week or four week to see what works best for you.
The plan should not be super detailed, but it should give you some direction. Useful way of thinking about it is, as a guideline to help you on your journey towards the goal. These larger action steps will further be divided into daily goals down the road.
Build New Habits and Rituals
The difference between talents and character is ability to keep the old and trodden round, and power and courage to make a new road to new and better goals. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Before going any further, now is a good time to stop and focus on the importance of habits. Habits and rituals once established make your goal achievement easier and more attainable. Habits can either support your goal or hinder your progress.
Review you habits and rituals and determine if they support or hinder your goals. Determine what new habits you can develop.
Behavior change takes time, but it will be time well invested. Having the right habits in place will make your goal achievement possible.
The three-week interval is just enough to begin building a habit and figuring out what works and does not work for you. To make the habit automatic will take longer as it all depends on your individual circumstances and the difficulty of the new habit you are forming. Do note that starting more than one new habit at a time is counterproductive. You are in this for the long haul, so make it count.
Back to Steps to Goal Setting
7 Map out a Timeline and Set Deadlines
Man’s life is a progress, and not a station. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Once you have broken down your goals into action steps, next step is to prioritize the steps and put them on a timeline. A great way is to set milestones with set deadlines. Having an end date for your steps will help you in the prioritization process.
Building this timeline is a great way to reevaluate your goal end date and build a sense of urgency for goal completion.
As Emerson points out, life is a journey, not a destination. Therefore, do not spend too much time agonizing over the minute details of the timeline. A rough sketch should be enough to get you going.
Life is a series of surprises. We do not guess to-day the mood, the pleasure, the power of to-morrow, when we are building up our being. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Back to Steps to Goal Setting
8 Get Started on Your Goals
The reward of a thing well done is to have done it. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Once your high level steps have been decided and prioritized decide what you will work on in the first three week interval. The high level step was designed to be completed in three week interval. Divide the high level step into daily goals. By completing these daily goals you will be getting a step closer to completing your big goal.
As you start working on your daily schedule make these daily goals your priority.
Prioritizing your daily goals is prioritizing the most important parts of your life. You will know exactly what is important to you and you will be in the driver seat making your dreams a reality. This hard work will pay off in the end, you will reach your goals.
Back to Steps to Goal Setting
9 Check In On Your Progress Regularly
Adhere to your own act, and congratulate yourself if you have done something strange and extravagant, and broken the monotony of a decorous age. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
It is important to always look back to what has worked for you and what did not work. Congratulate yourself on the achievements made and make necessary adjustments for things that did not go to plan.
Daily
On daily basis review if you achieved your daily goal and answer the following questions.
- What prevented you from achieving your goal?
- What changes you should make going forward?
Remember to congratulate yourself if you achieved you daily goals.
Three Week Intervals
At the end of the three-week interval see how many high-level steps you have achieved. What habits you were successful in creating. Decide if you need to readjust your timeline or reprioritize your steps.
Three Month Intervals
At the end of the three months or on quarterly basis, review what goals you were able to achieve. Ask same questions of what went well, what did not go well and what you should change going forward. Evaluate your progress regularly.
Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Finally, remember that you will always have obstacles. Do not judge yourself or anyone around you too severely. Emerson stated that bad times have a scientific value, they are there to learn from and grow from. Do not miss this opportunity for growth.
Back to Steps to Goal Setting
Take The Long View
Goal achievement requires a long term perspective. These steps to goal setting enable you to see where you want to go. Be patient and realistic with the amount of time it will take you to get there. Do not give up on your goals, focus on the incremental progress you are making on your way to achieving them.
If you don’t see results right away, stick to it. Completing your daily goals on regular basis you will definitely be led in the right direction. You will see the finish line and will reach you end result.
This process is not new, it has existed through millennia. People from the time before the new era to modern day have followed this outline to achieve their dreams.
You are unique with contribution that only you can make. Discover your genius and take steps to show it to the world around you.
Summary Of The 9 Steps to Goal Setting
3 Find Congruence and Do an Ecology Check
4 Create a Visualization Board
5 Convert Big Goals into SMART Goals
6 Build an Action Plan to Meet These Goals
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