Well David, as a follow up to my original post when I answered the question of:

“How can I get the best performance out of myself and what do I need to do to achieve this outcome?”

Let me see if I cannot use an everyday event to further clarify the goal-setting model

and in the process show how it can be used to aid you in your goal setting endeavours.

1. Outcome (The What)
Lets say, for example, your outcome goal was to lose weight. The first thing I would ask is your goal to really lose weight or is your goal something else?

When you think about your goal, what is it you visualise or see? Is it standing on the scales victorious at the thought of losing 4, 5, 6 kilos? Or as you think about your goal of losing weight, you see yourself getting into a smaller size of clothes? Or perhaps you see yourself going out on a date with the partner of your dreams? Or do you see yourself being able to achieve some fantastic athletic pursuit or is it something different but similar?

The reason I ask is to make sure ‘what’ you are pursuing is your true goal. Because if you say it is about losing weight, but when you dream about it, you see something else (eg. the date, the clothes, the athletic achievement etc) then the reality is that your true goal is the something else and the losing weight just becomes part of the process to the attainment of the goal.

So it is important to make sure what you are pursuing is what you really want.

We will take it as given you have identified the goal of losing 5 kilos as your outcome goal. Next is to make sure there is an accountability process associated with the goal of losing 5 kilos, otherwise you will end up giving yourself the chance to lose 5 kilos soon. But what is soon?

So we will expand your goal so it becomes that by July 31st you will weigh 77 kilos. Which is now time lined and is now a specific goal on a specific date and is able to be measured and tracked.

Now lets move on to what is our second stage of the plan to weigh 77 kilos by July 31st.

2. The Process (The How)
The process is what is it going to take to see your goal of weighing 77 kilos by July 31st become a reality. What are the areas that need to be outlined that when each of them are put in place and followed, will take you to where you need to be to see your goal attained.

Lets outline some key process goals and strategies:

a. Diet
• Structured meal times
• Improved quality of food intake
• Reduced fat intake
• Change in fluid intake (reduced sugar drinks, Increase in water intake)
• Meal plan (more meals, higher quality meals, meal times)

b. Exercise
• Structured exercise routine
• Gym (core strength workouts, general strength workouts)
• Cardio exercise (walking/running, exercise bike, treadmill)
• Pilates, yoga,

c. Lifestyle changes
• Improve amount and quality of sleep
• Reduce Stress creating activities
• Instigate some personal time (family time, weekly date with partner)
• Allocate time for Professional development (reading, Conferences, online courses)
• Outline and implement relaxation activities (spa, massage)

d. Checkpoints
• It is important to make sure you have set out specific times where you can check on your progress to make sure you are on track. The more you understand where you are at and why, the more you are in control of the situation and of your outcomes.

e. Support system
• Who is going to help?
• How are they going to help you? (Make sure you discuss this with the person involved)
• Is there anyone who has experienced what you are about to so you can get a specific perspective of what to expect.

One of the most important aspects to goal setting is to truly know the price you have to pay to achieve your goals. This is one of the key objectives in outlining the process. What do you have to do to see your outcomes realised?

Now that we have the outcomes (The What) identified and we have outlined the process (The How) it is now time to outline ‘The Why” it is you are pursuing this goal.

3. The Reason (The Why)
Many people respond the same way when I ask them: “Do they know why they are pursuing their goal?”

“Of course I know why I want this goal!” The reality is they struggle to give me 4-6 reasons why they want to reach their goal.

In your goal of weighing 77 kilos by July 31st lets outline a few reasons why this goal could be important to you.

• Better health

• Live longer

• Better fitting clothes

• Want to play competitive sport

• Want to be able to play with your kids more

• Get a date with the partner of your dreams

• To live a more disciplined life

• To look after yourself

• A better quality of life

The reason why it is important to outline these now, is so you know how important these goals are to you.

It is important that your goals do mean some thing to you because somewhere, sometime, things will get rough and you will question why you wanted to achieve these goals. It’s at this time you look to the reasons that you outlined as to why you wanted to pursue these goals in the beginning and some but maybe not all, are still good reasons now and this will be enough to get you back up and going in the pursuit of your goals.

So David I hope this has given you a brief outline of how you can use the system in an everyday type situation. If there is more information you require just drop another question or comment and we will see what we can do to answer it.