4 Steps to Successful Goal

Accomplishment

April 2016

The 2016 Rio Summer Olympics is just around the corner and we will once again

witness the best of the best perform in their respective arenas. Many moments will

be awe inspiring such as the 100ths of a second win in the 100 meter freestyle

between Micheal Phelps and (place runner up here) It’s a 4 year preparation and

for some once in a lifetime chance of glory. But practically no one asks how these

supreme athletes get their goal of winning, much less representing as the best in

their respective countries.

We submit to you that there is a surefire process that they take that even you can

adopt to massively increase the probability of reaching your goals. We bring you

a 4 steps process to reaching your goals:

Rule # 1: Decide once and for all what your priority is

and forget the rest (almost)

Everyone gets fired up at first but few actually reach their goal

Decide once and for all what

your priority is and forget the

rest

The 4 rules

1

2 lorem ipsum :: [Date]

Set a plan through SMART

and Backward Casting

Ask the question: “How do we know

we’ve won?”

When people say yes most of the time, they set themselves up for failure even

before they lift a finger on a new project

since they’re already failing to appropriate sufficient time and energy

to it.

The word priority comes from the 14th century Old French priorite meaning state of

being earlier or first one above anything else. This was used to say only one before

the next. It was only very recently during the late 19th century that it was extended

to mean something plural such as priorities which was especially prevalent in the

industry and business. In today’s stressed out world, everyone scrambles to get a

handful of things done at the same time and accepts this as the norm. This leads

over-committing to activities that result in stress and poor results.

One of the main reasons is people overcommit and say yes all the time without

taking a pause to think what other activities will have to suffer to give way to

another new commitment. When people do this, they set themselves up for failure

even before they lift a finger on the project since from the get go, they’re already

failing to appropriate sufficient time and energy to it knowing there are already a

lot of other projects going on. The only way you can guarantee above average

results without stressing you out is to set goals and work on them only one at a time.

Then relegate other things as secondary which you will not commit to do or will

schedule at another time. This means simply saying NO to any activity that do not

help you bring you closer to your goal. There are wonderful ways to say no to lessen

disappointment such as: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisabeth-saunders-

medlock-phd/you-can-say-no-8-ways-to-_b_6497954.html. But be willing to accept

the fact that your goal is more important than what other people feel about it.

Rule # 2: Set a plan through SMART planning and

backward casting

The ubiquitous SMART moniker means Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic

and Timebound and to me the 2 most important are Measurable and Timebound.

Both answer the question: “How do we know that we’ve won?” Case in point is the

perennial objective is how to lose weight. One great statement is this” I will reach at

most 130 lbs. by December 31,2016. There is no skirting around this objective and if

by so much you weigh 130.5 at that time, then you’ve known you’ve lost.

One of the best strategies for planning is backward casting, which means setting a

goal in some future date and breaking them down to monthly and weekly goals

then assign specific and time-bound daily activities that move you closer to the

weekly goals.

2

3 lorem ipsum :: [Date]

“When you write down your ideas you automatically focus your full attention on them. Few if any of us can write one thought and think another at the same time. Thus a pencil and paper make excellent concentration tools.”

Michael Leboeuf

For example, if you want to trim down from 160 to 130 lbs. by October 30 which is 6

months away then you would write down monthly then weekly and get specific

on the daily activities you need to do to achieve those weekly and monthly goals.

The key is to set out time, and hour or two, to think through the plan and activities

that go behind them and putting pen to paper. Writing objectives and activities

down imprints these ideas and details in your subconscious and helps you

remember what you need to do and most importantly why you need to do them.

It gives you undivided focus and brings you back to the thinking process that

made you write them in the first place. Finally, it helps you concentrate on your

thinking which results in better quality ideas. These plans become your living

document and checklist when you revisit these written plans at least once a week

to see how you’re tracking.

Rule # 3: Protect the daily activities via time blocking

Time blocking means actually scheduling time on the calendar and using digital

tools to remind you of exact times in the week you need to work on the activities

that will eventually lead to completing the task at the end specified target date in

#2. In my case, my target is to publish a book, which contains a compilation of 12

management articles by Dec 31, 2016. This means that I need to write and finish 1

article per month or 12 articles in 1 month. Let me ask you, which one is less

stressful and more importantly, which one will have a higher probability of

accomplishing the goal?

By breaking down a seemingly major goal into bite size accomplishments over

time such as writing 1 article per month starting January, you will have a 50%

chance of reaching your goal. The next 30% improvement rests on setting specific

time slots in your daily or weekly schedule as to when an hour or two will solely be

Write down ideas

(continued)

3 Protect the daily activities via

time blocking

4 lorem ipsum :: [Date]

Interrupting with a new routine “resets”

the brain back to the first day when you

started the task.

dedicated to this goal. So a 12,000 word book requires me to write 1000 words a

month or 250 words a week or 50 words per working day (Monday to Friday). Now 50

words a day doesn’t seem a lot doesn’t it? The beauty of the technique is that the

broken down figures tells your brain that the gargantuan goal is actually achievable

and easy which in turn, motivates your brain to actually take the first step.

RULE # 4: Measure & reward along the way

Sometimes you get derailed at some point during the project time span due to

uncontrollable events. But most of the time, you get unmotivated due to other

interests that will inevitably tempt you to miss your daily task. One effective solution

to stay on track is to pin up a scoreboard that can easily be seen daily as a reminder

to the percentage done and number of days that has passed. Then, assign small

rewards that can be experienced immediately after the goals are achieved such as

getting your favourite latte or fruit shake. Using the classic Pavlovian technique of

conditioning, we trick our brains to be conditioned to follow through on as task

because we know that an instant reward is waiting at the end.

Now you may ask, “Can I apply a larger reward if I complete a bigger but more

difficult task?” The answer is no. Starting a new routine immensely decreases the

effect of habit forming which give cadence to the brain and hardwires it to follow

through every time you see the reminder of the daily task. Further, interrupting with a

new routine “resets” the brain back to the first day when you started the task. The

likelihood of success then diminishes and the initial effort of getting used to the initial

routine was put to waste.

The reality is that there will be days that you will not be able to follow through the

daily task but the trick to getting back on track is to forgive yourself and immediately

get back to where you left off.

BONUS TIP:

While it may be easy to create your dashboard, getting the habit of looking at it

everyday to track your progress isn’t. Fortunately there are web-based software

available that you can use to set up your dashboard & send you reports everyday.

If you are a restaurant manager for example, an innovative web based solution is

Restograph: www.restogra.ph. Restograph allows restaurant managers and owners

to see actual sales and trends real time, in order to make decisions to improve

restaurant performance.

Measure and reward along

the way 4

@NicoSkySalanio

www.skysalanio.com

Nico is currently the Debit and Prepaid Product Manager for

South East Asia at Visa Inc. He co-develops innovative

payments products and consults for banks and telcos in

primarily in the Philippines and South East Asia. He co-founded

restaurant analaytics company Restograph with 3

accomplished and dynamic buddies in 2014.

He also speaks internationally on product management,

analytics and career & personal development He also co-owns

Oks Manoks, a simple chicken bistro in Manila to satisfy his

grilled chicken cravings.