Goal setting is pivotal to your success, but here’s the truth on what you may be doing wrong.

David wrote from England,“Hey Craig, I enrolled in ETR University and I bought the Perfect Day Formula last month. It’s great, but my current situation is not. I’m working in a warehouse and have more than $5,000 in debt. I’ve being looking for a better income for years but I’m getting nowhere and not sure what to do.

“I have two daughters who live with their Mum (we split 3 years ago). I live on my own and have no partner, and that’s something I want to change. I’m also big into fitness and thought I wanted to train people for a living.

“My specific goals for the next year: I want a new career. I want to be debt free. And I want to be in a relationship. I probably need more coaching and accountability to make a change. Thanks for all you do.”

My Answer:
Hi David, thanks for your email and your kind words. You’re getting close to a good plan for next year, but there are still a few things missing.

• Your outcome goals need more specificity and deadlines

For example, you say: “I want a new career.”

The problem is that your goal is too vague and has no deadline. You need to know EXACTLY what you want to do, just like how I knew, back in 2006, that I eventually wanted to own a business like EarlyToRise.com (ETR). You also need to know EXACTLY when you want to have this done, just like how I said I wanted to own ETR in five years. That level of clarity allowed me to buy ETR in five years, three months, and seventeen days after I first shared my specific goal.

A better goal for you would be: “I want to be a certified personal trainer working at ___ gym in ___ city in the next 60 days.”

Now you can harness the power of specificity and deadlines.

• Your outcome goal lacks process goals

With a concise goal, you know exactly what you must do to achieve it, and so you can build a roadmap for achieving your big goals and dreams.

For example, you say: “I want to be debt free.”

That’s great. You have specificity (i.e. you need to pay off $5,000), but it lacks a deadline, besides the ‘abstract’ deadline of doing it at some point “this year.” Your goal also lacks actionable process steps to help you achieve this specific result.

Here’s what you need to do.

First, add a deadline. Let’s say your goal is to be debt free in the next 90 days.

Second, to help you hit your deadline you need to choose 3 process goals to get you to your outcome goal.

Process goals are like the steps in a staircase that get you to the next level. You can’t just jump from the ground floor to the top of the Empire State Building (unless you’re Superman, of course, but neither of us are!).

But the best thing about process goals is that you control them, unlike your outcome goal (which is under the influence of many other external factors – i.e. you could win the lottery… or you could have an accident).

While you can’t control the final outcome, you can control the actions you take each day.

Let’s start with creating three process goals for getting debt free in 90 days.

Process Goal #1 – Increase your weekly income by $300 through personal training (4 sessions of $50). Start with training friends and family members in their homes, if possible. Pay this income directly to your debt. That knocks off more than $3,500 in 60 days.

Process Goal #2 – Decrease your weekly expenses by $100. That knocks off another $1,200 in 90 days.

Process Goal #3 – Have a garage sale (aka, a “car boot sale”) on the weekend. Sell any unused personal items you have that take up space in your house. You can also sell your unwanted goods on Ebay.com. You should be able to raise the rest of the money you need to wipe out your debt.

• Get Accountability and Share Your Goals with Positive People

You can’t accomplish all of this on your own. You’ll need expert advice (which you’re wisely getting through ETR U), and you need social support (which you can get by taking part in my 21-Day Habit Change Club).

The key is to share your goals with the RIGHT people – the ones who will encourage you, motivate you, and connect you with others who will move you forward toward your goals and dreams. Use their support to constantly take action – one step (baby or giant, it doesn’t matter) every day get closer to your goals and dreams.

On the other hand, follow Brian Tracy’s advice here:

“Avoid negative people at all costs. They are the greatest destroyers of self confidence and self-esteem.”

Don’t let anyone steal your dreams or fizzle out the fire within you. Everything you do, including every conversation you have, takes you closer to OR farther away from your goals. Think about that before each and every decision you make.

Focus on replacing your bad habits and thought patterns, one-by-one, over time, with good habits and thought patterns. One step at a time, done over time, leads to powerful changes in your life.

“You are exactly what you believe and think about all day long. Constantly monitor your thoughts,” says Kekich Credo #95. Believe in yourself. Get rid of the negative. Stay focused on your positive vision. You can do this.

With these process goals in place, you can see how they are the steps to success. Now go back and apply these principles to all of your goals, including your relationship goals and any health goals you have.

And finally, watch for the new success and small business courses we’ll be adding to ETR University that dive deeper into growing and scaling a business (so that you can make more money).

We’re committed to helping you take back control of your life and your financial future.