Transcript Effective Goal Setting - Lawyers Assistance Program of

Effective Goal Setting
Facilitated by Robert
Bircher
Lawyers Assistance
Program
Setting Goals Gets Results
• Setting goals has many advantages but
many people just have a mental vision
or dream their goals and never really
follow through with achieving them
• The reason for this is simple-dreaming
or having a mental vision is easy and
does not require much effort, requires
no follow through, and is complete just
by thinking about it. Also, you can’t
measure a dream and it is easy to let
yourself off the hook if you don’t
complete it
• This workshop is about converting
dreams into realities
Goals Must be Written
• There is an old saying in law that
if it’s not written down it’s not
worth the paper it’s not written
on!!-It is the same in goal setting
• Putting it in writing requires you
to focus and clarify your goals and
allows you to make them precise
• We will look at a number of ways
to help identify and clarify your
goals and enhance completion
rates
Life Balance Goals
• Since setting a goal in one dimension
of your life affects all other areas so it
is a good idea to start your goals by
completing the wheel of life
• After completing this your can see
which area of your life needs the most
work
• Although it is possible to make
progress in all areas it works best to
focus on either one at a time or a
maximum of three in a year
• We will now refine our goals using the
TARGET filtering system-this is to
frame them in a way they are more
likely to be achieved
What To Work On
• The gap in your wheel between
where you are now and where you
want to be tells you the best area
to work on
• The way you get to where you
want is to brainstorm ways you
could go from A to B
• You may have more possibilities
for goals(steps you could take)
than you could realistically doyou will then pick what you want
to do
Brainstorming Steps
• For example if I want more Fun in
my life I could-Join a hiking club,
or take an art class or take an
acting class, go swimming etc.
• I don't need to achieve all of
these-just enough to reach my
goal-even if I only do 40% I will
likely have a lot more fun
• These steps are the way I achieve
my goals-put one potential step in
each category now
TARGET- System
• After you have roughed out your
goals lets put them through the
target filter
• T-Is the goal time bound? A
vision or dream has no time
reference a goal does. A purpose
(to be a good lawyer) is a general
direction not a goal
• A goal is established for the sake
of a particular result, and ends
when the objective is met
TARGET
• A- stands for active verbs-use action
verbs to state your goals-see the list in
the materials p-146
• R- stands for realistic-this means in the
real context of your life-consider your
physical ability, your knowledge and
experience, your other activities, your
self image, your material resources, the
time you have allotted
• G-stands for gradable-is the goal
tangible and measurable?" I will lose 5
pounds by Feb 15th at the rate of 1
pound per week”
TARGET
• E-stands for exact-be specific and
precise-a total stranger could read
your goals and know exactly what
you mean-”I will jog two miles,
four days a week”
• T- stands for tradable-you will
have to pay a price in time, money
or energy-What trade offs are
there and are they explicit?-To
complete a law degree by April 1st
2011- at a cost of 3 years and
$50,00.00
Apply TARGET
• Using the pages provided refine your
goals using the target formula
• How do I make sure my goals are
completed?-one step has already been
accomplished-you have written them
down!
• Your chances of success are directly
proportional to the amount of external
support you have-i.e.. tell your friends
or partner your goal and ask for
support-report to them regularly
• Don’t be a lone ranger!!
Traps to Avoid
• Setting too many goals-everything
takes time, money and energyprioritize and put you energy into
that which is most important to
you
• Not chopping a big goal into small
easily do-able parts-visualize a
staircase not a wall
• You climb mount Everest one
small step at a time
• Being overly grandiose-the
culture encourages us to aim highout of reach
Traps to Avoid
• This is great in theory-in practice
what works is success building on
success-achieving one small goal
after another
• Lower your ambition to increase
your completion rate
• You can’t set a goal that involves
another persons behavior-”to get
my children to do__” although
you could have a goal to speak to
them about it.