How Magnetic Are Your Goals?
By Victoria Cook , The Guilt-Free Coach

Having a strong vision for your personal and business life is crucial in attaining your goals. Once that vision has been established setting goals in support of that vision is often the next step most people take. I’m here to challenge you to first identify your values and then set goals in alignment with those values AND your vision. Goals that honor our values get results!

So What Are Values?
Values are not morals or principles. Values are who we really are. They represent our unique selves and shape your actions. Your values are the behaviors and activities to which you are naturally drawn. They are individual and everyone’s are different. Values are our true north and serve as a compass to make sure we are headed the right direction in our life.

Why Are Values Important?
When you know what you value you understand why you are drawn to do something or not. Some examples of values are: relationships, autonomy, creativity, making a difference/contribution, beauty, control, freedom, fun, adventure, accomplishment, learning, leading, etc. See the larger, though not exhaustive, values list on the Free Tools page of my website.

In Coactive Coaching, the authors point out just how “visible” our values really are, “Though values are intangible, they are not invisible to others. You can walk into a room of strangers and get a sense of what people value by what they wear, how they stand in the room, how they interact with others, and with whom they interact. You know something about their values just by their presence in the room. You can sense the values in the room: power, friendship, intimacy,connection, independence, fun, and more.”

What are the values others see in you? Why not ask them and add them to your list of top values. This information will be critical to achieving your goals more quickly and with more passion.

NOW Set The Goal
Once you know your key values, take some time to set the goals needed to accomplish your vision that ALSO align with the values uncovered. How might this look? Let’s use the following example:

The vision - ABC Corporation is recognized and respected as a leading provider of family healthcare solutions

Some key values – Making a difference, Knowledge sharing

Business need – Improve sales through increasing current customer base

Value-based Goal - “I will increase sales $10,000 by helping 50 new clients improve their heart health through the use of my XYZ product this year.”

Instead of focusing on increasing sales, this goal puts the emphasis on helping improve the health of 50 new clients. By educating your clients about XYZ product, you would also honor your value of knowledge sharing. The outcome will be the same, but how much you are drawn towards achieving the goal will be dramatically different. The person passionate about helping others will see this as an opportunity to reach out and make that difference vs. hustling to make a buck.

Through the attainment of the values-based goal, you will feel fulfilled and good about having made a positive difference in those 50 families lives - - AND sales will automatically go up. A Win-Win outcome!

Are Your Goals SMART?
The last thing to remember when setting goals is that they need to be SMART. Put your goal to the SMART test by answering the following questions once you’ve set your goal:

SPECIFIC - Is your goal clearly articulated?

MEASURABLE - Can the results of your goal be quantified?

ACHIEVABLE - Does your goal cause you to stretch, grow and get out of your comfort zone but also have a degree of attainability?

REWARDING - Will achieving this goal be valuable to you? It WILL if you make it a values-based goal!

TIME-BASED - Do you have a date by when you will achieve this goal?

By using this technique, you’ll be drawn TOWARDS your goals AND getting them done! In the process, life will be more fulfilling!

About the Author
Victoria Cook, The Guilt-Free Coach, helps ambitious working Moms create more time and focus to accomplish their goals, grow their business, and live guilt-free! Get free resources for increasing YOUR time and reducing stress at http://www.theguiltfreecoach.com/gift.

How Magnetic Are Your Goals? © 2005 - 2008 Victoria Cook. All rights reserved.

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