The Secret to Huge Breakthroughs on Your Goals

The Secret to Huge Breakthroughs on Your Goals
Posted on 2/05/2008

Chances are you made some New Year's Resolutions back on Jan 1st. And for some, you might be wondering how a month went by with such little progress on your goals. Well let me share a secret with you. There is a way to reach your goals faster and easier than your current method. In fact it's so powerful and surefire that many people avoid it. Why? Because it forces you to do the work that will make your dreams come true.

So what's the secret? Using a goal buddy. What is a goal buddy? It's someone with whom you share your goals and your progress in order to create accountability for your goals. People will try harder to ensure that they don't fail if they know someone is "watching." It's a fail-proof way to reach your goals. Will it make it more uncomfortable for you? Yes, but that's the point.

Look, right now is your moment of truth. What are the reasons for your top goals? What pain do you want to avoid? What benefits do you want to accumulate? Do you have a burning desire for these things? If so, then take action today to make yourself accountable to reaching your goals. Here's how:

1. Write Down Your Goals. Be sure to include the reasons why you want to reach these goals. If the reasons aren't big and juicy then you probably don't really want to do it. So make sure you have a goal you really want to reach.

2. Brainstorm a List of Potential Goal Buddies. Write down some names of people that you think would like to swap goal buddy services with you. Think of people that you know that have drive, persistence, and who are positive. Avoid picking someone who's going to go easy on you. Also avoid picking someone that you'll resent getting on your case such as your mother or spouse. Pick someone that might be a little uncomfortable. Don't limit yourself to just friends and family. Think also of colleagues. And they don't have to be located near you. Virtual goal buddies can work fine too. You can also look into mastermind groups, business groups, or activity groups in your area too (such as weight loss groups).

3. Select People for Your Shortlist. Take all the people on your list and narrow it down to just a select few. Choose doers and non-complainers.

4. Contact Each Person on Your List. Ask them if he/she would be willing to commit to being goal buddies with you. This would mean getting together at least weekly either in person or by phone to review each others' progress on your goals. You may want to create a group of goal buddies called a mastermind group. Regardless of whether you form a partnership or a group, you'll follow the same steps.

5. Create Rules. Establish parameters for these elements:
What will be discussed. Goals, progress, ideas for overcoming roadblocks, frustrations, and problem-solving.
What won't be discussed. Complaining, victimhood, gossip.
How often you'll meet.
Where/How you'll meet. (In person, email, phone.)
Updates. Will you send daily updates in between meetings.
Rewards/Incentives. Create a reward for you both for sticking to the rules such as dinner or seeing a movie. The reward doesn't have to be something you do together although it can be.
Accountability. Do you want to include "penalties" for missing meetings? They can be small things such as "if you miss two meetings in a row, then you have to buy the other person lunch." You don't have to include this.
6. Begin. Set your first meeting to discuss goals, progress from last week, frustrations, solutions, and action steps to take next week. Share updates with each other at some point during the week via email if that works for your schedule.

7. Take Action, Reach Your Goals, and Celebrate! Take action to get what you want! Little by little. Day by day. And as you reach milestones or when you reach your goal, take time to celebrate!

Have you ever used a goal buddy or mastermind group? What were the best aspects and were there any pitfalls? Please share in the comments! We'd love to hear from you!

Written by K. Stone of Life Learning Today.