The Steps Leading to the Goal

If you’re following “The Goal Mindset” series and you had a chance to check out last week’s installment, entitled Planned Goal-Mindedness, then you know we’re about to dig a little deeper into Step #3 (the HOW? component of our dream goal planning), which is all about determining the steps leading to goal achievement.

In fact, here’s what I said about Step #3 — verbatim:

 . . . start writing out everything you need to get to your goalpost. A MUST-HAVE list of ingredients for your end goal. In fact, this ingredients list is what I call the “mini goals planning phase.” Mini goals are, simply, the smaller tasks needed to get the BIG task (dream goal) accomplished.

So, let’s get going with today’s CTA (call to action), shall we?

“We shall, but where do we even start?” you might ask.

Well, I’m about to give you some questions to ponder that might actually help get you going in the action-oriented direction of determining the steps, leading to your goal destination.

Sound like a (goal) plan?

Okay, so here are the questions:

• What knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) do you need to attain to achieve your goal? (List out all the KSAs you don’t have yet.)
• What education and/or training do you need to achieve your goal? (This question is simply an offshoot of the previous question.) Researching what you need to do to attain your must-have KSAs will bring clarity to some of the steps needed in the HOW? of your goal planning framework.
• What tangible resources do you need to achieve your goal? (List everything — things you need on a one-time-only basis and those you need ongoing . . . things you can buy once and use forever and things that get used up and will have to be purchased repeatedly.) Tangible resources could be capital goods, equipment/supplies/tools, online subscription/software/platform services, incentive and rewards systems, etc.) All the items noted in this and the previous question will help determine the answer to your next question (below).
• What financial requirement (if any) is needed to achieve your goal? (All expenses — no matter how big or how small — should be tallied up.) Once you get your monetary estimate, then add steps to your goal planning framework that identify how you will acquire the finances, considering your own personal contributions and/or funding you’ll receive from a creditor, investor, grantor, or other party interested in providing funds to help your goal-achieving efforts.
• What are the time requirements necessary to achieve your goal? (Consider the time needed to devote to your goal by minutes/hours in a day, by days/months throughout a year, and by years over the expanse of time.) And in your planning, keep your off-limits time in mind. Off-limits time identifies the time that CAN NOT be sacrificed for the goal because it’s already devoted to something else.
• What are the support mechanisms (people) you need in place to achieve your goal? (Think: family, friends, accountability partners, teachers/instructors, mentors, counselors, spiritual leaders, self-help groups, employees/contract workers, etc.) You need to determine the kind of support people and groups who you want in your goal-achieving network as you’re striving toward your goal destination. Remember: these are YOUR people — people who will help you, not hinder you from getting where you need to go.

So, is your framework (on how to make your dream goal come true) starting to take shape yet? Hopefully so, because this MUST-HAVE list of ingredients is so important to formulating your goal plan. But don’t expect too much from this initial planning exercise. I’m providing you with a planning start. Now, it’s up to YOU to finish what I’ve started. Happy goal planning!

The right goal mind is a sure gold mine.