{"id":53154,"date":"2007-01-01T18:56:56","date_gmt":"2007-01-02T00:56:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=261"},"modified":"2007-01-01T18:56:56","modified_gmt":"2007-01-02T00:56:56","slug":"goal-setting-the-90-day-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/goal-setting-the-90-day-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Goal-Setting: The 90-Day Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s that time of year again. New Year\u2019s resolutions, diets, exercise\u2014and goal-setting. I continue to be surprised at how few people take time to write down their goals. Despite the fact that numerous studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between goal-setting and success, few people seem to ever get around to it.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

I have been setting goals in one form or another for years. Every now and then, I stumble across an old list of goals. I am always fascinated by how many of the things I write down come to pass. And, I must confess, it often happens despite the fact that I do nothing more than write it down.<\/em> The magic of this is all explained in a very compelling book by Henriette Klauser called Write It Down, Make It Happen<\/em><\/a> [affiliate link<\/a>] .<\/p>\n

Even if you don\u2019t create an action plan for each goal and work your plan, there is tremendous power in simply identifying what you want and focusing some thought on the outcome.<\/p>\n

For example, at the beginning of 1997, I wrote down this goal: \u201cWrite a a New York Times<\/em> bestselling book.\u201d Now understand: at that time I had never written a book. I had a book idea,<\/em> but that\u2019s all I had. Though I had worked in the publishing industry my whole career, I was scared to death at the thought of actually trying to write an entire book. Nevertheless, I wrote it down and took a deep breath.<\/p>\n

To my surprise, I signed a book contract in September of that year. I turned in my manuscript to the publisher by the end of the calendar year. No, I didn\u2019t hit the New York Times<\/em> list by the end of the year. But I did write a book that would hit<\/em> the Times<\/em> list the following spring.<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, my manuscript almost didn\u2019t get published. Six weeks before the book was to be printed, the publisher called to tell me he was afraid he was going to have to cancel its publication. He simply couldn\u2019t sell it. (Books are pre-sold to retailers before they are ever published.) The major retailers just weren\u2019t interested. I did my best to convince him it would work. Sure enough, he decided to take a gamble and went ahead with a small print run.<\/p>\n

The publicist they assigned to me started booking me on radio talk shows.<\/span> Two months after it\u2019s publication\u2014and about 150 interviews later\u2014The Millennium Bug,<\/em> my first book, hit the New York Times <\/em>Business Bestseller List where it stayed for over seven months. And it all began by writing down a goal to make it happen.<\/p>\n

In our company, we have adopted 90\u2013Day Objectives as a way of life. All of our divisional leaders are required to submit their goals. We require a formal progress report each month. It\u2019s not complex or very sophisticated. But I believe it has gone a long way toward creating a focused and disciplined organization that produces consistent results.<\/p>\n

In case you never received any instruction on this simple but important skill, I\u2019d like to offer some pointers. First, why prepare 90-Day Objectives? Four reasons:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. To identify what you want to accomplish.<\/li>\n
  2. To help you focus on what really matters. <\/li>\n
  3. To make sure that you and your supervisor are in agreement regarding your priorities. <\/li>\n
  4. To provide you with accountability.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As an example, here are my work objectives<\/em> for the current quarter. (I also maintain a list of personal objectives.)<\/p>\n

    By March 31, with God\u2019s help, I will …<\/p>\n
      \n
    1. Achieve quarterly revenues of $XX.X million.<\/li>\n
    2. Earn $XX.X million in profit for the quarter.<\/li>\n
    3. Complete the FY 07 Annual Plan and secure Board approval. <\/li>\n
    4. Sign XXXX XXXXXX to a three-book contract.<\/li>\n
    5. Meet face-to-face with our top 10 authors.<\/li>\n
    6. Meet face-to-face with our top 10 customers.<\/li>\n
    7. Finish writing The Thomas Nelson Way<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      (Note: Items with XXXs are specific numbers and names on my actual list.)<\/p><\/div>\n

      Let me point out several important things about these objectives that you should emulate in yours.<\/p>\n

        \n
      • They are few in number.<\/em><\/strong> Productivity studies show that you really can\u2019t focus on more than 5-7 items at any one time. Don\u2019t try to impress your supervisor or yourself with a long list of objectives. Also, please don\u2019t include sections with several objectives under each section. This is a recipe for losing focus and accomplishing very little. Instead, focus on a handful of objectives that you can almost repeat from memory. Mine fit on one 3\u201c x 5\u201d card. I put my work objectives on one side and my personal objectives on the other.<\/li>\n
      • They are action-oriented.<\/em><\/strong> In order for you to act on your objective, it must be actionable. Notice that each objective begins with a verb (e.g., \u201cAchieve,\u201d \u201cFinalize,\u201d \u201cComplete,\u201d etc.).<\/li>\n
      • They are measurable.<\/em><\/strong> You should be able to sit down with your supervisor in 90 days and determine whether or not you accomplished the objective. Remember: you can\u2019t manage what you don\u2019t measure.<\/li>\n
      • They are attainable.<\/em><\/strong> Don\u2019t attempt to do more than you can realistically accomplish in 90 days. This may be debatable, but, hopefully, over time, you will become more and more realistic while still pushing yourself to stretch.<\/li>\n
      • They are time-bound.<\/em><\/strong> Since these are 90-day objectives, you should began by asking yourself the question, What do I want to accomplish by March 31?<\/em> or whatever the time horizon is.<\/li>\n
      • They are prioritized.<\/em><\/strong> Your most important objective should go at the top of the list. Your second most important objective should go next and so on.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        I look at this list every morning and try to populate my Daily Task List with actions that will move me closer to attaining my objectives. Every day, I try to identify at least one \u201cnext action\u201d and do it. If you have never done this before, you won\u2019t believe the focus that this will bring to your life.<\/span> I also pray over each objective. I know my limitations and am very much aware that I can\u2019t accomplish what I believe I am supposed to do without God\u2019s help. (If you can accomplish an objective without<\/em> God\u2019s help, you\u2019re not thinking big enough.)<\/p>\n

        If you have never tried this before, I want to challenge you to give it a shot. In fact, I double-dog dare you. Call it \u201cThe 90-Day Challenge.\u201d Write your goals down, and make them happen. Please let me know how it goes. If you want a little accountability, post your goals in the comments section below.<\/p>\n

        Question: What has been your experience with goal-setting? What are some of your current goals?<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        I have been setting goals in one form or another for years. Every now and then, I stumble across an old list of goals. I am always fascinated by how many of the things I write down come to pass. And, I must confess, it often happens despite the fact that I do nothing more than write it down.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[501,503,82,95,30],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoal-Setting: The 90-Day Challenge | Full Focus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/goal-setting-the-90-day-challenge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Goal-Setting: The 90-Day Challenge | Full Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I have been setting goals in one form or another for years. 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