Fast Results E-Zine
When you sign up, you'll get instant access to my article archives, exclusive content and other freebies. Plus, we will never sell, rent or share your information so sign up today.
Search
Bookmark this Page
Blog Carnivals
Blogroll
Resources
Categories
- 10 Things (2)
- Blog Carnival (8)
- Bullying (3)
- Career (51)
- Communicators in the news (20)
- events (1)
- General (15)
- Goal Setting (20)
- Health (1)
- Inspiration (21)
- Interpersonal Communication (30)
- Job Interview (25)
- Leadership (5)
- Learning (2)
- Motivation (47)
- Networking (16)
- Online Success (6)
- Personal (5)
- Politics (20)
- Public Speaking (121)
- Quick Tip (7)
- Review (2)
- success (4)
- Time Management (5)
- Toastmasters (27)
- Video of the Week (14)
- Writing (5)
Archives
- March 2010 (6)
- February 2010 (12)
- January 2010 (6)
- December 2009 (7)
- November 2009 (12)
- October 2009 (12)
- September 2009 (3)
- August 2009 (6)
- July 2009 (11)
- June 2009 (16)
- May 2009 (8)
- April 2009 (7)
- March 2009 (10)
- February 2009 (7)
- January 2009 (8)
- December 2008 (5)
- November 2008 (3)
- October 2008 (7)
- September 2008 (11)
- August 2008 (9)
- July 2008 (18)
- June 2008 (9)
- May 2008 (14)
- April 2008 (14)
- March 2008 (11)
- February 2008 (10)
- January 2008 (13)
- December 2007 (13)
- November 2007 (2)
- October 2007 (4)
- September 2007 (3)
- August 2007 (4)
- July 2007 (3)
- June 2007 (4)
- April 2007 (1)
- February 2007 (2)
- January 2007 (3)
- December 2006 (2)
- November 2006 (7)
- October 2006 (6)
- September 2006 (12)
I had lunch with a friend on Friday and the topic of goal setting came up. He asked me what I would do if I didn’t reach a particular personal goal that I have. I told him that my plan was to reach it – failure was not an option in this case. I essentially don’t have a Plan B for this one because it’s so important for me to reach it.
We then talked a bit more about what I was doing and how in the past I’ve put myself in positions where I absolutely needed to reach my goal because I cut off all other alternatives. I like to call this Extreme Goal Setting™ because it brings goal setting to new level. It’s not for the timid and not for weak goals – forget about describing goals as “it would be nice to have” or “I’d like to have.” Goals that you use this technique on must be described as “absolutely must have.”
When Extreme Goal Setting™ is Appropriate:
People toss around goals all the time and most of them end up as dreams and wishes. When you start to take something lightly, you dilute its meaning and importance to you. So if you’re always setting goals to make millions of dollars, get in shape, find that perfect mate, etc… and you don’t put any effort into reaching those goals, you’ll have a negative perception about goal setting. You may even decide to give up instead of risking another failure.
If you have this type of attitude towards goal setting, then you might not be ready for Extreme Goal Setting™. Extreme Goal Setting™ is in some ways like walking a tightrope without a net. You’ve practiced the skills needed to walk across the rope and you know that you have no choice but to cross the rope without falling. For some people, the safety net can act as a crutch – the work less hard because they know there’s no real risk in failing. If you find that you’re one of those people that haven’t reached your goals because of the safety net and are frustrated because of it, this may be your only way out.
You are the best judge of your commitment, situation and abilities so ultimately, you have to make the decision as to whether or not you want to work without the safety net. If you’re ever going to have that big breakthrough, you eventually have to draw that line in the sand that once you’ve crossed, there’s no turning back. If you’re not ready to do that right now, then work your way up to that level at a pace that you’re comfortable with.
Choosing a Goal:
Your first step in Extreme Goal Setting™ is to choose a goal. This is a bit more difficult than it seems because your goal needs to meet the following criteria:
- It must be a goal you are passionate about and committed to. If achieving it doesn’t excite you, then choose another goal.
- You must be willing to put in the necessary effort to achieve it. If you’re only going to take a half-hearted approach, then don’t bother.
- It must have a clear and measureable outcome. “Getting in shape,” “becoming financially independent” and “making a career change” all sound great but are weak goals. Instead, try “weighing 180 lbs. with less than 10% body fat,” “having one million dollars in my portfolio” and “getting out of the corporate rat race and working as a dance instructor at a hotel in the Caribbean.”
- It must have a deadline. And by deadline, I mean a day that you’ll complete it on. “A few years,” “next year” and “before I retire” are not precise enough. You need an exact date such as “midnight, December 31st, Eastern Standard Time.” Yes, you need to be that exact because it tells your subconscious that you’re serious.
- It’s very clear to you why you absolutely must achieve this goal. Perhaps being out of shape means that you won’t feel comfortable going on a beach vacation with your friends. Maybe not getting out of your high stress work environment can result in serious medical complications. Whatever the reason, it has to be one where failure is serious enough in your mind that you’ll avoid it at all costs.
So in order for this to be effective, you’ll need to ensure that you’ve chosen a goal that meets all criteria. If you goal doesn’t, then you may need to dig deeper by asking yourself probing questions. On one side you might find that the goal isn’t as important as you originally though. On the other side, you might realize how important it is to reach that goal and that alone might motivate you.
In the next part of this series, I’ll talk about the safety net and how it affects your goals.
ShareCheck out these Related posts:
- Extreme Goal Setting™: Part 2 – Removing the Safety Net In Part 1 of this series, we took a...
- You Can Have My Lamborghini I’ll never forget the first time I saw the...
- Does it Really Make Sense to Double Your Failure Rate? I’ve heard that the best way to double your...
- Give People a Break When They’re Trying to Change If you’ve ever had a bad habit or some...
- Making 2010 a Fantastic Year I’m not really into resolutions – I’m into goals....
- Can Prayer Make You More Successful? I had a discussion with some friends recently about...
- The power of “Must” One word can turn an impotent goal into an...




(No Ratings Yet)calendar
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Aug | Oct » | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | |||||
Recent Posts
Popular Articles
- Interview Question: What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- How to Answer the Strengths and Weaknesses Job Interview Question
- Public Speaking Success: How to Get Ideas for Speech Topics
- Hannah Montana Takes “Racy” Photos
- 25 Illegal Interview Questions
- A Fast Way to Improve Your Articulation
- Public Speaking: How to Write a Powerful Conclusion for Your Speech
- Public Speaking: How to Write a Speech - Part 1: Your Speech Outline
- Have a Communication Fear? Here’s What To Do About it
- Job Interview Questions: Where Do You Expect to Be in Five Years?
- Public Speaking Success: Three Ways to Make a Speech More Interesting
Recent Comments
- Don’t Let BlackBerry Addiction Ruin Your Presentation | Overnight Sensation - Public Speaking, Communication and Personal Development
on The Speech Introduction - Don’t Let BlackBerry Addiction Ruin Your Presentation | Overnight Sensation - Public Speaking, Communication and Personal Development
on Public Speaking Success: How to Create a Presentation for Work - Don’t Let BlackBerry Addiction Ruin Your Presentation | Overnight Sensation - Public Speaking, Communication and Personal Development
on Career Success: 10 Tips for Productive Meetings - Xamuel
on 20 Revealing Interview Questions - 20 Revealing Interview Questions | Overnight Sensation - Public Speaking, Communication and Personal Development
on 25 Illegal Interview Questions - Marketing 101 – Logic, Emotion, Needs and Wants « @rtstrategy
on Why We Feel Inadequate - Richard Garber
on Why We Feel Inadequate - Why We Feel Inadequate | Overnight Sensation - Public Speaking, Communication and Personal Development
on Public Speaking Myths: You Must Immediately Capture Your Audience’s Attention
recent entries
- Don’t Let BlackBerry Addiction Ruin Your Presentation
- 20 Revealing Interview Questions
- Why We Feel Inadequate
- How to Exit a Conversation
- Interview Questions – Why did you Leave Your Last Job?
- February Blog Carnivals
- Illegal Job Interview Questions: How to Answer Them
- An Ingredient to Spice Up Your Presentation
- 25 Illegal Interview Questions
- 5 Social Media Mistakes That Can Prevent You from Getting a Job
Wordpress theme by Wordpress Themes & made free by Internet Marketing Center
© 2006-2008 James Feudo All Rights Reserved.



2 users commented on " Extreme Goal Setting™: Part 1 – Failure is Not an Option "
September 14 2008
[...] This Post In Part 1 of this series, we took a high-level look at Extreme Goals. We looked at how to decide if our [...]
December 31 2009
[...] are typically made around this time of year and are often long forgotten by Valentine’s Day. Goals (when set correctly) are measurable, require particular actions and have milestones for checking [...]