Goal Pyramid

In my opinion, this is how so many of us get stuck in life. We may know that we want to work less and have more personal freedom, but the "how" part muddles things up. I recently chatted on AIM with an old classmate who has been talking about starting his own consulting business for about 3 years. But, he is still stuck in his cubicle in NYC, because he hasn't worked out "how" to get from his desk job to a more creative and fulfilling line of work.

I find that "mapping" a goal is a sure-fire way of figuring out the "how" part and, as a nice benefit, it also dramatically reduces fear of failure. Process mapping works backwards from the desired end result to where you are currently. It breaks the goal down into manageable chunks that you know you can achieve. It is the knowing you can do it part that helps to feul your motivation to get after your dream. It gets you to focus on the basics, one chunk at a time. These are little chunks that can be done one-by-one that add up to a series of accomplishments. They bring vigor and self-confidence as you realize that you are really and truly taking action that is leading to results. They help you to realize that your dreams are within your reach, which is so exciting. One of the true joys in life is not when our dreams are handed to us, but when we realize that we can make our dreams come true all by ourselves. People may think that winning the lottery would solve their problems, but learning how to create money, a skill that can be used for the rest of your life, is so much more powerful. Think about it: if you won the lottery, your money problems wouldn't be solved for very long because you still haven't learned how to handle money.

With goal mapping, you must first think from the end. Be able to state in exactly 1 sentence what it is that you wish to achieve. It is important to be very clear, descriptive, and concise. For example, instead of stating, "I want to lose weight this summer", say instead, "I will lose 20 pounds in the next 4 months". Draw a box around your end-result goal.

Next, draw 4-6 boxes underneath the top box. Working from left to right, state in 1-2 sentences the 4-6 biggest milestones for getting to your goal. Using the weight loss example from above and knowing that it takes me a couple of weeks to incorporate diet and exercise changes, I would expect to lose less weight in the beginning and more weight closer to the end of the 4 month time frame. An example of 4 milestones would be:

1. In June, I will lose at least 3 pounds.

2. In July, I will lose at least 5 pounds.

3. In August, I will lose at least 6 pounds.

4. In September, I will lose at least 6 pounds.

The third step is to draw at least 2 smaller boxes beneath each milestone box. The smaller boxes are the steps necessary to achieve each milestone. Treat each milestone as a separate event, or you can assume that the milestones are dependent upon the previous one for completion. In this example the smaller steps to achieve the June milestone might be:

1. In June, I will lose at least 3 pounds (milestone)

a. register with an online diet and exercise tracking website (weight watchers, mydailyplate.com)

b. Begin exercising 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, at target heart rate

c. Begin eating 1 salad a day with low calorie dressing, 7 days a week

By creating a goal pyramid, with one box on top, followed by milestones, supported by manageable action steps, you can get yourself to logically think through the necessary steps to achieve results. It answers the "how" question of getting from where you currently are to where you want to be. This is a model that allows for a lot of small victories which I believe is key for keeping motivation alive and building self-confidence.

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