Employee Development: Goal Setting

Employee Development: Goal Setting

Goal setting is one of the most important things you can do in life; they are the maps that represent our ambitions and objectives for the future. Whether it is daily, weekly or long-term, goals facilitate action and bring success. Too often we limit ourselves by not clearly articulating what we want or need. Most anything in life and business is possible, but we have to take the initiative to make it happen. If you do not create specific goals and consistently pursue them, your potential is undermined; if you do not understand how to put thoughts into action, your daily efforts are hindered. If we aim high, we hit high; aim low and that is where we end up. Learn to organize your thoughts, put together a structured program and timeframe, and understand the important techniques used to accomplish your goals. Once you powerfully connect with something, there is little that can stop it. It may take time, but the more focused and determined you are, the closer it becomes. This is a simple law of nature and a powerful way to change your life.

A study done by Yale University in 1953 interviewed the graduating class of students about their future and what they hoped to achieve. Only 3 % of the class had specific goals and knew exactly what they wanted. Twenty years later the same group of Yale graduates were interviewed and it was found that the 3% of the class who had specific goals not only had a better fulfilled life, but had a net worth more than the other 97% of people combined. This is the real power of goals and goal setting.

Areas of Focus:

  • The Importance of Goal Setting
  • Articulating Your Thoughts Into Action
  • Visualization: Seeing What You Want
  • Reticular Activating System
  • Understanding Neuro-association
  • The Conscious & Subconscious Mind
  • Structure, Outline & Action Plan

Specific Areas of Goals:

  1. Career and Education
  2. Personal Development
  3. Health and Body
  4. Relationships
  5. Recreation
  6. Financial
  7. Contribution & Giving back

Visualization:
Consciously and subconsciously, we have all practiced visualization. Perhaps it was thinking about a career, preparing for an event, or seeing a place you wanted to go. People of all backgrounds and professions use this technique to achieve their objectives: Great athletes visualize their performance before a game, famous speakers will repeatedly run through a speech in their mind before a presentation, and successful people see the outcome they want before it happens. Visualization simply programs your mind with the results you desire and helps guide you there; the only difference is rehearsing something mentally instead of physically. Mental images can act as a prelude to muscular impulses and keeps your mind alert to recurring possibilities and opportunities. The more you focus on the objective and continually rehearse it, the quicker the outcome. You can achieve any realistic goal if you keep thinking about it, eliminate negative thoughts, and practice visualization.

Visualization: The Russian Model
During the 1970s and 80s, the Russians perfected the use of visualization in sports, which is part of the reason they won so many gold medals and dominated the Olympics. The athletes mentally saw themselves perfectly running through all the physical motions and succeeding in each event. When they actually approached the competition, they just followed through with what they already rehearsed. The Soviets had discovered that mental images can act as a prelude to muscular impulses. In one of the best known studies on visualization in sports, Russian scientists compared four groups of equally competitive Olympic athletes in terms of their training schedules:

  • Group 1: 100% training
  • Group 2: 75% training; 25% visualization
  • Group 3: 50% training; 50% visualization
  • Group 4: 25% training; 75% visualization
  • Group 4 performed the best

Reticular Activating System:
The Reticular Activating System is the part of the brain (the reticular formation and its connections) believed to be the center of motivation in humans. It is situated at the core of the brain stem between the myelencephalon (medulla oblongata) and mesencephalon (midbrain). Your reticular activating system is like a filter between your conscious mind and your subconscious mind, taking instructions from your conscious mind and passing them on to your subconscious. First, your reticular activating system cannot distinguish between 'real events' and 'synthetic' reality. It tends to believe whatever messages you give it. If you are consistently confident about achieving something or obtaining an objective, it facilitates the progress; however, if your thoughts are negative or discouraging, the opposite occurs. Second, you can deliberately program the reticular activating system by choosing the exact messages you send from your conscious mind. Imagine that you're going to give a speech; you can practice giving that speech by visualizing it in your mind. This 'pretend' practice improves your ability to give the speech, for you have already mentally walked through it and rehearsed it. You can achieve any realistic goal if you keep on thinking about it in a positive way; if you believe you can't achieve a something, then your subconscious will undermine your progress.

Neuro-association:
Neuro-association is the exact meaning we give to something, representing our past achievements, failures, and everything we have gone through. It dictates our perception and behavior. Every conversation, relationship, and situation is measured and judged by what we believe and associate with it. Our previous experiences influence our present attitude and expectations. We attach a preconceived emotion to a person or place, which conditions what we believe or how we act. Yet change a few things and many things can change, for the past does not represent the future. Most negative thoughts we associate with events have no reality. They are not relevant to where we are now. You can modify the meaning of past associations, thus changing your perception and connecting something positive instead of negative. The three fundamentals to conditioning are focus, mental ability and leverage. What you focus on determines how you feel; understand you must change something now, and believe you can. It takes practice and discipline, but anything is possible; consistent repetition forms positive habits and results.

The Conscious & Subconscious Mind:
The brain is a complex system and understanding its functions and overall potential is imperative to increasing your knowledge, ability and achieving goals. The conscious mind has limited processing capacity; short term memory (about 20 seconds); aptitude to manage 1-3 events at a time; impulses that travel at 120-140 mph; the ability to process an average of 2000 bits of information per second; and is like the tip of an iceberg (1/6 of actual mental capacity). The subconscious mind has expanded processing capacity; long term memory; the ability to manage thousands of events at a time; impulses that travel at over 100,000 MPH; processes an average of 400,000,000,000 bits of information per second; and has no limits expect the ones we choose. You can use your conscious mind to deliberately reprogram your subconscious mind, overcoming negative beliefs or undermining patters, recondition your attitude and behavior, and improve your confidence and success.

Program Benefits:

  • Understanding the Significance of Goals
  • Articulating Your Objectives Into Results
  • Learning Powerful Techniques & Skills
  • Overcoming Past Problems & Negative Patterns
  • Raising Your Standards & Expectations
  • Maximizing Your Time & Energy
  • Consistently Succeeding in Your Goals
  • Forming a Proactive Outline & Action Plan

Who Should Attend:
This program is for all employees and should be an essential requirement at every company. By investing in your employees, you’re showing commitment, improving performance, and enhancing results. From small groups to large corporations, Wolf Management offers tailored programs that fit your objectives and needs. Accountability and commitment are essential for a successful workshop.

Event Length: ½ and 1 Day
Although this program can be tailored from ½ to 1 day, it can also be run over a longer period of time and incorporated throughout the company.

[CS]

REAL ANSWERS, REAL RESULTS

Leadership insights in your inbox.

Nationally acclaimed speaker

International bestselling author Jeff Wolf is now available for your next meeting, conference or convention to provide a high-energy presentation filled with strategies and techniques attendees can immediately apply to improve their skills.