4 Steps To Achieve Any Goal
Khalil Gibran, a well-known poet had once said "either you grow in life or you decay". There is nothing known as constant in life. To grow in life one needs to constantly set goals and achieve them. There are number of mechanisms that people come out with to set and achieve goals. Let us evaluate a four step method that can help you to define and achieve any goal. I would call it as "OWMF" Framework.
Set your Outcomes
As a first step clearly state the outcomes that you want to achieve when you accomplish your goal. Outcome is something that is best stated in "positive" terms. It should be something that pulls you towards it rather than moving you away from it. In other words, the outcomes should state what you want to do and what do you want to feel. So instead of saying "I want to control my anger" say "I want to be calmer" OR instead of saying "I will not panic on this project" say "I will stay positive on this project". The reason is that it's always easy for our mind to move towards something then to move away from something.
Understand your Why
It's not just enough to decide your outcomes but it's equally important to define and understand the reasons you want to achieve those outcomes. It is rightly said that "reasons come first, results come later". The reasons should be strong enough to really 'pull' you towards the goals that you have defined. The stronger are your whys to achieve a goal better is the chance of you accomplishing them. The reasons or the whys is the difference between being interested versus being committed to accomplish something. The outcomes you want provide the direction while the reasons provide you the real motivation to move in that direction.
Take Massive Action
Nothing is achieved with just philosophies, motivations and grand plans unless they are backed with "massive action". Massive action is something that comes from your entire being. The actions aligned to your entire neurology which essentially means creating action plans that move you towards your goals on a daily basis. To create a robust action plan take each of your goals and ask following questions:
What do I have to do first to accomplish this goal?
What is preventing me from having this goal now and what can I do to change it?
The answers would give you some clear actions which you can immediately start taking. As you move ahead in the journey you would discover more and more relevant actions. The key lies in starting the journey and taking the first step.
Feedforward
It is rightly said "there is no failure only feedback". If you take a set of actions which do not give the desired results then take some other actions. The question that comes up is "for how long should one continue to take action?" The answer is very simple "till the time you achieve the goal you set out to achieve". Every time an action does not yield the desired result it becomes a 'feedforward' for future actions. 'Feedforward' can be understood as learning for future. If viewed with this attitude then no action is a waste. Either it yields what you desire or it gives you learning.
In the end I would urge you to pick up anything that you strongly desire and apply the "OWMF" framework to it. Get and celebrate results.
