Master Your Potential: How to Identify Your Goals

Last week I was running a workshop on personal effectiveness and was surprised to learn that a large percentage of the audience had little idea what were the true motivators in their lives.  I am always surprised that people are not aware of their value systems and understand that their personal values dictate what they will achieve in life.  

I spent a lot of time on the power of beliefs in dictating behaviour and have discovered that very few people had ever assessed their personal values.  Without clarifying your personal values, it’s very difficult to work out whether you will achieve, or even be able to formulate, meaningful  goals.

Clarify your Values

Clarifying personal values will enable you to drive up your ‘self motivation’ and ensure you always have control of your life and work projects.  Failing to understand your values and what motivates you, will confuse you into behaving in a manner that can frustrate you and may explain how you have difficulty prioritising and managing your time. 

To clarify your personal goals, think through these eight questions which you may need to ask yourself time and time again.  Remember to document your responses.

1. What are your five most important values in life?

This question will help clarify what is really important to you, and also highlights what is less important, or unimportant. Once you have identified the five most important values in life for you, organize them in order of priority.  Use paired comparison to ensure your values are in the right order for you.

2. What are your three most important goals in life, right now?

If you only allow yourself thirty seconds to write down your three most important goals, your subconscious mind sorts out your many goals quickly. Your top three will just pop into your conscious mind. With only thirty seconds, you will be as accurate as if you had thirty minutes.

3. What would you do and how would you spend your time, if you learned today that you only had twelve months to live?

This is another value question to help you clarify what is really important to you. When your time is limited, even if only in your imagination, you become aware of who and what you really care about.

4. What would you do if you won a million pounds cash, tax free, in the UK lottery tomorrow?

How would you change your life? What would you buy? What would you start doing, or stop doing? This is really a question to help you decide what you'd do if you had all the time and money you need, and if you had virtually no fear of failure at all.

5. What have you always wanted to do, but been afraid to attempt?

This question helps you see more clearly where your fears could be blocking you from doing what you really want to do.

6. What do you most enjoy doing in your life and at work?

What gives you your greatest feeling of a high self-esteem and personal satisfaction?  This is a question that may indicate where you should explore to find your "real personal desires." You will always be most happy doing what you most love to do, and what you most love to do is usually the activity that makes you feel the most alive and fulfilled. The most successful people in business are invariably doing what they really enjoy, most of the time.

7. What one great thing would you dare to dream if you knew you would not fail?

Imagine that a Wizard appears and grants you one wish. The Wizard guarantees that you will be absolutely, completely successful in anything that you attempt. If you were absolutely certain and guaranteed that you could achieve success in any one thing, what one exciting goal would you set for yourself?

8. Review the piece of paper that you used to answer these questions.

This paper represents your future goals. Read it daily and shape your life the way you see it on that paper.

Call to Action Workshop: 2012, My Best Year Yet

You might want to consider attending one of my workshops, or purchase one of our training packages on mastering potential.  I've coached top business people and entrepreneurs over many years. I've worked face-to-face with them to improve every area of their business lives and their relationships.   Contact me today to learn how to demystify your values and your life goals.