The Goal Blueprint: A New and Interesting “Twist” To Setting and Writing Your Goals

Have you ever planned a vacation? If not, then let’s start right now!

“Wait a minute… I thought this article was supposed to be about how to set goals. I’ve been tricked!”. Before you hit the ”back” button on your computer, please bear with me for a moment, as I assure you, planning a vacation has every bit to do with how you should approach setting goals and achieving them.

Are you still with me? Good. OK, so what’s the first thing you do when you plan a trip? You have to decide where to go! How about Europe? That sounds like a fun place to go (if not original). So, now that you decided where to go, what do you do next? Well, you have to decide for how long. Let’s say two weeks. Is that all? Definitely not. You still have to:

1. Decide the best season to go.
2. Find out if there are any deals going on. You do want to save money while vacationing, do you?
3. Find out where the best hotels are and who gives the best rates.
4. Decide which countries to visit. I’m sure with two weeks, it would be difficult visiting all the countries of Europe.
5. Find out what the current exchange rate is.
6. Decide if you need to take a language course. I know how they say English is the international language, but I’m sure the last thing you want is a situation where you have to ask someone where the restroom is and have that person give you a weird look and a shrug.
7. Find out where the best tours are.
8. How much to pack, not to mention what to pack.
9. Get your passport (if you haven’t gotten one already).
10. Find out how much all this cost! You didn’t think you would be traveling to Europe for free, would you? If it turns out it cost more than you expected, then you’ll either have to find a way to earn that money or decide if that vacation to Europe is even worth it.

As if that isn’t enough, there are the things at home you have to take care of while you’re away. If you have pets, you’ll need to find a pet sitter, not to mention finding someone to take care of your mail. Still want to take that two week vacation to Europe now?

Setting goals is very much the same way. Too often, I see many self-help books (and even experts in the personal development industry) tell you to write your goals and dreams down. There are variations to this technique they teach. Some will have you write down what your “ideal life” is and I even heard someone say that if you want to be wealthy, take out a blank check and write for yourself whatever amount of money you desire, then put it in your pocket or wallet and keep it there until you make whatever it is you wrote for (I believe a famous actor used this technique, but he also had a solid plan of action he followed).

In a way, I see why the self-help books and the experts teach this technique, but by just writing down your goals, or what your dream life is - even if you’re specific about your goals and dream life – is like writing down on a piece of paper “I want to go to Europe.”. Being specific doesn’t help either. Writing down “I want to go to Madrid, Spain on May 7th, 2015 at 3pm eastern standard time” is specific, but really won’t help you get any closer to Madrid than where you are now.

A better way to writing your goals is to use what call the “goal blueprint”. Here, you decide on a goal (similar to what most self help experts teach) and your reason for pursuing you goal. From here, you start doing preliminary research. It doesn’t have to be a thesis. Just enough information to help you decide the best way to pursue your goal (or whether they’re worth pursuing at all).
This research may involve:

1. Reading books.
2. Online research.
3. Talking to people who have already done what you want to do. Even if your goal is to go on a two week vacation to Europe, you may want to talk to those who’ve already been to Europe.

After your research, decide break down your goal into individual, manageable steps and actions and decide what action you plan to do each day to move you closer towards that goal. For instance: If you set a goal to lose ten pounds and you regularly eat a banana split for dessert, write down the goal to skip the banana split for that day. Then do the same for each day. You want to actually see yourself not only moving closer to your desired outcome, but also where you went astray and correct it.

One of the many reasons why people do not achieve their goals or their dream life, even after writing them down is because they do not know the steps involved and the sacrifices involved. By using the Goal Blueprint ©, you will have a clear plan of action with manageable steps towards achieving your goals!