Ponder Your Percentages
Related Goal Setting Articles
Regular readers will know that goal achievement is a huge passion of mine.
I've used the theories for well over 20 years, and continue to use them to this day.
I wrote about them in my book 'Transform Your Life in 21 Days!' back in 2003, and they are as valid now as they were then.
I'm always trying to think up new ways of framing the same ideas, because sometimes looking at the same idea from a different angle is all someone needs for the light bulb to go on, and extraordinary results to follow.
As I write it's early January 2007, and over the recent holiday period I came up with what I think is a cracker.
It's a simple method which includes several of the essential steps in the goal achievement plan.
Those are goal definition, visualisation, action planning and taking responsibility.
I called the idea 'Ponder Your Percentages'.
We all know that 'per cent' means out of a hundred, and the possibility of any circumstance happening can be measured on this scale.
There are 2 absolutes at either end.
100% means the outcome will definitely happen, no question, unavoidable, inevitable.
Zero% means the outcome will definitely *not* happen, no question, unavoidable, inevitable.
So we can start with those absolutes and turn to your goal...
Ask yourself 'what is the percentage chance of my goal happening?'
It's unlikely to be 100% or zero%. If you think it is either of those, you probably need to work a bit more on your goal definition, (methods in my book!)
It might make it easier to give yourself an initial choice of 3 spots - is it 25% likely to happen, 75% likely, or 50%?
Once you pick one of those, you can then adjust in your head to get to the figure you are happy with.
You cannot get to this stage without a definition of your goal, visualisng it, and having an idea of the difference between where you are now and your target, all good things.
Say you pick a figure of 20%.
This means you think there is a reasonable chance of it happening, but there will be a lot of work involved, a long way to go.
20% may sound low, but any figure is excellent, and here's why...
You can now work out what you can do to increase your estimate to 21%
This brings in the step of planning action.
If you don't know what the next step needs to be, your next step is research - go and find out!
Once you've done that, you can definitely increase to 21%.
You then repeat the process, which brings in the taking action aspect of goal achievement, and taking responsibility.
If you take no action, your percentage chance will not move upwards, and the responsibility for that is yours, no-one elses.
As you move your percentage up, you will find yourself motivated, and you'll gather momentum, with that 100% target getting ever closer!
This is a technique you can apply to *any* goal. It works, and if you use it, you can achieve things which you would have found unbelievable before, so I ask you, right now, to ponder your percentages!
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