In my last blog, I covered the first step to goal setting with the concept of “painting the picture”. Once you’ve identified your goal and specifically defined it, the next step involves asking why this goal is important to you. This is one of the most important steps in the entire process, because once you know why you are doing something, you will do whatever it takes to figure out how to accomplish it. Answering the why question is essential to defining the importance of the particular goal.
If I have a goal of eating healthy and exercising on a regular basis, then I have to know why this goal is important. Am I setting this goal, because I somehow think it’s what I’m supposed to do? I might say to myself, “I guess I should be healthy. Everyone lists that as important, so I guess it should be important to me as well.” That answer is not an effective “why” answer.
Instead, you need to really define why this goal is so important. I’ll give you an example. Health is an important goal for me. Unfortunately my family struggles with high cholesterol and high blood pressure. I’ve had several family members suffer from heart attacks at very young ages.
My health is directly tied to my family. I want to be healthy because I want to live to see my children grow up and have children of their own. I not only want to be alive, but I want to enjoy it. I don’t want to be confined to a hospital bed or medical equipment. I also want to have more energy in my life now. I have a lot of worthy goals that I’m excited about pursuing, but I can’t do that if I have limited energy and I’m out of shape.
Do you see how I’ve answered the why question? I’ve given very specific reasons that are important to me. Answering the why question is one of the greatest secrets to accomplishing great goals. You may have practiced this principle in your own life without even realizing it.
Many years ago, my uncle was in terrible shape. He ate terrible foods, never exercised, smoked, drank, and he rarely saw the doctor. In his early 40’s, he had a massive heart attack. Fortunately he survived, but his life was changed forever.
Once he recovered and was out of the hospital, my uncle was a changed man. He changed his entire diet. He started exercising every day. He quit smoking and drinking, and he never missed regular check-ups with his doctor. He lost an enormous amount of weight. He looked great, and you would have never guessed he was so out of shape a few years before.
So what happened to my uncle? I’ll break it down for you. He answered the why question. His goal was to get healthy, but the key to his success was that he knew why. Once you know why, you’ll do everything you can to figure out how. Do you see the power of this principle? Answer the why question, and you’ve got 80% of the goal setting process accomplished to do great things.
