Set goals
This is RULE 3 from a set of rules about how to get rich.
After defining the meaning of being rich, it is important to set some goals. How is it that you are to become rich? When will you be rich? These are some of the questions that having goals will answer.
Setting Goals
Setting goals is not as difficult as it can sound. After all, we do it all the time without even realizing.
Driving to work in the morning is a good example of setting and achieving goals.
In this case the goal can be “Being at work at 8 o’clock“. In order to achieve that goal you have to have an estimate on what time should you start going and what road you are going to take. This goal also hints about what you are going to do after its achieved - work!
It’s exactly the same with getting rich. You need to know when you are there - the definition of being rich and the date you are going to achieve it. An action plan similar to the road to work, on how you are going to make it, and what will you do when you get there!
A goal should be simple
A goal should not be something that’s difficult to understand. A simple goal could be “I will have 5 million dollars on my 41st birthday”.
Setting goals for friends, family and strangers is easy but unfortunately for a goal to work it has to be set by yourself. It can take days to come up with a goal like the one above.
Things to remember
A goal should have a date associated to it. Anyone can say that they will be rich and famous one day but that’s just a dream. The difference between dreams and goals is that goals have dates associated with them.
A good goal is measurable. That way you will know how much separates you from achieving it.
Write your goal down. That way can’t back off. In 1953, researchers made a survey on Yale’s graduating seniors about writing their goals down. Only 3% had written down their goals, 14% of graduates had goals but they had not written them down and 83% had no specific personal or business goals.
10 years later they made a second study among the same people. Here’s what came out:
- The 14% who had goals but didn’t write them down were earning on average twice as much as the 83% who had no goals at all.
- The 3% percent who had written down their goals were making 10 times more than the other 97% put together.
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I came across you from Chows’ site the other day. Love your strategy. The GOAL thing, while on the surface sounds good, ask yourself. Self, how many goals have I set and not met? So to that end, I purpose setting a “promise”, how many of them have you kept! I am sure the difference is staggering. Just an opinion.
Like most people I have set a lot of goals during my life and I have achieved a lot of them but at the same time I think there are more goals that I haven’t achieved! But I totally agree with you - giving yourself a promise seems so much more powerful! I will certainly try and let you know how it goes!
Awesome Roman. So you know, that came from Bill Bartmann. Quite a guy. I posted his 5 steps of the billionaire mentality on my site.
I Know it will work for you!
If you’d like a tool for setting your goals, you can use this web application:
http://www.Gtdagenda.com
You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, schedules and a calendar.
A mobile version is available too.