Greetings!
Last week’s post was about “skipping the popular advice,” because the popular “just do it” slogan is very wrong when it comes to goals and success.
I promised to share the three key steps to follow to improve your chances of goal success this week and provide more detail on why “just do it” is wrong. So what are the three steps and why are they important?
Let’s start with the steps that confirmed science says are vital to increasing your chances of success:
- (Create A Bold Plan) Create a proper action plan and a clear inspiring goal
- (Build a Commitment Team) Ask one or more people if they would support you in achieving your goal.
- (Schedule An Accountability Appointment.) Make an accountability appointment with someone on your commitment team.
Why are all three of these steps crucial?
Imagine Boldy “just doing it” and tackling Bold Mountain without rope, sturdy boots and a helmet. Sure, he’s gung ho and motivated, but he isn’t prepared. He won’t be able to climb any vertical surfaces, his sneakers won’t give him any traction, and what will happen if there are falling rocks? An ill-prepared Boldy is an unsuccessful Boldy. He’ll need the rope, boots, water and helmet, otherwise he will never make it! A prepared Boldy is a smart Boldy with better chances of success on his challenging journey.
The Action Plan, Commitment Team and Accountability Appointment are essentially the rope, boots and helmet.
An action plan might sound daunting, but it doesn’t have to be–in fact, I make it easy with a series of fun worksheets in my book. The action plan is your preparation to do before you go up Bold Mountain. It will help you climb!
The plan is essential for success, and so is telling someone about your commitment and making an accountability appointment with them at a later date to talk about your progress. As I wrote in my book, the world’s largest professional membership organization, the Association for Talent Development (ATD), did an accountability study in 2017. The study showed that people increase their chances of succeeding with goals by 65% if they make a commitment to someone. The chances of success increase by 95% if the person also makes a specific accountability appointment!
In other words, if you go public with your commitment AND check in with someone about it at a later date to hold yourself accountable, your odds of accomplishing your goal will nearly double.
Think of the Commitment Team as your boots, as they will help you navigate any treacherous landscape, and think of the Accountability Appointment as your helmet–when the rocks come tumbling down, they’ll protect your head!
So if you want an extra edge that will increase your chances of success, don’t forget these three key steps. Be like a smart, prepared Boldy!
Here’s a question for you: If you’re going to set goals for 2021, should you just do it? Or don’t just do it and do the three steps first?
Live Bold!
All the best,
