In his book Motivation and Goal Setting, Jim Cairo takes a different approach to goal setting by asking the audience questions to uncover their “true” identity. This process helps you start building momentum that can carry into the accomplishments of your goals. 

First, he suggests that you must identify your desired outcome - ok, that isn’t rocket science!  However, his approach is very different from the HARD goals criteria we defined last week and the SMART goals definition I will be going into next week!  Every journey starts with the end in mind:  the ideal state you want to create for your life or your business. 

Strategy consultant Charles Sull and management lecturer Donald Sull suggest in their book “With Goals, FAST Beats SMART,” defining your goals according to the acronym FAST vs. SMART, that FAST goals are much more effective. 

Creating Goals That Motivate You to Take Action.

Most people don’t accomplish their goals because they are too difficult.  Many make them too easy, and they aren’t motivating enough!  If your goals don’t motivate you, you won’t pay attention to them or take them seriously enough.  Mark Murphy, the author of “Hard Goals: The Secret of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be,” suggests making them as difficult as possible and setting the objectives so they are essential to your well-being.