The Complete Guide to Goal Setting. The Goal Buddy System

Warning 1! This is a complete guide for setting and achieving goals. It’s not a 5-minute read. Working through it takes time and effort, but if you invest these, then you will acquire the great skill to achieve your goals which will stay with all your life.

Warning 2! It’s quite likely that our system will help you be successful! But we found that there are many people who are more afraid of success than of failure. If you don’t feel ready to reach for your dreams, we don’t recommend reading any further.

We’ve created such a powerful and effective system that it would be unfortunate as well as irresponsible to keep it only for ourselves.

Therefore, we decided to share it with the world.

Initially, that wasn’t the plan. We created it foremost because we needed it.

In fact, we are just two boys with big dreams. Our journey began ten years ago. At the very beginning, each of us on his own was trying to figure out the goal setting process. It was only after we discovered that we have this in common that we united our efforts. We explored numerous techniques and methodologies tested them. We adjusted and combined them in different ways until we finally got the puzzle right and “Goal Buddy” was born.

And here it is in front of you – a proven system of setting and achieving goals in 7 easy steps.

How to get started right away

If you follow our system in full, you will always achieve your goals – even the objectives that might seem impossible at first.

But if you don’t have much time and aren’t quite interested in it right now, then you can take a look at our Goal Buddy Quick Start Guide. If you like what you see there you can always come back to this page and familiarize yourself with all the resources of the “Goal Buddy” system.

Why did we create this goal setting guide?

Just because we never found a complete system. We came across only some partial attempts to systematize the process of setting and achieving goals. There are gazillion articles on the topic out there which are way too general and ultimately useless. And, to our surprise, some of them might even do more harm than being of any help.

One such example is setting one-year SMART goals. In our view, this is a big-time mistake which is behind the reasons why so many people fail. If goals are to be specific and achievable, then they should be limited to shorter, 90-day periods (we’ll explain a bit later why such a deadline).

We have to emphasize here the fact that goals can, on one hand, boost your confidence as nothing else. But, on the other hand, they could easily be a two-edged sword. Your self-confidence can suffer much damage if you don’t know what you are doing and, especially if you are doing it outside of any system. It’s our belief that in such cases it’s better not to attempt setting goals at all rather than trying and failing.

When you practice goal setting with no system whatsoever and your objective is something like the common one to lose some weight, each time you fail you are reinforcing the wrong perception that “goals do not work”. The even worse outcome is that you might suffer the consequences of lowered self-esteem, not to mention the limiting beliefs that pose yet more obstacles between you and your dreams.

It is, therefore, highly advisable to familiarize yourself with this guide that introduces you to a methodology for setting goals which are as effective as proven in practice.

So, this is a 7 steps process that gives you:

  • The clarity of what you want from your life and why you want it
  • The confidence that you can achieve anything you decide
  • The motivation to jump out of bed in the morning and make your dreams happen.

If you are still not convinced in the value of the goal setting process, then check out this article on why set goals.

Before you start working through this 7-step guide, you’d better download and print out the free goal setting templates.

Be aware that you will need some time. You might not be able to see what you want from life right away. If you haven’t done goal setting before, it can take you all day. We can guarantee you, though, that this will be one of the best days for you this year.

Step 1: Fill up your “Confidence Fuel tank”

With confidence, you can achieve anything.

At this first stage, we’ll do some travelling with a time machine.

First, we’ll pay a visit to your successes in the past (everybody has those) and fill up your “confidence fuel tank”. Since it’s going to be a long journey…

Only then will we get into the future to see what it is like when all your goals are already achieved.

Don’t be tempted to skip this step and proceed directly to the setting of your goals. Don’t do it! It’s like getting on the road for a 1,000 mile trip with no gas in the tank.

The first order of the day is to take care of the confidence factor. We will look closely at what has worked for you in the past – why and how you can build upon your success.

Take me to the tools from step 1

Step 2: The True Goals Discovery Process

Once you are charged with enough confidence, it’s time to go on a journey of discovery. Yes, this is the part that’s probably the most fun.

And since often times it isn’t as simple as to just list your goals, you will have to figure out what they might be since our true goals are not always so obvious to us.

In this step you will dream, you will let your imagination fly far away into your desired future. It will be something like a brainstorming session.

We’ve devised a number of exercises to explore from different aspects your aspirations. After that, we’ll cherry pick from these ideas and put up together the whole puzzle with specific action goals, but for now and during these exercises, you have to imagine the following:

  • No upper bound on the resources you need (such as time, money, contacts, etc.);
  • You can achieve any goal;
  • There are no other limitations in front of you.

Take me to the tools from step 2

Step 3: The What I Want Manifesto

Ask and you shall be given.
The Bible

Looking at your life from different angles and dreaming was quite fun, wasn’t it? Now it’s time to find what’s really important to you and answer one fundamental question:

What do you want?

As simple as this question sounds, it’s not an easy one for most of the people.

But not for you. From the previous exercises, you have all the raw materials NT: that you can to put together and create your Manifesto. This is the Manifesto to declare what you want for your life.

The idea behind this is that if you have clarity on what you want and what your direction NT: in life is, then the “how” part gets much easier. The challenge is that most people constantly switch directions and make no progress at all.

Your Manifesto will guide you like a lighthouse.

Take me to the tools from step 3

Step 4: The Vision Game Plan

“Vision with no action is just a dream. Actions with no vision are wasteful. When paired together vision and action can change the world.”

At this stage, when you are about to start working on any big goal, you have to come up with a short-term action plan or the so-called 90-day action goal.

First, explore the limiting beliefs that prevent you from achieving your goals.

Then you analyze those potentially unfavorable circumstances that could be a problem. Next, you develop strategies to deal with them.

You will also have to answer some very important questions:

  • What? – What exactly would you like to achieve?
  • Why? – What is your motivation?
  • Who? – Does anyone have the resources to help you?
  • How? – What is your plan of action?

Take me to the tools from step 4

Step 5: The 90-day Activity Focus

Success is the sum of small efforts – repeated day in and day out.
Robert Collier

Once you have formulated 90-day action goals, you should take the small steps each week to achieve them.

This stage is quite simple. List all your goals for the quarter and then specify only one action that you will do next week.

Remember, there is no need here to plan the entire process – the first small step to start with is quite enough. Let it be a really easy step!

Take me to the tools from step 5

Step 6: Setup The GoalBuddy Support System

The most important thing about achieving goals is to have a support system.

Congratulations! With steps 1 through 5, you just completed the goal setting part of the Guide.

And now is the time to do something extremely important. It will help you succeed in pursuing your dreams and achieving your goals. That is – finding support.

According to some studies, 94% of people quit their goals within two weeks simply because they don’t have any support system.

But not you!

Keep in mind that you are only human and it is perfectly natural to have your ups and downs in the process of achieving your objectives. But if you have a reliable support system, it will quickly bring you back on the right track to success.

The first thing you need to do is find a Goal Buddy.

We are about to explain what type of person to look for, and how to find a good match.

Take me to the tools from step 6

Step 7: The Goal Buddy Meetings (aka Goal Reviews)

So far, you’ve done a lot. Isn’t it exciting to finally know where you are going and to have specific goals formulated!

But don’t forget that on the road to success you will have to adjust your strategy. Sometimes you’ll simply have to make a sharp U-turn.

There are two rules:

  1. You must adapt your goals to the vision every 90 days.
  2. Stick to your plan without changing anything till the end of that period.

You have to stay the course without any changes on the fly or having second thoughts about your goals. The idea is to focus only on the actions you have committed to, and to avoid situations of the so called “analysis paralysis”.

At this step you will also understand how to do the following:

  • Annual review of the vision
  • Quarterly meeting to assess the 90-day goals
  • Weekly discussion of the steps
  • Daily visualization of goals (though not mandatory, we highly recommend it).

Take me to the tools from step 7

And to wrap it up…

All the materials, as well as the Guide itself, are completely free. We believe you’ll enjoy it and find it useful and effective. It’s our hope that it will help you live in a better, more fulfilling way by achieving your goals with confidence and ease.

If you want that more people realize their dreams, share this Guide with your friends.

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