Setting goals is one thing. Carrying them out is another. In a recent book on change, authors Prochaska, Norcross and Diclemente (Changing for Good -- reviewed in this month's Owl Book Corner) offer a number of ideas to carry out change. In short, they offer a host of techniques that will make it more likely you will achieve your goals, whatever they are.

Here are some of their suggestions:

Take small steps. The Changing for Good authors suggest that preliminary small steps that come before any goal related action make it more likely you will achieve your goal. So, identify a number of small steps and begin to work on them. This is the equivalent of eating an elephant, in Time Manager language. Make a telephone call. Buy a pair of running shoes. Purchase a scale. Search the Web.

Set a date. The authors suggest choosing a date to begin your goal within the next month. If you delay too long on starting any change, you are likely to demotivate yourself. Make sure all the preliminary steps are completed before your due date arrives.

Go public. Tell others what you are going to do. Increase pressure on yourself by letting others know what you are going to do. Sometimes our willingness to live up to a commitment to others is stronger than our willingness to live up to a commitment to ourselves.

Create your own plan of action. Here's where you really need to listen to yourself. Someone else's action plan to achieve a goal is their action plan. It's not yours, and because of that, it probably won't work for you. Spend time figuring out the best way for you to get where you want to go.
 

While the Changing for Good ideas are not revolutionary, they are a good reminder that goal achievement and change is possible, but it isn't enough to just write your goal down on a sheet of paper. It's a bit more involved than that!

Janelle Barlow, Ph.D.
President
TMI, USA
 

Please submit your questions to Time Manager Questions and Answers. If you have questions, undoubtedly someone else has the same question. By asking a question, you'll help a fellow Time Manager user become more effective.
 
 

Previous "Time Manager Q & A Corner" pages: 
 

#1	Key Areas and Interruptions
#2	Daily Plans and Home Offices
#3	Result Statements
#4	Reading and Responding to E-Mail
#5	Sending E-Mail
#6	Filing According to Key Areas
#7	Setting up Files for the Whole Office
#8	Controlling Loose Pieces of Paper
#9	The Value of Time
#10	More on Results Statements
#11	Managing Time on the Road
#12	How to Get Time with Someone
#13	The Downside of Goals
#14	Thinking Types and Time
#15	Feeling Types and Time
#16	Intuitive Types and Time
#17	Sensate Types and Time
#18	What's Real about Strategic Planning?
#19	What Does Being Strategic Really Mean?
#20	How Perception of Time Influences Goal Choices
#21	The Four Immutable Laws of Controlling Your Desk
#22	Decision Making and Cultural Groups
#23	Paperless Office: Fact or Fiction?
#24	Exit Planning
#25	Speed: Does It Free Up More Time?
#26	Time in the 21st Century
#27	Open Office Plans
#28	The Costs of E-Mail
#29	How Do Senior Level People Manage Their Time?
#30	On Saving Time
#31	Paying the Ultimate Price with Time By Not Getting Enough Sleep
#32	Telecommuting and Productivity
#33	How Much Is Your Time Worth?

Please submit your questions to Time Manager Questions and Answers by fax or e-mail . If you have questions, undoubtedly someone else has the same question. By asking a question, you'll help a fellow Time Manager user become more effective.

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