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Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
If you want to truly reach the goals that are burning in your soul, then you have got to look at your mindset around setting goals. I believe many of us come into the goal setting process with the wrong thought patterns and attitudes. Both of which ultimately impact the type of goals we set and our ability to achieve those goals. In my newly redesigned goals coaching program I teach a process I call “Having a Positive Goal Setting Mindset”. This process is designed to reset how people approach the goal setting process. In the next couple of blog articles, I’ll share with you those 5 core concepts as I truly believe they can help you take your goal setting to a whole new level!
The first concept I want to share with you is the most common mistake I see my clients make when setting goals; they don’t make them aggressive ENOUGH! Some people stay within their comfort zone and set goals based on what they know they can achieve. But the problem with that is that setting goals based on what we know we can achieve can cause a lack of motivation which then leads to the abandonment of a goal. It’s hard work achieving goals and if the reward is not greater than the pain we tend to lose momentum and the goal is not achieved.
In a previous job I worked with local sales management to set annual and quarterly sales goals. I always enjoyed the process because I enjoy setting goals and looking for ways to push myself. But this was my first encounter with people who don’t enjoy goal setting and who struggled to push themselves beyond what they had proven they could accomplish. Time and time again what I would see sales managers who would set very comfortable growth goals. Goals they knew that they could achieve. For instance, if they grew new business by 5% last quarter they would set the next quarter at 5% or maybe 5.5%. They knew they could do it and didn’t feel comfortable pushing past what they had proven they could do. But here is the key…if a goal does not push you it will not drive you!!! Goals are meant to be hard. They should not be an easy walk in the park. If you are going to take the time to set goals they should push you. I shake my head all the time thinking about how much money these guys left on the table simply because they were not ready to push themselves out side of their comfort zone.
If setting goals that really stretch you is a new or uncomfortable concept for you try using the MTO Technique by Raymon Aaron.
The MTO™ Technique –RAYMOND AARON
The idea is to make the goals scalable. So instead of just one goal, you have three levels of goals:
Minimum
Target
Outrageous
Let’s say you have your own side hustle and you want to set some new sales goals. Maybe you are going to target setting a goal for the growth of new business. And let’s say that to date you have been getting roughly 2 new clients a month. To grow that use the MTO approach like this.
Minimum–What you know you can do plus a little. You know you can get 2 right. History shows you that. So, you could approach minimum by saying you will get 3 new clients each month. This allows you to have some growth but gives you a bit of a safety net if you need one. You aren’t stretching to hard.
Target –This is really a stretch type of goal where you should push yourself outside of that comfort zone and set the goal at a level that will really drive you. For instance your target goal could be 4 new clients.
Outrageous–Now here is something that can either be really FUN or can make you a bit nervous. Set that outrageous goalat something that is difficult to even wrap you mind around. For instance, it might be something like being the top new business seller this quarter! This outrageous category allows you to really think and plan beyond your normal view of achievement and allow yourself the opportunity to strive for something that you may not normally allow yourself to even contemplate.
The reason I love this MTO technique is it allows me to have goals that are scalable so that if I run into unplanned obstacles and I don’t achieve my outrageous goal but I am able make my target or minimum I’m still growing and can still have a sense of accomplishment
Try this technique the next time you find yourself setting goals that are too comfortable and don’t push you. It’s a wonderful tool to get you out of your comfort zone when setting goals!