Officer Training – Jan_Feb 2010

Goal Planning skills and techniques

3 techniques -Professor Richard Wiseman’s: 59 seconds - Think a little change a lot

1. Creating the perfect plan

2. Just a few minutes

3. New Years’ Eve 2010

PART 1: CREATING THE PERFECT PLAN

4 techniques that will help you succeed
• Having the right kind of plan

• Rewarding yourself each step of the way

• Focusing on the benefits

• Telling your friends and family

The right kind of plan:

What is your overall goal My overall goal is to....

Create a Step-by-Step Plan (have 3 to 5 sub goals)

Sub goals 1 (to 5):

− My 1st sub-goal is to....

− I believe I can achieve this goal because...

− To achieve this sub-goal, I will...

− This will be achieved by the following date...

My reward for achieving this will be:.................................................

− (Repeat with sub goals 2-5)

What are the benefits of achieving your overall goal?

- Focus on the benefits associated with your desired future, rather than escaping
the negative aspects of your current situation

Benefit 1: .......................................
Benefit 2: .......................................
Benefit 3: .......................................
Tell Friends &
Family............................................................................................................

PART 2: “Just a few minutes....” Zeigarnik effect

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 Officer Training – Jan_Feb 2010

Persuade yourselves to work on an activity for ‘just a few minutes’, and you often feel an urge to
see it through to completion. Those few minutes of initial activity create an anxious
brain that refuses to rest until the job is finished.

PART 3: NEW YEAR’S EVE 2010

Write a letter to yourself to be opened on New Years Eve. What would you say you achieved this
year, personally, social, business, behaviours etc. This helps you identify your goals for this
year and your progress against them.

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 Officer Training – Jan_Feb 2010

Questionnaire: How you achieve your goals

currently...
No When attempting to change an important Yes No
. aspect of my life, I tend to:
1. Make a step-by-step plan.  
2. Motivate myself by focusing on someone I  
admire for achieving so much (e.g. a celebrity
role model or great leader).
3. Tell other people about my goals.  
4. Think about the bad things that will happen if I  
don’t achieve my goal.
5. Think about the good things that will happen if  
I achieve my goal.
6. Try to suppress unhelpful thoughts (e.g. not  
thinking about eating unhealthy food or
smoking).
7. Reward myself for making progress towards  
my goal.
8. Rely on willpower.  
9. Record my progress (e.g. in a journal or a  
chart).
10 Fantasize about how great my life will be when  
. I achieve my goal.
Professor Richard Wiseman: 59 seconds

Yes to 2/4/6/8/10 = were unlikely to achieve their goals.

Yes to 1/3/5/7/9 = significantly increased the likelihood of achieving their aims