Step 4: Reason to Achieve

“Strong reasons make strong actions.”
William Shakespeare

The exercise of writing a goal is itself a major accomplishment. Especially if you write it out using the CFL Goal Setting Technique. Having clearly defined goals will give you a major jump over most people in life. However, these goals may not become a reality until you have a strong reason for achieving them.

You must have a “Why” to your goals. This why should be a strong reason for achieving what you have set as a goal. This is the area I see most people struggle with goal setting. Sure they want to make $100,000 a Year, sure they want to Run a Marathon, sure they want to Graduate College. But without a strong enough, reason to achieve, they may find themselves quitting their goals before achieving them.

Determine your Reason to Achieve

Finding your, reason to achieve, is not an easy task. It causes you to take a longer view of your life. It causes you to figure out where achieving this goal will ultimately take you. Start by asking yourself questions:

1. How will this goal improve my life?
2. How will not achieving this goal impact my life?
3. Will this goal help the people I care about?
4. Will this goal help my sphere of influence?
5. What price will I need to pay to achieve this goal?
6. What experience will I gain from attempting this goal?
7. What currently unknown benefits may show up because I attempted this goal?
8. What challenges may I face in attempting this goal?
9. What’s going to keep me going when I feel like giving up?
10. Will I be supported by friends and family in my quest to achieve this goal?

Make sure your reason motivates you.

Let’s say you have a goal to Graduate College. You may determine your reason to achieve as, “It will help me find a better job.” This is certainly a, reason to achieve, but will it motivate you? Will it keep you up late? Or, will you skip studying for a major exam in favor of a party? My guess is most people would not find this a strong enough reason to achieve.

Instead what if your reason to achieve was, “To learn all I can about entrepreneurship, so when I start my own business I’ll be prepared for anything. All the business courses I’m taking are leading me closer to my ultimate goal of owning a design shop.” Would this reason to achieve motivate you? If owning your own design shop is a major goal for you I think it would.

Take the CFL Worksheets and start determining your reason to achieve the goals you’ve set. You can download the CFL Worksheets here: CFL Worksheets