Goal setting, if done correctly, can have exponential outcomes and create great success. Many may set goals, however not all manage to do so correctly. In this snapshot of an interview between Dale Beaumont and Andrew May discover seven steps for successful goal setting.

After he founded Good Health Solutions, which is now Australia’s largest corporate health and wellbeing consultancy, Andrew continued to work with professional athletes and is now considered one of Australia’s leading experts on performance.

What are your seven steps for successful goal-setting?

• Ask yourself the right questions – what do you want and why do you want to achieve it? How much does it really mean to you? What are the benefits of achieving the goal? Who will be affected? Are you prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal?
• Involve significant others – don’t keep your goals to yourself. Enlist the support of your partner, family, friends and colleagues. This keeps you accountable, while at the same time forming a support group to keep you on track.
• Get anchored – write your goals down on a sheet of paper, simplify them into point form and then display them somewhere you can view them regularly – your diary, office, car, even on the back of the toilet door.
• Small bites – George Miller, a 1950s psychologist, believed that we can only deal with seven bits of information at any one time. Any more than this and we need to group things into more memorable, manageable chunks. So when you create your master plan for the New Year, keep goals to a manageable number and group similar areas.
• Set a plan – after you have written down your specific goals, the next step is to work out a specific plan. Identify the key steps you need to take toward accomplishing your goals and assign specific dates for their achievement.

For more of this interview and goal setting check out “Secrets of To Business Builders Exposed!“

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Do you need to increase your company’s productivity but unsure as to how to go about it? In this excerpt from an interview between Dale Beaumont and Andrew May discover two great management techniques to help increase your productivity.

Andrew runs Switched On, a consulting company based in Sydney and London. He is one of Australia’s leading experts on performance and gives keynote presentations around the world and coaches CEOs and senior managers. He also runs PT Plus, a mentoring and coaching business.

What types of management do you use to increase productivity?

• Priority management – managing priorities is not about getting everything done, it is about deciding what is most important and getting that task done. It is about getting more done in less time.

When I started working on priority management, I suddenly noticed that I was getting a lot more done in less time. I started to feel much more in control, and friends, family and work colleagues commented that they noticed something different. Each day I sat down for ten minutes before starting on the ‘stuff’ and prioritised the five most important things to accomplish for the day. I stopped creating massive ‘to-do’ lists at the start of each day and made a ‘will-do’ list and started on what was most important. This also helps avoid time wasters, the things we do to put off doing the hard tasks that we know deep down need to be done. This approach has had a big improvement on my productivity and has allowed me to get more done.

When I coach people on this topic it is interesting to note that many people don’t really know what’s important. I mean they do know deep down, but they just haven’t allocated valuable time to thinking about the bigger picture. The key is asking yourself, ‘What is the most important thing I can be doing with my time right now?’

• Energy management – the highest level of productivity is achieved by managing energy. If you are a morning person (gazelle) then get into work early and do the high-end cognitive tasks while your brain is in top gear – avoid getting to work and doing junk emails for the first two or three hours! If you are an afternoon or evening person (bear) then it might take you a few hours to warm up and hit your straps. I know some bears who don’t actually get into work until 10.30 or 11.00am but they stay back later when they are more productive.

Defining the best time of each day and each week, when your brain works at its peak, and undertaking high-end cognitive tasks during these times is a key strategy to optimising performance.Then you can do lower-end activities when your energy levels plateau or take a dip.

For more of this interview and how to increase your company’s productivity check out “Secrets of Top Business Builders Exposed!“

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