End Goals, Milestones and Focus Areas
Video of Michael explaining why End Goals are so important.
Take time to review your end goals when starting the programme and then twice yearly.
We flirted with this technique at the end of section one. Now we’ll be taking it as far as it can go.
Once you have at least a simple plan, the next step is to select 3-5 different end goals. An end goal is a grand, even improbable-seeming leap to where you’d like to wind up, at least ten years into the future.
These are just a few examples of what my clients have chosen:
- physical and emotional health,
- financial freedom,
- geographical freedom,
- great family,
- lead a company,
- become an inspired speaker, author and coach.
Some clients find this easy, and are able to articulate their end goals immediately. Others take some time. Neither approach is right or wrong.
Use Milestones to make your End Goals actionable
To make these goals more actionable, break them into 2-4 milestones. A milestone is something we achieve en route to the end goal. For example, if your end goal is financial freedom but you’re currently not doing so well, then getting out of debt will be a significant step in the right direction, and in itself a cause for celebration. That’s a milestone.
Choose 1-3 Focus areas
These are the key areas that if you focus on now will help you move forward. They might include:
- building a better relationship with your boss or clients,
- increasing your sales activity
- addressing current blocks
- developing feedback and feed forward
Choose 1-3 Development areas.
These include skills to develop skills and capabilities that will help make the journey easier. They might include:
- influence skills,
- sales skills,
- building a network,
- adding value to clients.
Vision Boards
It’s best to write these goals down on either a piece of paper or set up a collage of inspiring, emotive images on a pin board or a computer screen – this is called a Vision Board.
I use a portal on https://www.coachingcloud.com/, which works exceptionally well for both myself and my clients.
(Note when completing a vision board on the coachingcloud platform I add my visions and milestones and then have a separate ‘Personal Mastery’ Vision where I include Focus and Development Areas for all my visions.
When completed it’s easy to ask and answer the question :
“Do these ideas and images motivate me?”
If they do, great.
If not change them!
And of course, add more as you go along.
In the next section we consider Review Questions. They help us plan for our journey.
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NLP Plan Section Index
1: Why plan?
2: Self sabotage
3: Plans A, B & Z
4: Success Quiz
5: Time, energy and focus
6: End goals, milestones and focus
7: Feedforward
8: Planning and review questions
9: Daily questions
10: Summary
