Important New Study Reveals Where Americans Fail at Setting, Achieving New Year's Goals. The Reasons Might Surprise You.

BOULDER, Colo. -- www.ThinkTQ.com -- a leading publisher of virtual training products for personal and professional excellence -- recently announced the results of its 2005 Goals Study. The data -- while more hopeful than last year -- shows a big disconnect between people's hopes and dreams, and their power to realize their aspirations.

Given the numbers below, Americans, once again, get an "F" in this critical area of their performance. Simply put, they fail to consistently take the 10 actions necessary to move their dreams and visions out of their hearts and heads and into their lives.

Background

When we were creating The Power of TQ and 10 Choices of Intentional Excellence, we assigned eight research editors the task of learning everything there is to know about setting goals. We wanted to move beyond the trite, hackneyed cliches and "urban legends" that seem to surround the subject matter -- and methodically determine if there's a correlation between setting goals and a person's overall success.

(For the record, there is no "Yale Study" of the class of '53 that proves that "goal setters become zillionaires over time," or a Harvard study that shows that "the simple act of writing your goals down causes the brain to develop new synapses that give you power over the future." This one has been a popular myth for some time now!)

Our research editors reviewed 50 different books by such authorities as Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, Stephan Covey, Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, Tony Robbins and 40 other big-name thinkers to see what they collectively had to say on the subject. The idea was to see if a simple pattern would emerge, or if there would be highly divergent ideas on the importance of establishing crystal-clear goals.

In the end, our editors extracted, condensed and distilled (quite literally) 1,866 great ideas on how --and, most importantly, why -- it's essential for people to develop rock-solid goal setting skills.

(To see how well you match up to the Gold Standard, go to www.ThinkTQ.com/Goals and take the two- minute Set Goals TQ Test.)

10 Important Considerations

Ultimately, our editors distilled this entire body of knowledge down to 10 key actions that, when taken, move you closer to achieving your goals. Fail to take these steps and your goals move further out of sight.

Each year, we compile an overview of how well and how often people take these 10 key actions. Following are the results of our 2005 Set Goals Study:

Make all your dreams real by first identifying and then focusing on specific, tangible targets for what you want.  You'll never make a dream real until you have something specific to aim at. There is no way you can plan for -- to say nothing of work toward -- a "better life." You can, however, stipulate a list of conditions that would define a better life. Each of those items can then be made into a precise target you can aim for, and immediately begin to work towards. So, dream your dreams, and then identify specific examples in the real world that best represent the desired qualities of your dream.

2005 Results: Only 26 percent of those tested say they do this frequently. Is it any wonder that, without a clear vision for what they want, people fail to find the success and happiness they desire?

Maintain at least one clearly defined goal for every major interest and role in your life.  Creating an ideal life -- in which all your roles are completely fulfilled -- starts with setting clear goals. If you never define what you expect, you'll only get what life gives you, and that might be a whole lot less than what you want.

Why leave things to chance? Every major interest and role in your life deserves its own series of clearly defined goals, providing a rewarding direction -- and an ever-present purpose -- for each area of your life.

2005 Results: Only 12 percent of those tested do this consistently. Thus, 88 percent lack balance in their lives.

Set your goals so they are directly aligned with your life's mission, purpose and passion. Your most powerful and inspiring goals are those that are directly aligned with what you value most. Goals that are aligned with your life's mission are those that bring an ideal personal vision closer to reality. Mission-based goals will deliver the greatest sense of pride and satisfaction once accomplished. As you establish your goals, put them to the test: How connected are they to what you value most? If they're not, change them.

2005 Results: Only 19 percent of those tested do this consistently. This leaves 81 percent of the population that can't connect the dots between their life's' passion and purpose, and specific goals that would provide direction and meaning in their lives.

Create goals high enough to ignite your spirit and inspire you to take action. The higher the goal, the more it will excite and motivate you. Life's greatest satisfaction comes from attaining goals that you once believed were beyond reach. If most of your goals are forgotten before they're achieved, you need to create more exciting, stimulating, intoxicating, adventurous, ambitious and heartfelt goals.

2005 Results: Only 26 percent of those asked take this action frequently, leaving 74 percent to be monotonously consumed by living their lives on a treadmill rather than daring to live what's most important to them.

Write down all your goals in specific, measurable detail. Include declared target dates. Writing down exactly what you want by when is the first step to success. If you won't commit to writing them down, you'll never do what it takes to reach your goals. Writing your goals in exquisite detail helps define them in your mind and provides the exact specifications for what you want to accomplish. The more desirable qualities you add to the goal, the greater will be your satisfaction when you attain it.

2005 Results: Less than 15 percent of those surveyed write down their goals. Consequently, 85 percent of the population have goals that are out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

Absolutely, unconditionally commit to hitting each of your targets.  The best predictor of success, both personally and professionally, is your degree of commitment. Whenever you set a goal, write out why you're committed to accomplishing it. The "why" is far more important than the "how." Commitment -- sheer passion and willpower -- can help overcome any deficiency in time, money or education. Make sure each of your goals is worthy of the time and effort necessary to achieve it. Then, make sure each of your goals is getting the absolute, unconditional commitment it deserves.

2005 Results: Only 33 percent of those surveyed say they're fully committed to their goals. No wonder surveys show that 78 percent of people who set New Year's goals in January dump those goals by April.

Share your goals with others for mutual accomplishment.  Nothing is more powerful than a team of people all focused on the same goal. Dare to share your dreams with others. A shared goal is an extremely powerful force. When your goal benefits a host of other people, motivation and commitment to the goal increases proportionately. When you align your goals with those of others, you dramatically improve the probability of each person's success.

2005 Results: Only 22 percent of those tested say they frequently share their goals with others. Without developing powerful leverage and strong interpersonal synergy that comes from teambuilding, even modest goals become difficult to achieve. Message: Fail to share your goals, and you can kiss them goodbye.

Set a whole series of related daily, weekly and long-term goals, complete with starting times and completion dates. A series of goals that build upon each other is far more productive than the same number of random goals. Start by setting a highly compelling destination. Then, set all the intermediary goals that will lead you to this desired location. By setting a series of concrete objectives, you gain a long-term perspective and a higher purpose for each daily goal. Once set, your enthusiasm, self-esteem and satisfaction will increase every time you achieve a milestone towards the final long-term goal.

2005 Results: Less than 12 percent of those tested say they do this consistently. This means some 88 percent have fuzzy goals, with no concrete procedure for seeing them to fruition.

Take 10 minutes every day to imagine how terrific it will feel when your goals are actually realized.  It's impossible to keep striving for something for which you no longer have any feelings. The more you stay in touch with the rewarding experience and positive feelings that each goal delivers, the more motivated and committed you'll be to continue the pursuit.

Each time you get in touch with the emotional benefits your goals produce, you'll feel energized and enthused to continue regardless of the distance to the goal. Celebrate your goals every day. Anticipation is half the fun, and most of the motivation for getting there.

2005 Results: Only 11 percent of those tested do this consistently. This, of course, is what leads to the huge disconnect between setting and acheiving goals over time.

Take an action step toward the attainment of at least one goal every day.  A goal is something beyond where you are. If you want to get from here to your goal, you must take the steps required to get there. Goals don't just "happen."

Obvious? You bet. But if this is obvious, why do so many people set goals then never achieve them? If you want the goal, you have to do the work. This means taking the steps necessary to get there, day by day.

2005 Results: Only 7 percent of those tested do this daily. With little daily progress made towards their goals, people become discouraged, disheartened and depressed, which leads people to resist setting goals in the future for fear they're doomed to failure. No question, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of turning gloom into doom.

In Summary

With an average Set Goals TQ Score of just 49 out of 100 points, is it any wonder the vast majority of people have difficulty setting clear, tangible goals for themselves or their organizations? With tens of millions of data points at www.ThinkTQ.com, it's obvious that people need to invest significantly more time in setting their goals for the years ahead.

Success -- both personally and professionally -- depends on your ability to turn dreams and visions into tangible milestones and objectives. You have the power to be both a dreamer and a doer. Your success depends on both.

These results are based on a sample size of 32,896 ThinkTQ.com registered users in the United States. Results indicate a 95-percent confidence level and a Margin of Error of +/-1.5 percent. (Theoretically, with a sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of +/-1.5 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. For "statistic gurus", this translates into two standard deviations. Also, this study is not a probability sample, but rather, the result of actual TQ Tests taken through 11/15/2005.)

About ThinkTQ, Inc.

www.ThinkTQ.com is a pioneer in internet publishing and is the world's leading publisher of virtual training products for personal and professional excellence.

E. R. Haas and Kent Madson are performance experts and authors of Full Spectrum Career Power: How The Color of your Performance Affects the Color of your Parachute. For complete information, see www.ThinkTQ.com/CareerPower.

Copyright 2005. TQ Smart, Time Quotient, ThinkTQ, SMARTER every time you check eMail, Become smarter at the speed of light, and The Time Prism are Trade Marks of ThinkTQ, Inc. Box 18899, Boulder, CO 80308-1899