The “5 P’s” of Successful Goal Setting

UPDATED August, 2019 

Your Path to Victory – At Long Last – Begins Here

Executive Summary:  Goal setting is a vital life skill that can be practiced year-round.  Most people don’t succeed on their first attempt.  Ironically, each setback increases the probability that the next try will come closer to the mark, if not directly hit the bulls-eye.

There are five basic tools that all goal setters should equip themselves with to increase their odds of success: Passion, Persistence, Planning, People and Positivity.

Most of us give up on our New Year’s resolutions within two weeks. They were the best of intentions, but life and reality once again got in our way.

If you are one of the millions of lapsed goal setters, today is the perfect time to reboot.  Whether it’s cold and blustery outside or the trees are blooming and a warm breeze is blowing, the process of setting and reaching goals should be a year-round, all-weather, life skill.  No champagne required.

In fact, goal setting is one of life’s most important skills, given that very, very few of us are handed exactly what we want without ever having to ask and work for it.

In our busy lives, it requires determination and focus to take a “time out” and think about our ambitions and how we’re doing in pursuit of them.  Perhaps that’s why so many people try goal planning only once a year – at New Year’s – because the holiday season offers more down time to think about the Big Picture and our life’s direction.

Reading and taking action on these tips will take less than 10 minutes

But those minutes might very well become your down payment on a first-class ticket to greater financial security, better health, closer personal relationships, a more satisfying work life – and even (for those of us pressed for time now) greater chunks of leisure time.

Students learning a foreign language must learn, forget and relearn words three to six times before they permanently commit the translation to memory.

Goal setting is much the same.  Most people set a goal, fail to reach it, and someplace down the road try again.  Success is most likely to come after a series of false starts.

Those of you who made a New Year’s resolution this past January and weren’t able to carry through are already one step closer to ultimate success than if you hadn’t even tried.  Reading and acting on this article is a second step in the right direction.

The “5 P’s” of successful goal setting

When picking yourself up after missing a goal, there are five basic tools you’ll want to carry with you to improve the odds of victory on your next attempt.  We call them the 5 P’s of Successful Goal Setting:

1. Passion

You’ve got to want the goal badly enough that you won’t allow yourself to become discouraged when the finish line proves hard to reach.

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”

– Henry Ford

2. Persistence

Cliché as it may be, if at first you don’t succeed, well just don’t give up.  Really, any goal worth attaining is also well worth missing – as many times as necessary.

Remember that failure is an event, not a person.”

– Zig Ziglar

3. Planning

The road to defeat (and other unsavory destinations) is paved with good intentions.

The surface of the ‘road to success’ is smoothed with actual planning.

Successful businesses begin with a well-thought business plan.  Successful goal setters likewise require a carefully considered goal-plan.  Each goal-plan should include among its elements:

• Ways to break the main goal into smaller, easier-to-accomplish parts
• A realistic timetable
• Strategies and resources (including mentors) you can utilize
• A system for tracking your progress
• Fallback positions for when you encounter potholes and detours – which you will

You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going because you might not get there.”

– Yogi Berra

4. People

The Boston Marathon attracts 25,000 participants and roughly half a million spectators each year.

The number of qualified entrants and the large, cheering audience handing out cups of cold water do not make the 26.2-mile race from Hopkinton to Boston any shorter. But the support and enthusiasm of the crowd and the momentum of the pack do provide most runners an extra boost on their journey to the finish line.

Family, friends and coworkers can likewise give you the extra boost you require to reach your goal.  Whether they are running alongside you, cheering you on from the sidelines, or handing you advice based upon their own scrapes and triumphs, enlisting the help of others dramatically increases your chances of success.

5. Positivity

Mental attitude can carry you forward even when circumstances aren’t breaking your way.

Is reaching for a goal a burden, a responsibility, a sacrifice, even a punishment?  Well, it can be… if you decide to think of it that way.

But you can also picture your path as an adventure, an opportunity, a competition and a growth experience.

The task, really, is the same regardless of how you view it.  The outcome, however, is far more likely to be to your liking if you remain upbeat and optimistic at each step along the way.