Well Formed Outcomes need a plan…and when we take the time to review the plan from every perspective, we can be assured we have something we can use! SMART Goals is the Out-take of Well Formed Outcomes , and its something NLP does exceptionally well. Modelling people who were exceptional achievers created this process of examining the details of any goal and how that made it so much more achievable!

A recent client and I began here, when he wanted to make a purchase of his very first home. At the start he felt it would be years away before he could even consider this. However, once he used SMART goals to examine his process, he was ready to move ahead immediately!

SMART Goals help us examine what we want, and test it’s possibility in our MAP of the world. Remember the old saying:

“If you believe you can or you believe you can’t, you’re right”

So how to use this? Well, take a goal, and I recommend a simple one to start…so you get the point of it. Some people begin here and get really frustrated because it sounds like you are answering the same question multiple times. Take your time, notice the nuances, these little shifts in language give a completely new observation or perspective to the goal.

When you create a goal…it can sit on the shelf for a long time, OR you can run it through SMART GOALS and see if it’s got merit, take action and CREATE.

Enjoy, and remember we’re teaching NLP on line now, so you can add this powerful personal and professional training to your life anytime from the comfort of your own home. Contact me at welterk@shaw.ca for more information.

S.M.A.R.T Goals: Let’s go!

S -Specific in nature

M -Measurable

A -Attainable/Assignable

R- Realistic /Rewarding

T -Timeable/Testable

Stating the goals for this work

1: Positive Terms

2: Describe using feeling language

3: Are the goals, self-initiated and do you control them?

4: In the context of fulfilling your desires

5: Maintaining appropriate secondary gains (what are some pluses)

6: Builds in all the needed resources (who, when, where, how?)

7: Ecologically sound for the whole of the person (does all of you agree)

Stated Positively:

What do you want to achieve out of this exercise?

Have you stated the outcomes in positive terms? (I want, instead of what I don’t want)

What will having this do for you?

DO you see yourself achieving this outcome?

Sensory-Based or feeling language:

What will this look like?

What will it feel like?

What are some of the sounds you might hear associated with achieving this outcome?

Self Initiated & in your control:

Do you and you alone control your outcome?

Does your outcome involve anyone else?

Can you initiate and maintain the resources needed to reach your outcome or goals?

Appropriately Contextualized:

Will this fit all the appropriate contexts of your life?

In what situations would having this become useful or not so useful?

What changes will you accept as the outcome is realized?

Where, when, how and with who do you want to achieve this outcome?

Do you want your outcome all the time, in all places and without any limitations?

Maintain Appropriate Secondary Gains:

All of our behaviour provides us with positive values and outcomes, if it didn’t we would not perpetuate and maintain it. This is known as a secondary gain. We need therefore to preserve the secondary gains from the old behaviours and provide alternative ways of attaining them, for the desired behaviours and changes to become lasting patterns in our lives.

What would you lose if you accomplished this goal?

Would you have to give up anything that you deem important to have this outcome?

What is the secondary gain of the current behaviour and how could you support this when you achieve this primary goal?

Building in the Needed Resources:

What do you have now, and what do you need to get your outcome?

Have you ever done this before?

Do you know anyone who has achieved this result before?

Have you achieved other goals and strengths that might be useful as resources for this goal?

What are those resources and how would they help you with this one?

Testing the Ecology of the system:

If you achieve this outcome, what will happen in your life?

What would happen if you did it?

If you get this, what won’t happen?

If you don’t get it what will happen?

If you don’t get it, what won’t happen?

Assuring the Desired Outcome:

Can I achieve the desired outcome with the current inner states that I have now?

Do I know the first step to take?

Do I feel I can achieve the first step?

If I reach the outcome would it fit with my values?

Can I find more than one way to achieve the outcome?

What appropriate personal beliefs & values exist in the context in which I desire the outcome?

Do I have sufficient information about the internal states necessary for reaching this outcome?

Do I have the image of the outcome firmly in my mind?

Do I have the sounds, images, words and feelings of the desired outcome firmly in my mind?