When we are learning any new skill or topic there are a number of stags that we go through before we can say that we are fully competent. You have probably heard the phrase practise makes perfect and that is of course  true. In NLP we can use modelling to model the skills, thought patterns and values and beliefs of another person so that we can fast track the route to competency. And whilst this improves our performance massively these 4 stages of competency as we refer to them in NLP still need to be gone through before we are totally competent in a specific area. 

the Conscious Competence stage and in this stage we are able to carry out the tasks or skills that we have been learning consciously. And by that I mean with conscious energy and effort we are able to  fulfil the task. So in our car example, we have taken some instruction and we know now how to change gears, etc. And to do so we need full concentration and we need to literally think about everything we are doing.

If you stop and think about it pretty much everything we do is based around the setting and achievement of goals and we already set goals in every area of our life, In our relationships, our businesses the work or job that we do,our health and fitness, everything.

if you have a goal in mind and and maybe you have even scribbled that goal on the top of a piece of paper, ask yourself òHave I been specific about this goal? and the chances are if you are like most people that you will say to yourself òYeah, it looks pretty clear to me .. And Im going to say STOP. And then think about it or look at it again and ask yourself is it really specific.

Hi there, and welcome back and in this lecture we are going to look at how to take a top level goal and turn it into something really specific and in doing so we will further increase our chances of completing the goal successfully. 
Remember late in the course I will be sharing with you an example of a well written goal, and what you are doing now is building up all of the components of that goal so that you can stich them all together int one all encompassing goal at the end of this course. 

Hi there  and welcome back. And in this lecture and the next few coming up, we are going to dig a little deeper into how to make your goals more specific. Staring with setting the scene. And if you recall one of the most useful ways of doing this is to float out to a time in the future and actually experience the successful conclusion of your goal. 

Hi there and welcome back, now remember in the keys to an achievable outcome we spoke about identifying the resources that we need. Well, one of the very best things that you can do in the achievement of your goal is to enlist the help of other people. Now this might be in the form of paid help like staff or contractors or it might be favours or advice.

And in this session we are going to go a little deeper into the concept of why you even want to achieve your goal in the first place. And its really important that you know this clearly and that you understand the real reasons. 

How are you going to know you are hitting your goal? Well first of all it is worth mentioning that at many levels, if you have set your goal correctly all you really need to do is trust your unconscious mind to take care of it. Now that doesnt mean you do nothing as you will find out in the next part, however what it does mean is that once you have engaged your unconscious mind and set it off on its mission to deliver up your goal all you need to do is trust your intuition and that little voice in your ear that attempts to guide you.

Ok now what I am going to share with you now is something that I do every day to get stuff done and keep on moving towards may goals, and I find it really really useful  not least as it is a repository for ideas which ultimately become new goals in most cases anyway. And I think its something that will help you very much as well. 

By now you have most probably decided. YES I am going to go for it, I am not going to be afraid and even if I sense a little fear I am going to do it anyway, after all what is the worst that can happen right? 

Well good for you, as you have just set yoursefl apart from the VAST majority of people on the planet that get stuck at the point of actually doing something.

As we have already determined. To reach a goal there are a lot of things that need to come together before tat system delivers up the result. The completed goal. And often times… we are told that we need to break a big goal down into smaller component parts.

Hi there and welcome back  now what I am going to share with you now is a different way of managing your tasks  and your to do list. This is something I started doing a few years ago and its stuck and its what has helped me to get a whole load of my goals achieved in good time and without burning out.

 I want to share with you something that I picked up from Steven Coveys 7 habits of highly effective people and has really helped me in determining what is important and what isn’t and how to measure the effectiveness of my efforts so I guess in this lecture we are beginning to cross over into action a little however, what you will find from doing this process is that you will very quickly get a feel for what is working and what isn’t and how effective you are being in achieving your goals. 
So what steve cover discusses in 7 habits of highly effective people is a way for prioritising things that need to get done and I think you are going to find this really useful

You can certainly set your unconscious mind off on its journey to helping you achieve your goals, and your unconscious mind will bring opportunities and possibilities to your conscious mind for you to act upon, your unconscious mind will also handle your motivation for you and keep you fired up and moving forward. However, as powerful as your unconscious mind is, it cant make a ferarri magically appear on your driveway, simply because you have set a goal. No for that you are going to need to take action.

Hi there and welcome back, so lets continue on with Action. Now when you have a goal in mind, there is always a whole load of stuff to get done. And so far we have spoken about a number of things that you can do to keep a track of your goal and to measure how effective you efforts are.

 In this session we are going to look at a common ‘issue’ that people say they have when working with goals and that is that simply get afraid when it comes to taking action and again, that doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with someone because they feel that way, it simply means that they are a human being. However, fear of any kind is gong to hold you back and prevent you from realizing your potential.

one of the best ways in which you can help yourself when it comes to taking action is to make yorself accountable. Ultimately of course the very best person to be accountable to is yourself. To be at cause for everything that happens in your life. 

In personal development circles, in my opinion a lot of trainers and coaches get this one wrong as well and they will drum into you anything is possible etc and therefore everything is realistic. Well that simply isnt true and if you mess this up then you are probably going to end up digging deep to keep your motivation up which really doesnt work. 

One of the most common reasons why people fail to achieve their goals is the fact that they don’t set any time frame on their goals. They may well have been really specific about what there goal is and how it is going to pan out, and they may well have worked out all of those control variables we spoke about so that they can keep a track on the goal and make sure it is still on track, They could well be taking a lot of action and have a realistic goal. However

 in this lecture we are going to go look into a little more detail the time frame that you set for your goal and why it is so important. 

Lets take a look at something that I call control variables. Now.. Goal setting and achievement is a system like many other types of system and as such it is made up a number of different parts, components if you will of that system. And within your particular goal there will be key things that will need to happen along the way to achieving your goal that can act as control variables to let you know that you are on track or to alert you to the fact that you have gone a little astray. 
Now some people call these sub goals, and I don’t have an issue with that as such.. However I think I am talking about something slightly different to sub goals. 
I guess in many ways you could call all goals subgoals in one context and what I am referring is something a little different. 
The control variables I am referring to are based more in sensory feedback. So how will you know that you are on track, what would have to happen for you to know that you are on track and on the flip side, what would have to happen for you to conclude that perhaps your goal isn’t going according to plan ?

SMART stands for Specific - remember the more specific we make the goal the more likely we are to achieve it. , Measurable - we need to have some control variables along the way to ensure we stay on track, , Action based - remember a goal without action is a dream , attainable - so the goal needs to be possible, remember the golf championship or As if, - which if you recall means that we should pursue the goal with the mental and physiological traits of someone that has achieved the goal so we should act AS IF we already have all of the things we need to achieve the goal and the mindset of the person that achieves such things. .........

If you have enjoyed this course and you want to learn more about goal setting the SMART way and how to take your goals to the next level then I have no doubt you will be interested in the SMART goals Pro course which goes into a lot more detail about SMART goals and covers fair bit of NLP and some of the psychology of why goal setting is so effective as well.  AND I have a fantastic opportunity for you right now which you are going to love. The SMART Goals Pro corse isnt ready yet ok... SO until it is published anyone who takes this FREE course can also get the PRO version FREE. When the course launches that deal is over so this is a one off chance really