107as “process” goals. The beauty of “process” goals is that
they are always within your immediate power to
achieve. For example, you might set a process goal of
making four important telephone calls before lunch. On
a sheet of paper you make four boxes, and as you make
each call you fill in a box, and when the four are made,
you file the paper in your goal folder and go enjoy lunch.
Because you’ve earned it.
You can set process goals, for example, before a con-
versation with a person. I want to find these three things
out, I want to ask these four questions, I want to make
these two requests, and I want to pay my client one com-
pliment before I leave.
Process goals give you total focus. When you are
constantly setting process goals, you are in more con-
trol of your day, and you feel a sense of skillful self-
motivation.
At the end of the day, or the beginning of the next
day, you can check your progress toward your “outcome”
goals. You can adjust your process goals to take you
closer to the outcomes you want, and always keep the
two in harmony.
Let’s say it’s now the end of a long, hard day. You
have a half hour before you have to go home. If you’re
not in the habit of setting process goals, you might say,
“I guess I ought to do some paperwork or make a call or
two before I go home.” You look at the pile of paper on
your desk, or you mindlessly thumb through phone num-
bers, and all of a sudden someone comes by your desk to
chat. Because you have nothing specific to do you engage
in conversation and, before you know it, the half hour is
gone and you have to go home. Even though you didn’t
leave anything specific unfinished, you still have that
vague feeling of having wasted time.
Get down and get small