Bruce Jenner, the famed U.S. decathlete and Olympic gold
medalist, was once speaking to a roomful of Olympic
hopefuls about the importance of goal-setting. He asked the
group if they had made a list of their goals, and all hands
went up. Not surprising, really, when you consider that
aspiring Olympians are intensely focused, dedicated and
ambitious over-achievers.

Then came Jenner’s follow-up question:

“How many of you have your list of goals with you right
now?” Only one hand went up. The only person in that room
who carried his goals with him, so he could remain focused
on them always, was Dan O’Brien. Did his unwavering focus
on his goals pay off? Yes. Dan O’Brien went on to win
gold in the decathlon event at the 1996 Olympics.

O’Brien’s story is just one of millions that illustrate
what we humans can achieve when we set goals and stay
focused on them.

But so many of us just don’t bother to put our goals in
writing. Suppose Bruce Jenner walked up to you today and
asked to see your goals list! What would you say?

You may not be training for the Olympics, but if you want
to accomplish extraordinary things, you do need to set
goals.

Here’s a simple goal-setting exercise that you can do to
get clear on what you want out of in life. This is one of
the easiest techniques I know for getting your goals down
on paper, and it’s especially enjoyable for freelancers.
You’ll see why.

(Note: Even if you consider yourself a gold medal
goal-setter already, I recommend you look at Step 1 below.
It will give you a fresh perspective on your current goals,
and may lead you to make some modifications.)

Goal-Setting in 3 Easy Steps

Step 1: Write Down Your Ideal Day
Envision your ideal day. Freelancers will have a whale of a
time with this first step because we revel in the idea of
doing what we want, when we want. So, if you could create
the perfect work day for yourself, what would it look like?

What sort of work do you want to be doing? For what sort of
clients? At what times during the day?

Does your ideal day include a 60-minute workout at the gym,
or a 30-minute jog in the park? Schedule it in!

Picture every component of your ideal day in vivid detail,
describing what you would do from the moment you wake up
until your head hits the pillow. Be sure to outline your
day in half-hour or hour increments.

When you’ve mapped out your ideal day, have a look at it
and realize this… your ideal day is really a one-day
snapshot of your ideal life.

In other words, achieving your ideal day would mean you
will have achieved some, or perhaps all, of your life
goals.

Step 2: Compare and Create
Once your ideal day is mapped out, compare it to how you
currently spend your days, and note the differences. Now,
create a list of all the things you can do in order to
bridge those differences. What do you need to do, starting
right now, in order to make your ideal day (I.e. your ideal
life) a reality?

Write down anything and everything that comes to mind. I
bet you’ll fill a page, if not an entire notebook, with
creative ideas. These ideas will become more refined if you
break this step up over a few days.

Step 3: Prioritize and Execute
If you placed no limits on your thinking during Step 2,
you’ll end up with a giant list of ideas, notes, tasks,
projects, plans and even new goals to strive for. In all,
you could have 20, or 120, different items on this giant
list.

Now you need to prioritize these items into a manageable
list of “Things To Do”. As you prioritize, you can
discard any items that turn out to be of little use.

Decide on a deadline for achieving your ideal day. Three
years from now? Ten years from now? Knowing this will help
you set mini-timelines for executing your list of Things To
Do. For example, which tasks can you accomplish by the end
of this calendar year?  Which can you accomplish next year?
And so on.   

Stay Focused
Because Dan O’Brien carried around his list of goals, he
could review them regularly and stay focused on what was
important to him. You can do the same.

By all means, carry a copy of your ideal day around with
you in your purse or wallet if you’re so inclined. But,
at the very least, print it out and hang it up in your
office so you glance at it for a motivational boost several
times throughout the day. It will help keep you on track.

And if your idea of the ideal day changes as time goes by,
that’s terrific. It means you’re developing a clearer
vision of how you truly want to spend your time. Simply
modify the details of your ideal day when you need to, and

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