SWING Outcome setting

Pop into any bookstore and int he self-help section you’ll find books and more books on the secret to achieving your own goals… but what if you haven’t taken the time out to actually set some?

Ridiculous, of course I have set my goals!

Sure?

Realistically, when you have a goal, these are generally longer term – “I want to reduce my handicap to 4 by the end of the year” is a SMART goal. Obviously, you know that such a goal is unlikely to be immediate, there are steps along the way, milestones if you prefer, we call these steps ‘Outcomes’.

After years of coaching, training and teaching, I have come to the profound conclusion that most people can only work on one thing at a time. Especially men! My research has shown that when we identify a very specific outcome and run a plan of actions to achieve it, if it fits within a greater plan, then we are more likely to see ultimate success. Any project leader knows this, and establishes a series of specific outcomes from tasks – down to the minute detail – and the greater the overall goal, the more detailed the planning, the tasks, the outcomes from each task, the resources required and so on.

To know, by and large, we;ve talked about generalities, ideas and concepts. This is the part where you do the actual work. This is how you change yourself. So, firstly, I’d like to introduce a process to ensure that you:

• Know your outcome

• Act to achieve your outcome

This template process is a truly effective outcome setting process. It works at the unconscious level and provides an action plan – or at least the first steps of an action plan for longer term goals, and links your own personal desire to achieve the goal. This is important, because most goals (if not all) require that you do something to achieve them. i.e. you have to do some work – even when such work is considered ‘play’ it will still require some degree of effort on your part.

The goal setting process is SWING – should be easy to remember right?

S – Specific goal stated in the positive and measurable – a goal to move towards not something to move away from
W – What do I Win? What are the pay-offs? What do I lose? What will I see when I have it? What will I hear when I have it? What will I feel when I have it? What will I smell/taste when I have it?
I – I control everything that I need to control to achieve this. Is anyone else involved? Where and when will you do it?
N – As if Now – Step into the future and see, hear. feel and act as if you have achieved your goal now.
G – Guarantee
What will happen if I get my goal?
What won’t happen if I get my goal?
What will happen if I don’t get my goal?
What won’t happen if I don’t get my goal?
Specific Win I Now Guarantee

Let me start with the end – Guarantee. This may look strange, it may be strange for many of you. And when you are asked these four questions (about anything), it is very likely that you will struggle to answer some of these questions. The point here is to think quickly about the answer and whatever answer comes up – that is the answer. Often the responses make little or no conscious sense. We discussed earlier how the unconscious mind cannot process negatives – and these questions are designed carefully for the unconscious mind – not for the conscious mind. It’s actually Cartesian logic and is at the heart of quantum linguistics and helps us establish the ‘non-mirror image reverse’ and creates a whole range of possible options and our action plan to achieve what we want to achieve.

Meantime, because we have gone through the whole SWING process, we have created personal motivation. Powerful stuff huh? Be patient with yourself, allow your thoughts to come to consciousness and note the responses. Again, don’t worry if no obvious thoughts come out – your unconscious mind is doing the work for you. It is easiest that you work through this with a coach – someone else (your spouse, best friend) – to ask you the questions. If you don’t want to, or you have no friends and don’t want to spend money on a coach, you can do this yourself so long as you are prepared to push yourself hard for the answers. Write down your own responses, whatever words you use (don’t justify yourself … yet). The specific words that you use are very important.

Now, let me take you though an example. I had a goal to break 72 this year. So this is how it looks going through the SWING process (I’ll put the SWING steps in brackets):
(S)I want to shoot 71 and better this year.(W) I will win two more competitions than last year and see the trophies in my cabinet, feeling great satisfaction from hearing the crowd and my peers cheer as I collect the trophies and taste the beer that I bought for my fellow competitors with the cash winnings. I control my practice and can visualise my goal and align myself to breaking 72 consistently and accurately card my scores. (I) I control my technique and can simulate the different environments in which I will potentially find myself during competition. (N) Now, as I see myself collecting the trophies I feel great satisfaction and confirms the commitment I made to practice and know that I can extend my own achievements and break personal barriers to achieve anything i want to.
(G) If I do break 72 consistently I will be satisfied
If I do break 72 consistently I won’t feel an idiot
I will continue to work on my weaknesses if I don’t get my goal
I’ll give up.

You may find it helpful, as I do, to tape or MP3 record yourself responding to the questions – it’s interesting what the unconscious says. When you type it, or write it down, you will censor yourself, and consciously interrupt your thoughts flow. Record it – or better still, get someone to help you and coach you through it. In our sessions we provide everyone with access to our downloadable MP3s with the coaching on audio to continue supporting you.

The goal is specific – I can measure it in achievement and time. It is positive.
I know what I will win and how this will look, feel, what I will hear and taste. It is sensory.
I am sure that I control everything that needs to be controlled to achieve it.
I visualise myself having achieved my goal and know how good I will feel
I have guaranteed the achievement to myself by knowing that achieving it will make me feel satisfied (personal satisfaction, by the way, is very important for me – you’ll have your own values), that if I don’t achieve it I won’t give up (last question) and I will continue to work on it. In other words, I know that I am motivated to do it.

The action plan (in my example) is within the control section and, you’ll notice, in the third guarantee question – work on my weaknesses. No, it’s not explicit in here, but I know my weak areas in the game, just as you know yours. Now all we need is an actual plan of what, where, when. Again, for me, I use a computer scheduling system – well I’ve got to fit my practice and game around writing, training, being trained, selling, marketing, speaking and so on. So, like you, I schedule my practice and write a note for myself on what I’m going to work on that day.

Now, take some time and do this for yourself. Take one outcome and go through the SWING process. More than one outcome? Of course you have, you’ll have many in golf and many many more in life. Just do the SWING again.
It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that SWING