The book ‘Real Growth Hacks‘ chapter one begins with a topic on how to craft the ambition journey, a real goal setting handout to guide on how to set goals, goal setting theory to understand the goal of planning showing why goal setting is important. Setting goals is important for personal, professional, and organizational development.
This article comprehensively analyses this book chapter, which is more of a course that every person or organization struggling to plan their goals should read and keep as a reference course. Therefore, let’s learn everything about goal planning and why everyone deserves to get and read the ‘Real Growth Hacks’ book.
How to Set Goals
Setting goals is defined by several factors that are determined by the type of goal. One universal way of learning how to set goals is the SMART goal setting strategy. SMART is outlined as follows;
- Specific; being specific means you know what exactly you want with your goal as a person or organization.
Be categorical on how to achieve your goal. When you are specific, you understand how to evaluate your result.
In the ‘Real Growth Hacks’ book, a realistic idea segmentation model is given to guide you on how to be specific when learning how to set your goals. - Measurable: measurable in learning how to achieve your goal means you can measure progress and outcome.
If you are specific and can determine your progress with the idea segmentation model, you will be easily able to achieve your goals. - Achievable: achievable means having realistic goals that are truly attainable over a plan and time.
The ‘Real Growth Hacks’ book, is defined through the execution section that shows how to implement achievable goals from one stage to the other. Ensure you set goals that you can for sure achieve within your strategy. - Realistic or relevant: one way most goals are not achieved is a lack of understanding of why the goal is important to you. Why set the goal? For what reason are you pursuing that goal?
According to ‘Real Growth Hacks’, when you have realistic goals, it becomes easier to survive through the goal execution process.
Therefore, be clear on how to set realistic goals and the end in mind. - Time-bound: when setting a goal, you should have a probable time to achieve the goal.
One perfect example used in this book is the world 5-second countdown that states when to start and progressively achieve your goal.
Key timed strategies help progressively achieve the goal within a certain set time.
Case Example of How to Set Goals – Janel Digital Marketing
Using the SMART strategy above, the ‘’Real Growth Hacks’ book uses Farming, Real Estate, and many other cases to guide you. However, for this case, let’s use Janel who is setting a goal on how to start a digital marketing agency. Janel will need to;
- Specific Case Example: Janel should know the scope of digital marketing rather than picking and doing everything in digital marketing.
She can pick social media, search engine optimization, or any other and progressively knows how to be a powerful digital marketer. This way she will have her strength. - Measurable Case Example: this can be done by developing a progressive matrix to gauge her strength in her specific digital marketing strategy.
For example, Janel can progressively learn to tick how to optimize X, Instagram, or any other such as video or image optimization.
This will progressively measure her skill and agency growth. - Achievable Case Example: Janel can set achievable levels over a strategic timeline.
For example, it is progressively achievable to learn digital marketing when the aim is to pick one optimization segment while focusing on the broad plan.
When you segment as described in the ‘Real Growth Hacks’ book, goals become attainable in an easy way. - Realistic Case Example: Janel needs to be realistic about her expectations and plans.
This can be done by starting to learn the skill from one step to the other, and then growing by starting a small consultancy eventually a mid-level agency before growing to a mega agency like Neil Patel. - Time Bound Case Example: Janel can easily set a timeline to learn Social Media Optimization SMO in a month, then do Search Engine Optimization SEO in a month, technical and other digital marketing strategies over set timelines.
This will eventually make her start an agency in a year. One key strategy ‘Real Growth Hacks’ shows you is how to set goals and show you how to achieve each of them.
GOAL SETTING HANDOUT – A CLARITY TOOL ON HOW TO SET GOALS
Do you know what is a goal setting handout?
A good setting handout is a tool or guidebook like the ‘Real Growth Hacks’ to help you organize your goal into achievable targets. It is a template outline with a worksheet to guide you to outline your goals, actions, and measure outcomes.
A good goal setting handout includes the following steps;
- Dream Ambition Clearing
According to Real Growth Hacks (2023), this stage in the goal setting handout involves crafting the ambition in a clearer idea that can be a SMART goal.
In the case of Janel, she needs to be clear on what digital marketing is. Clearing the goal at the dream ambition stage involves reading and preparing to understand the goal before setting it in your goal planning steps.
How to set goals is a process that requires you to understand the goal. The reason people need to understand why goal setting is important is because they need to know if a goal is worth pursuing or not.
And this can only be done by clearing the dream into a clean SMART goal.
- Goal Crafting
Any Goal Setting Handout should clearly show the craft of the goal by titling it in clear terms. ‘Real Growth Hacks’ book clearly states that a written goal is an easily understood goal. Therefore it is necessary to title your goal.
Remember a goal setting handout showing a craft of the goal answers why goal setting is important to you or your organization. Moreover, goal crafting involves the values behind the goal, objectives, and many more.
Simple advice, use simple clear words to define your goal. The simpler the better. In the case of Janel is ‘To Start a Digital Marketing Agency’.
- Action Guide
A good goal setting handout gives an outline of actions to help you realize the goal. The goal of planning is to achieve results.
If you want to learn how to set goals effectively, ensure you create an action guide to achieve them. Otherwise, the goal will not be implemented. ‘Real Growth Hacks’ describes strategic goal implementation with a measured action guide.
In our case example of Janel wanting to start a digital marketing agency, Janel has to set an effective time to enroll for digital marketing steps. ‘Real Growth Hacks’ guiding steps use work philosophies that enable you to act according to your personality.
This involves monastic, bimodal, and other work philosophies according to Janel’s personality.
- Micro Timelines & Deadlines
As Goal setting handouts give action guides, these actions should be aligned to micro-achievable timelines and deadlines. These are the small deadlines you set against each target to help you achieve the ultimate goal.
For example, Janel’s case example can have action micro deadlines by setting timelines of finishing to learn how to optimize each social media and an ultimate deadline to learn Social Media Optimization before proceeding to Search Engine Optimization.
These micro deadlines lead to the umbrella understanding of Digital Marketing from each micro-segment.
- Resource Buildup
Resources compilation is a critical section in a goal setting handout. This goal setting handout states that resources should be outlined early while doing goal planning. These resources involve materials you need to achieve your goal.
Goal setting planning requires you to know resources such as time, money, gadgets such as books, electronics, venue, and general material necessary to achieve your goal.
For the case of Janel’s goal, she needs to have a plan for the internet, laptop, a good camera for imagery media, money, and many more. These resources can be accumulated over time.
- Progress Tracking
Progress tracking is a critical stage in a goal setting handout. Tracking progress is a continuous process that helps one review and improve action areas from one step to the other.
For the case of Janel, Janel must review how efficiently she learns from one social media to the other by progressively improving herself.
GOAL SETTING THEORY – FACTS IN GOAL SETTING PLANNING
If you are learning how to set goals, you need to understand the goal setting theory. Goal setting theory is well described in the ‘Real Growth Hacks’ book as a strategic action plan to encourage a person to align their behavior to achieve the goal.
Locke’s Goal setting theory outlines clarity, challenges, commitment, feedback, and complexity as described in our book to realize a goal as described below.
- Goal Clarity
Goal setting theory states that clarity is critical as explained above. This is through dream ambition clearing. The idea of segmentation makes the goal clear for better performance and feasible achievement.
- Goal Realization Challenges
Locke’s goal setting theory states that challenging goals leads to better performance through persistence and consistency. ‘Real Growth Hacks’ further describes this concept in chapter six.
- Goal Commitment
Goal setting theory states that commitment to a particular target leads to a high probability of realizing the goal. ‘Real Growth Hacks’ gives options for creating a system to help you have a tech or human system to remain committed to the goal for easy realization.
Did you know a system can help you remain committed to your goal?
- Progressive Feedback
According to Locke’s goal setting theory, progressive feedback enables one to study and review each step to keep the efforts along the goals.
Feedback builds work motivation through the process since it gives you justifiable progress of work.
- Task Complexity
A comparison of ‘Real Growth Hacks’ books and goal setting theory, both references state that complex goals should be cut into segments that make the goal realistically achievable.
These are small segments that make difficult steps easy and achievable. Therefore, if you are learning how to set goals or doing goal planning steps, don’t worry if the goal is complex. It can be easy through segments.
THE GOAL OF PLANNING
The goal of planning anything in life is to help you move from one stage to the other. This is through the use of goal setting theory to make your personalized goal setting handout.
If you are learning how to set goals, understanding the goal of planning section is basically having a painted picture of the process and an imagination of the end.
The following are factors you need to understand the goal of planning;
- Measured Strategy: the goal of planning is to understand the scope of your strategy. Why would you plan and don’t know how far or how soon you are from one move to the other?
For example, if you are to drive for 100 kilometers, have enough gas or fuel for the distance. Measure your strategy. - Market Research: if your goal is like that of a case example Janel to start a digital marketing agency, do market research so that your goal of planning is about the market.
If you are learning how to set goals, understanding your market, competitor, and project monitors is important in goal planning, it is a solid rock in the goal of planning. ‘Real Growth Hacks’ book will guide you well in market research. - Product & Service Understanding: the goal of planning requires you to comprehensively understand the offer. The offer could be the product or service you want to offer to the market and your target consumers.
If you are learning how to set goals of academic, understand the consumers of your knowledge. Would they hire your knowledge or expertise?
If it is our case example of Janel planning to open a digital marketing agency, will consumers demand her service?
Understand your offer is internal, unlike more external market research, so understand the need of your offer first before you understand the outside. - Budget: Budget is king in the goal planning process. In creating your personalized goal setting handout as guided above, we brought out resource build-up as a critical step you should not miss.
You need to understand the cost since the goal of planning is to understand each step through the process to the end. - Growth Strategy: growth strategy is a broad aspect that the ‘Real Growth Hacks’ book outlines greatly in achieving an investment career and is important in planning a goal.
In reference to our guidebook, the goal of planning requires you to have a growth strategy in terms of skill development, social growth, system growth, and many other necessary growth elements needed to help you achieve your goal.
Logically, if you want to become good in one area, you need to grow yourself and that is your social life, skills, and systems around you to fit in the next growth stage.
That is why you cannot carry and fit old ways into new ways and stages in the growth process. The goal of planning requires to grow along.
Goal of Planning Mistakes
- Overplanning
One mistake while planning your goal is overplanning by trying to achieve perfection. This involves using a lot of time, among other resources to do something small. Find a balance between what is necessary and action. - Rigidity
This is a lack of flexibility to model the goal to fit in the market in changing circumstances. Be flexible to fit in ways that will make the goal work. - Lack of Clarity
If you do your research well on what you plan as your goal, the goal of planning becomes clear. You see things better. Do not lose focus, be clear. - Assumption
Assumption is ignoring what is so visible to your plan. If things are not working as planned, don’t ignore them but work around them to find solutions and avoid assumptions with data.
WHY GOAL SETTING IS IMPORTANT
Understanding why goal setting is important to achieve your goal.
The reason goal setting is important is that it helps you have your own personalized goal setting handout which is a unique plan. Moreover, the reason why goal setting is important is that it helps you forge a logical direction, understand your purpose, and remain focused. Real Growth Hacks book outlines the following as a summary of why goal setting is important;
Direction clarity
The goal of planning is to have direction and clarity on what you want to where you want to go. This is the single reason we need to know how to set goals using logical goal setting handouts.
When you are clear about what you want from the beginning and have a guide to the same, it becomes easier to achieve it. ‘Real Growth Hacks’ book outlines the use of a scoreboard to clearly set your direction and ponder on it every day.
Motivation
A well-set goal gives you the motivation to act and implement the plan. When your plan is clear, the energy better known as motivation comes naturally for you to act.
In our case of Janel to have a digital marketing agency, if she clearly understands every step to take, her neuro system aligns to help her get into action every day, which is the motivation to achieve.
Neuro system alignment according to ‘Real Growth Hacks’ books helps one understand why goal setting is important through action and progressive achievement.
Actionable Moves
When you understand the goal setting theory and have your goal plan, actions become the drive. Why is goal setting important if you can’t take actionable moves? A clear goal sets actions on the go.
Focus
The reason you need to know why goal setting is important is to enable you to remain focused. Moreover, a better goal setting handout gives you the focus to progressively grow.
Time reviews
From our reference book, a good goal is cast on timelines. When you understand your goal setting handout from your own perspective, you lay timelines on how to achieve every micro goal. This makes you review micro achievements and progressively achieve the ultimate goal.
Real Growth Hacks Tool for Goal Setting & Growth
The ‘Real Growth Hacks’ book is a valuable resource that calls you into strategic action on how to set your goals and achieve them one by one. Chapter one delves into how to craft your goal and make you a production growth achiever using a top guide.
The book gives the following unique guide on how to start and implement your goal:
Reflect on Your Action: know what is your goal and segment action points.
Write it Down: this is the beginning of your personalized goal setting handout.
Bread Down into Micro Goals: this uses the goal setting theory to help you grow from small steps to achieving the big goal.
Develop a Strategic Plan: the goal of planning is to have a strategic action plan. This is your big plan that Wicef helps develop to achieve the goal.
Track your Progress: micro plans in your personalized goal setting handout help you focus on everyday review of your progress.
Stay Committed: when you understand why goal setting is important, you remain committed to action to achieve it. This is by use of a strategic plan.
Celebrate Achievements: a celebration of micro goals achievement is motivation to build an ultimate funnel of the big goal. Don’t just look at how far you are to the end, celebrate the little steps of how far you’ve come every day.
Ultimately, the book has other chapters that guide you with clear finality on how to strategize and grow in your personal life, career, and investment.
In conclusion, the ‘Real Growth Hacks’ provides cases, and reflection questions that show you how to set your goals, build a strategy, and grow to achieve them progressively. So get this guide today, and set to unlock your massive potential into actionable achievers.
