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iQuestions Faculty, Ron Price 
 
 
Question: 
 
I like to set goals but sometimes they're hard to identify, let alone 
reach. How can I be more effective in this area? 
 
Answer: 
 
One of the areas that I love helping people with is the whole area of 
goal-setting—and I’ve run into two basic types of people.  
 
First, there are the people who have no goals. They sort of believe you 
just let life come and hit you the way it will and you react as it comes.  
 
The other type of person is the person who has goals, but I have to 
say candidly, often is really frustrated because of their inability to 
achieve the goals that they have set. As a matter of fact, working with 
executes, I’ve regularly run into people who are achieving less than 
50% of the goals that they have set for themselves.  
 
So let’s work on two ways to improve the way that you set and 
achieve goals. The first is to write “smart goals.” What I mean by this 
is that the goal should be specific, it should be measurable, it should 
be achievable, it should be relevant to your values, and finally it 
should be time bound. 
 
Each one of those helps you to write a good, solid, strong goal, so 
when you write the goal ask yourself, “Is it specific, is it measurable, is 
it achievable, is it relevant, and do I have a deadline on it?” 
 
 
 
The second thing that I think is really important is when you’ve 
established all of your goals, commit to those that you believe you 
have an 80% chance or better of achieving. 
 
The reason why I think this is important is because if you can 
consistently achieve 80% of your goals or more, you’re going to 
continue to build more self confidence. I like to say that you’re building 
up your goal-achievement muscle. On the other hand, if you’re always 
achieving 100%, maybe you need to be more ambitious.  
 
But the truth is that with most leaders I’ve worked with, it takes a 
good six months before they learn how to set goals that they can 
achieve 80% of the time or more, because we all tend to over-commit. 
 
When you’re looking at these goals, you’re looking at whether they’re 
smart, you’re looking at whether you have 80% chance or better of 
achieving them, and finally, you’re looking at, “Are they going to move 
me down the path of the big-picture strategies that really matter most 
in my work or in my personal life?” 
 
So, in order to have more fun and be more effective with the goals 
you’ve set, remember make them smart goals. Create and commit to 
goals that you have an 80% chance or better of achieving. And one 
last thing, make sure they really line-up with what really matters most 
in your life, that they’re going to get you two, or three, or five years 
down the road exactly where you want to be. 
Price -2- 
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