Achieving your goals using DISC

So we’ve been exploring the incredible world of DISC for a couple of months now and what a journey it has been, we have explored how to use DISC for self-development, to coach effectively, increase sales, tailor presentations and more.  This time we are going to explore how DISC can be used to motivate us and achieve whatever our heart desires!

Somebody once said “a goal without a plan is just a dream”, well I think they are wrong.  I think “a goal without a plan is a total and utter waste of energy and time!”

Being a high Influencer I feel passionate about many things and one of the things that I feel strongly about is goals.  Without them in life, careers and relationships can lose purpose and direction and you end up waiting for opportunities to come along. I will always embrace new opportunities however I am not keen on waiting 25 or more years for them to arrive!

So, let’s look at how to create those opportunities.  Brace yourself another cliché on its way…

Don’t wait for your ship to come in – swim out to it!

As always each of our different DISC profiles will have contrasting ideas about goals and if you have been following these blogs over the past few months then you may already have an idea on how different profiles will use different methods to achieve them.

Let’s start with a nice simple overview…

As part of this blog I would like to share with you the secret of goal setting by using the 6 W’s. This method uses 6 essential questions that when answered honestly will ensure your goal or dream will become a reality.  The 6 questions are:

Let’s look at each of these questions in turn and understand how DISC will link with these.

1.What do I want?

This is the big picture, the end goal and what you are ultimately aiming for.  The Influencers will find this bit easy as they are the dreamers.  For some, this is where setting a goal is difficult as they don’t know what they want.  In these situations, take time to consider two questions:

What do I want to be doing more of? What do I want to be doing less of? 

Once you have an idea of what you want to achieve, or perhaps a mixture of goals we can move to the next step

2.What does it look like?

This is where clarity and precision come in.  It is no use saying I want to be thinner, I want more money, or I want to spend more time with my family.  These answers are OK for the first part of this model but now we have to determine exactly what we mean.  The Conscientious profiles will be brilliant at this because numbers are important to them.

So rather than saying I want to be thinner, set yourself a goal in how many inches you want to lose.When it comes to money/physical challenges or even material things like a house or a car it is important to be very specific with how much you need to save and when you need to save it by.

If you are looking at changing something that is more abstract, for example being more assertive, then consider how being more assertive will change the situations around you. A good way to measure your assertiveness is to decide what you will be able to do or say that would demonstratewhat you have achieved your goal of being assertive.

Also, don’t overlook using imagery/photos/screensavers to help remind yourself of your goal regularly- this can work for all profiles!

3.Why do I want it?

OK, this is the psychology bit.

Why do you really want to achieve your goal? 

Once you have answered this question you can use it as a driving force.  If you find that you seem to be losing momentum for your goal, particularly when there are longer term goals, just go back to this question to remind yourself why did you set the goal in the first place.

4.When do I want it?

Right let’s be very clear; If you ever say “as soon as possible” here you might as well pack up and go home there and then! The trouble with ‘as soon as possible’ is we are basically saying “I’ll get around to it one day”… in other words NEVER!

Once you have placed your stake in the ground and put the date down in stone you now have a commitment. 

It is important to ensure you have a good chunk of reality in here so do make the timescale achievable, but a little bit of stretching is also good so don’t be a wuss and make it years either!

5.What steps do I need to make?

This part is important as we now need to create the plan to achieve the goal.  So, if your end goal date is, for example, 3 years away, consider where you need to be after year 1 and after year 2. You can then break this down even further- where do you want to be in 3 months? 6 months? The key here is breaking your goal down into mini-targets, the Dominant guys love this as they get a chance to keep hitting goals again and again!

6.What help will I require?

Help will come in many different forms.  Explore apps and technology to help you track and measure performance, link your goal with another person so you don’t feel isolated and they will give you the encouragement when you need it too.

Talk to other people that have achieved a similar goal – if they did it so can you!  

Also don’t overlook self-reflection and self-development- listen to audio books, watch videos on YouTube, read blogs. If its sales motivation you need,try; Wolf of Wall Street, or Jerry Maguire, if it’s a more physical goal, it’s hard to beat Rocky.  For pure lifting of the soul take a look at Forrest Gump and if you really want to see people pushed to the limits take a peep at Apollo 13!

So that’s it ‘goals into reality in 6 steps’.  If you link your DISC profile to goal setting it really does work.  Of course, goal setting is really a whole book on its own…hey, wait a minute!….I’ve got a great idea and a new goal and it all started here….

See you next time.

Tags: B2B Marketing, DISC, DISC Profiling, Disc Profiling Blogs, Learning and Development, Learning styles