The Important 'Second Step' in Goal Setting

Goal setting, which many of us do around this time of year as the calendar is about to turn over, can be an inspiring exercise. But I believe what is truly exciting about the process is not just putting a vision into concrete terms, it's the step that comes after: making it real in terms that matter today.

In this sense, goal setting is not just about establishing firm numbers, it's about committing to the behaviors and standards that will take you there. It's about defining what ideal personal and economic success would mean to you, and then focusing and amplifying your competencies right now so you can achieve the right clinical and value success to make that happen. True success always comes down to this—to not only doing your best, but to doing your best at doing the right things, every day. And for that to happen, you have to be clear about what the right things are. You have to use that sense of clarity for what you want tomorrow to motivate you to ask the right questions today.

Goal Setting and Your Practice

For example, if you have a goal to achieve a 95 percent client retention rate, what specific behaviors need to happen? How many patients need to walk out today with a future appointment to keep you on track for that goal? If you want to produce $30,000 worth of dentistry from major cases this month, how many cases will that break down to, at what average value? How many will you need each week? What will you do in terms of patient communication and scheduling to make it happen? Who will be accountable for tracking this so you will be able to take extra measures in a timely way if you get off-pace?

Answering these goal setting questions is how you take the conceptual future and connect it to what is real in the present.

The success you are going to enjoy in the months ahead in 2015 is being programmed right now, by the things you are doing to improve in areas like clinical advancement, team alignment and growth. It's an inescapable law of cause and effect that seems self-evident, but that we often overlook.

It's something to keep in mind while goal setting for the year ahead: for a target to be meaningful and useful, it must come with a corresponding set of clearly accountable, just-as-concrete daily action items. That's the crucial "second step" that so many people neglect when forming a vision for their future.

As I have often said, what you pay attention to, works. Choose to pay attention to the specific daily drivers that support your goals, and you will find that you can't help but hit those bulls-eyes.


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